Spin Off Austria
Spin Off Austria

Conference 14. Nov 2024

The online conference will take place from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. ‍

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‍After the online conference, participants are invited to an evening event at the Christoph Leitl Lounge of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wiedner Hauptstraße 63, 1045 Vienna) starting at 6:00 PM.

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The topic of this year's conference is "Navigating IP Terms in University Spin-Offs"

The Spin-off Initiative invites you to discuss the status quo of the Austrian spin-off landscape. Each year, a different core theme is selected to serve as the focus of the discussions.

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Schedule

morning session
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afternoon session
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1:00 pm - 1:15 pm
Welcome
Welcome

Welcoming words by Lisa Spöck & Dejan Jovicevic

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1:15 pm - 2:05 pm
Part 1
Part 1

International Insights

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13:15 - 13:40 CEST | Keynote: Market conformity as a valuation argument

Mark Ferguson - Board of SoilSteam International and immediate past Chair of the European Innovation Council Board

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13:40 - 14:05 CEST | Keynote & Talk: European best practice for IP valuation

Gerhard Plasonig - TUM School of Management, KfW Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Finance

Tony Raven - Retired Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise at University of Cambridge

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2:05 pm - 2:30 pm
Part 2
Part 2

Austrian Ecosystem Insights

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14:05 - 14:30 CEST | Pitch: Contributions of the spin-off support ecosystem

with pitches from: 

- Tanja Spennlingwimmer (Head of IP Management, Deep Technologies and Entrepreneurship at aws)

- Markus Pröll-Schobel (Program management of FFG's Spin-Off Fellowship)

- Lisa Spöck (Federal Spokeswoman for AplusB)

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2:30 pm - 2:45 pm
Break
Break
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2:45 pm - 2:50 pm
Welcome back & Recap
Welcome back & Recap

Lisa Spöck & Dejan Jovicevic

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2:50 pm - 3:15 pm
Part 3
Part 3

Practical Insights

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14:50 - 15:15 CEST | Panel: Perspectives of the stakeholders in a valuation negotiation

with representatives from different sectors:

- spin-off: Marcus Lebesmühlbacher (CEO and Co-founder of Holloid)

- clients: Rudolf Zauner (Innovation Manager, VERBUND AG)

- universities: Rudolf Dömötör (Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at WU Vienna and Director of ECN - Entrepreneurship Center Network)

- investors: Jasmin Güngör (General Partner at Onsight Ventures)

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15:15 - 15:45 CEST | Keynote: Serial spinout experience

Molly Stevens - John Black Professor of Bionanoscience at Oxford University

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3:45 pm - 4:00 pm
Outro
Outro

Lisa Spöck & Dejan Jovicevic

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6:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Spin-off Austria Gathering
Spin-off Austria Gathering

Location: WKÖ, Christoph Leitl Lounge, Wiedner Hauptstraße 63, 1045 Vienna
moderated by: Raphael Friedl (CEO at tech2b), co-hosted by: WKÖ

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18:30 - 18:45 CEST | Welcome & recap conference

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18:45 - 19:15 CEST | Talk

- Werner Müller (Program Manager GO AUSTRIA at FFG)

- Tanja Spennlingwimmer (Head of IP Management, Deep Technologies and Entrepreneurship at aws)

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19:15 - 19:45 CEST | Panel: Challenges for TTOs in Spin-off processes

- Ursula Diefenbach (Head of the Research & Technology House (F&T-Haus) at Graz University of Technology)

- Manfred Lampl (IP Management at aws)

- Tanja Sovic (Head of Patent & License Management at TU Wien)

- Markus Wanko (Head of xista science ventures, ISTA)

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19:45 - 20:00 CEST | Panel: Recent Spin-off experiences

- Mark Dürkop (Founder Novasign)

- Marcus Lebesmühlbacher (Founder Holloid)

- Klemens Wassermann (Founder CellEctric Biosciences)

- David Wurm (Founder NovoArc)

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20:00 - 20:15 CEST | Wrap up & closing

Raphael Friedl

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20:15 CEST | Dinner & Networking

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powered by

Austria Wirtschaftsservice
Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft

supported by

Industriellenvereinigung
Wirtschaftskammer Österreich

Links

Coming soon...

