This year's Spin-off Austria Conference will take place on 23 November from 12:00-17:00 under the motto "Spin-offs - The Backbone of European Sovereignty in Technology". The aim of the high-profile online conference is to raise awareness of spin-offs as a central pillar of European technology sovereignty.
Spin-offs are an essential part of a sustainable strategy for more technological sovereignty. The importance of this issue for Europe became evident during the supply shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the collapse of decades of stable trade relations after the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine.
Europe has outstanding universities and cutting-edge research, but this research is often not utilised to the same extent as in the USA, for example. Yet Europe has the potential to take a leading role in future technologies such as quantum computing, hydrogen, climate technologies, or 5G and thus secure its technological sovereignty in these areas. To exploit this potential, however, it is necessary to create conditions that promote academic spin-offs and keep successful founders and their spin-offs in Europe.
In Austria, the first steps in this direction have already been taken (also at the initiative of Spin-off Austria). Now we need to build on this momentum and further develop our spin-off strategy in a sustainable manner.
At the Spin-off Austria Conference, international experts will discuss ideas for further improving the Austrian and European spin-off strategy and develop solutions for the most pressing problems.
Among the speakers will be company founders and investors Hermann Hauser (Acorn/ARM, Amadeus Capital), Herbert Gartner (eQventure) Andreas von Bechtolsheim (Sun Microsystems, Google), Jeannette zu Fürstenberg (La Famiglia VC), Martin Bruncko (Binance), and Jason Whitmire (BlueYard Capital).
The policy perspective of the European Union will be represented by senior members of the European Innovation Council (EIC) such as Keith Sequeira, Stéphane Ouaki and Cornelius Schmaltz.
The Spin-off Austria Conference is organised by Hermann Hauser Investment GmbH, I.E.C.T. - Hermann Hauser and eQventure in cooperation with the Austrian Council for Research and Technology Development. The conference is supported by Erste Bank und Sparkasse, FFG/GIN Austria, Onsight Ventures, and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO).
Participation is free of charge.
Details and registration for the online conference are available at www.spin-off-austria.at