The #believebandich Challenge stops in Tulln in the fifth round of the City Pitches. On Monday, February 26th, six startups from the Bio & Agricultural Innovation category will be competing there to present their exciting concepts. The event starts at 6 p.m. in the Makerspace – accent. Registration to attend the event live as a spectator can be found here.
The winning startup will then compete in Vienna on April 3rd with the winners of the other city pitches for the title “Startup of the Year 2024”. The winning teams of the City Pitches also receive a cash prize of 1,000 euros from Erste Bank and Sparkasse as well as two annual licenses for wîse up, the digital platform for training and further education for Austria’s economy.
Cyan Cycle
The startup Cyan Cycle from Lower Austria wants to convert exhaust gases into sustainable products. For this purpose, the young company has developed a reactor system in which cyanobacteria are cultivated. These bacteria can use CO2 from emission sites as biomass for growth processes.
CyanoCare
Sustainable raw materials from algae: This is the idea behind the Lower Austrian start-up company CyanoCare. According to the startup, algae are a rich source of added value biocomponents. Some crops can lead to zero-waste biorefineries for the production of bioraw materials ranging from skin care ingredients to natural blue dyes.
ecolets sheep wool pellets
The company ecolets sheep’s wool pellets from Carinthia offers a biological natural fertilizer with a water storage function made from sheep’s wool. The young company’s sheep’s wool pellets are a 100 percent organic natural fertilizer for raised bed and garden plants, which contain a lot of nutrients and also serve as water storage for the plants.
Econutri
Econutri from Graz focuses on the area of “carbon utilization”. The focus of the startup’s work is on certain microorganisms that can use CO2 as a raw material. The young company uses these to produce sustainable proteins. These proteins are intended for use in feed and food.
ViaLym
The Lower Austrian startup ViaLym uses a new category of nutritional supplements, so-called nutriceuticals, to compensate for nutrient deficiencies in chronic inflammation in pets and to alleviate inflammation.
Vincent
Vincent from Bregenz offers a platform ecosystem that helps farmers digitize their operations by optimizing administrative and sales processes on a single platform. In this way, the young company wants to enable agricultural businesses to achieve a comprehensive increase in efficiency and simplify administration.
The jury in Vienna
The startups will once again compete in front of a top-class jury. This decides which young company will make it to the final of the #believebandich challenge. The jury members are:
Wolfgang Seltenhammer, Head of Commerce and Liberal Professions Erste Bank in the Weinviertel
Nicole Wöllert, Head of Target Group Management Department WKNÖ
Rene Danzinger, Investment Manager Technet
Lukas Punzet, Investment Associate aws Gründerfonds
Matthias Weichhart, BIO soft hard fruit
The winner of the City Pitch will receive 1,000 euros and of course promotion to the final! The prize money is 10,000 euros and a PR package worth 10,000 euros.
-> All further information about the #believebandich Challenge 2024 can be found here.