Record value for start-up financing in Austria: 97 rounds with 472 million euros in the first half of 2026

International capital dominates

Florian Haas described the shift as a "massive Verschiebung": "Der Vergleich zum Vorjahr zeigt eine massive Verschiebung: 2025 wurde der Markt noch stark von heimischen und gemischten Investor:innengruppen getragen, 2026 kommt der Großteil des Kapitals wieder aus rein internationalen Runden." The share of purely Austrian investor groups in investment volume fell in the same period from 17 to just five percent.

Daniela Haunstein, Managing Director of invest.austria, also sees this as a double-edged signal: "Die Zahlen zeigen sehr deutlich, dass internationales Kapital wieder bereit ist, größere Wachstumsfinanzierungen in Österreich zu begleiten. Gleichzeitig macht die Analyse aber auch sichtbar, dass Österreich bei großen Finanzierungsrunden weiterhin stark von ausländischem Kapital abhängig ist." Haas added: "Gleichzeitig zeigt diese Entwicklung aber auch, dass Österreich bei großen Wachstumstickets weiterhin stark auf ausländisches Kapital angewiesen ist."

In terms of investor locations, Austrian financiers dominate by far: of at least 230 named investors, 116 (50 percent) are headquartered in Austria, followed by Germany with 49 (21 percent) and Switzerland with 11 financiers. Only seven investors are based in the USA. For smaller deals up to one million euros, domestic capital providers still account for 74 percent of all participants; for medium-sized rounds (1.1 to 10 million euros), the figure drops to 36 percent; and for large financings above ten million euros, the domestic share is only around 13 percent.

AI and sustainability as focal points

In the first half of 2025, this share for deals above ten million euros was still around 80 percent. In the current reporting period, seven of the ten largest financing rounds came about without any participation by Austrian investors. Overall, 30 of the 97 financing rounds (31 percent) went to companies with an AI connection – a focus that is also reflected in investment motives.

Haas explained the strategic shift in AI investments: "Investor:innen investieren heute nicht mehr nur in die Technologie selbst, sondern vor allem in konkrete Anwendungsfälle mit skalierbaren Geschäftsmodellen." He also pointed to the international attention that individual Austrian AI companies have attracted: "Die erfolgreiche Übernahme von Emmi AI durch Mistral hat international für viel Aufmerksamkeit gesorgt." In addition, Haas highlighted "erfolgreiche Exits wie jener des oberösterreichischen Haustier-Tracking-Spezialisten Tractive oder die Übernahme des Linzer AI-Startups Emmi AI hervor".

The topic of sustainability is also playing a growing role. With a total of 170 million euros, more than every third euro invested (36 percent) went to start-ups with a sustainability connection in the first half of 2026. "Dies stellt laut der Studie den mit Abstand höchsten Betrag seit Beginn der Untersuchungen im Jahr 2022 dar", the report states. However, these 170 million euros account for only 14 of the 97 financing rounds (14 percent) – an indication that sustainability attracts high volumes but only a small share of deals.

Geographic distribution of financings

Geographically, Vienna remains the center of the domestic start-up scene: 51 start-ups from the federal capital received fresh capital. Upper Austria follows with 13 start-ups that secured new financing, Lower Austria with six, Salzburg with one start-up, and Tyrol and Carinthia with two start-ups each. As examples of supported young companies, the report names Afreshed, Straion, and Securite.

The dependence on foreign capital is particularly evident in large deals: in the current year, there have already been nine financing deals with a volume of more than ten million euros – compared to only two such closures in the first half of 2025. The distribution of investors within rounds is also changing: domestic financiers participated in at least 61 of the 97 registered financing rounds (63 percent); 39 closures (40 percent) were financed exclusively by Austrian capital providers. In almost every fourth deal (24 percent), foreign investors were involved.

Political demands and outlook

The same tendency is seen in the FinTech/InsurTech segment: of three financing rounds with a total of nine investors, only one was headquartered domestically. The focal points of domestic investors were mainly in the energy sector, followed by media & entertainment. Water-based solutions and international scaling, by contrast, are increasingly attracting foreign capital, as the analysis highlights. The report also highlights the large deals Waterdrop and Gropyus, each with 100 million euros.

Haunstein therefore calls for consequences from policymakers: "sei die rasche und ambitionierte Umsetzung des angekündigten Dachfonds ein wichtiger Schritt, um privates Kapital stärker für Innovation und Unternehmertum zu mobilisieren". EY and invest.austria jointly publish the "Start-up Investment Barometer" for the first half of the year, which provides detailed investor information on all financing rounds and is intended to serve as a basis for the ongoing debate on financing domestic innovation.