TU Wien Innovation Incubation Center - TUW i²c

🎓 i²c Masterclasses recaps an intense SS26 – more to come!

One semester, four Masterclasses, and a whole community of TU Wien scientists, PhD students & staff growing beyond the lab. 🔬 Here’s what went down across our E4S & EoI series 👇

⚖️ Your Legal Check-List for Company Foundation with Wolfgang Graf

🌐 Leveraging Megatrends & Systems Thinking with Valerie-Sophie Schönberg

🚀 From Research to Market in 5 Steps with Alex Ion

🤝 Setting up Research Partnerships with Industry with Viktoria Ilger

A big thank you to everyone who made this semester possible, from highly engaging lecturers to curious TUW scientists who reached their next level.🎓

🧪 aptiTUdes.LAB says goodbye to SS26 and looks ahead

One semester, nine workshops and hundreds of curious students from across Vienna’s universities growing beyond their technical expertise. From our kick-off on March 27th to the closing ceremony on May 20th, our participants dove into the skills that set innovators and leaders apart:

🤝 Networking Basics: How to Build Meaningful Professional Relationships with Christoph Nowotny

💡 Build What People Buy: The Recipe for Sellable Tech Products with Ifigeneia Petrocheilou

🚀 How to Start-up: From Idea to Successful Business with Kambis Kohansal Vajargah

🌍 Navigating Culture(s): Inter-Cultural Differences in a Global Business Context with Michael Kubiena

🗂️ Project & Content Management with Notion: The Ultimate Productivity Tool with Nooa Adams

🔁 Design Thinking in Action: Build, Test, Rethink with Alexandra Alexandru

🖥️ Validate Your Idea: Build a Landing Page with AI with Julian Netzer

💶 Investieren: Spannungsfeld zwischen Wertekompass und Geldanlage
with Lukas Trimmel

🔬 Technical R&D Strategy: How to Make Your Innovation Fundable with Johannes Wieser
 
A huge THANK YOU to our incredible lecturers, who brought real-world expertise straight from the field into the (not so usual) lab and to every student who showed up, asked questions, and left with new skills, new connections, and (for many!) a certificate in hand.🎓

👉 Missed out this semester? Applications open again in WS26 but you can join the Early Bird on our website!

👏 Chapeau! Another plaque on the wall and may they keep coming!

Co2ol Catalyst is the latest team to graduate from our incubation program after more than two successful years. The spin-off, co-founded by Christian Weilach, Karin Föttinger and Francesco Valentini, is developing a novel catalyst technology that converts industrial CO₂ emissions into methanol, reducing carbon emissions and supporting more sustainable chemical production. 🧪

May this plaque be a reminder of the great journey we shared and just one milestone of many more to come. Can’t wait to see where you go next!

Cologne calling and one TUW i²c spin-off is leading the way

Big congrats to Klared, one of just 10 hand-picked start-ups invited to present at the Cologne Startup Summer Night on 8 July! 🛫

📅 8 July 2026 · Cologne, Stadtgarten

The team earned its spot at our ESI Demo Day on 22 June, and now they’re taking their idea from Vienna to one of the Rhineland’s biggest networking nights: start-ups, companies, press, politics, all in one place. 🌍

Made possible by KölnBusiness, the Gateway Excellence Start-up Center (University of Cologne), Web de Cologne and TU Wien i²c. 🙌

Another ceremony, another win 🏆 The TU Wien i²c community shined at the EY Österreich Scale-Up Award 2026 with 8 awards + 1 nominations across all four clusters! 🎉

💡 Factorymaker: Rising Star Innovation, Spin-off of the Year & Rising Star of the Year 2026 ⭐

🔬 UpNano: Scale-up Innovation + Spin-off of the Year, with Denise Hirner crowned Founder of the Year 👑

🌍 Joulzen: Rising Star Planet

⚙️ Phine.Tech: Rising Star Technology

🙌 usePAT nominated as Rising Star Innovation

And big congratulations to Scale-Up of the Year fiskaly co-founded by TUW alumni Simon Tragatschnig and to each and every nominee.

© EY/Point of View

Thank you for being such a lighthouse in the Austrian startup ecosystem 👏

🔥 ESI Demo Day #14 - that’s a wrap.

Rooftop views at TUtheSky, two semesters of building, and one stage full of founders going all in. 👏

This cohort pitched across AI, EdTech, cybersecurity & lifestyle design and walked away with prizes including a wildcard for 2 MINUTEN 2 MILLIONEN & a spot Cologne Startup Summer Night Gateway Exzellenz Start-up Center Universität zu Köln gateway_unikoeln

Huge thank you to our our jury, mentors, partners and food & drink sponsors Red Bull Austria 🇦🇹 , mucki® | Premium Protein , Brew Age Beer and NEOH who make this possible!

Congrats to every team. This is just the start. 🚀