speakers and panelists

Markus Pröll-Schobel
Program management of FFG's Spin-Off Fellowship
Gerhard Plasonig
TUM School of Management, KfW Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Finance
Jasmin Güngör
General Partner at Onsight Ventures
Mark Ferguson
Board of SoilSteam International and immediate past Chair of the European Innovation Council Board
Rudolf Dömötör
Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at WU Vienna and Director of ECN - Entrepreneurship Center Network
Ursula Diefenbach
Head of the Research & Technology House (F&T-Haus) at Graz University of Technology
Tanja Sovic
Head of Patent & License Management at TU Wien
Mark Dürkop
Co-Founder & CEO of Novasign GmbH
Molly Stevens
John Black Professor of Bionanoscience (University of Oxford)
Klemens Wassermann
Founder & CEO Cellectric Biosciences
Tanja Spennlingwimmer
Head of IP Management, Deep Technologies and Entrepreneurship (aws)
David Wurm
CEO & Co-Founder of NovoArc GmbH
Manfed Lampl
IP Management at aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH)
Tony Raven
Researcher, serial entrepreneur and retired Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise at University of Cambridge
Markus Wanko
Founder and Managing Partner of Xista Science Ventures
Marcus Lebesmühlbacher
Co-Founder and CEO of Holloid
Rudolf Zauner
Senior Innovation Manager at VERBUND
Werner Müller
Head of Startup Services at FFG

Moderation and Organisation

Dejan Jovicevic
Co-Founder & CEO at Der Brutkasten
Lisa Spöck
Federal Spokeswoman for AplusB
Raphael Friedl
Deputy Federal Spokesperson for AplusB

Past Conferences

arrow right
conference 23. nov 2023

conference 23. nov 2023

This long-term initiative aims at raising the awareness in Austria that entrepreneurship must be a third mission for Austrian universities alongside research and teaching. By 2030, Austria shall have a flourishing spin-off ecosystem with a significant number of additional 1,000 new start-up companies. This will raise the GDP, create new jobs and opportunities for young people mobilising scientific talents in all areas.

Watch now
arrow right
Conference 23. Nov 2022

Conference 23. Nov 2022

This long-term initiative aims at raising the awareness in Austria that entrepreneurship must be a third mission for Austrian universities alongside research and teaching. By 2030, Austria shall have a flourishing spin-off ecosystem with a significant number of additional 1,000 new start-up companies. This will raise the GDP, create new jobs and opportunities for young people mobilising scientific talents in all areas.

Watch now
arrow right
Conference 23. Nov 2021

Conference 23. Nov 2021

This long-term initiative aims at raising the awareness in Austria that entrepreneurship must be a third mission for Austrian universities alongside research and teaching. By 2030, Austria shall have a flourishing spin-off ecosystem with a significant number of additional 1,000 new start-up companies. This will raise the GDP, create new jobs and opportunities for young people mobilising scientific talents in all areas.

Watch now
arrow right
Conference 25. Nov 2020

Conference 25. Nov 2020

This long-term initiative aims at raising the awareness in Austria that entrepreneurship must be a third mission for Austrian universities alongside research and teaching. By 2030, Austria shall have a flourishing spin-off ecosystem with a significant number of additional 1,000 new start-up companies. This will raise the GDP, create new jobs and opportunities for young people mobilising scientific talents in all areas.

Watch now
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Markus Pröll-Schobel
Markus Pröll-Schobel
Program management of FFG's Spin-Off Fellowship

Markus Pröll-Schobel studied Applied Business Administration with a focus on Marketing & International Management as well as Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship in Klagenfurt. After nearly 2.5 years as a business start-up consultant, he joined the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) in 2008, where he took over the management of the national funding program Spin-off Fellowships in March 2020.

Speakers and Panelists
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Gerhard Plasonig (2024)
Gerhard Plasonig
TUM School of Management, KfW Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Finance

Gerhard Plasonig is founder of Avario GmbH in Zug, Switzerland, an IPR and technology investment company. He created several European start-ups, such as award-winning WoodWelding SA, Surgical Fusion Technologies GmbH or Willi Dungl Marketing GmbH. Before moving to Switzerland in 1999, Dr. Plasonig worked for The Generics Group in Cambridge, UK (an IKEA Company). He was Member of their Scientific Generics Board. Before that he was Consultant with PA Technology / Pugh Roberts Associates Inc. (an M.I.T. spin-off) in Boston, USA. Gerhard Plasonig has an Undergraduate Degree in Automotive Engineering, as well as a Masters Degree in Industrial Management and a Doctorate in Technology Management from the Vienna University of Economics (WU). He was Fulbright Doctoral Fellow at the Sloan School / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a Graduate from the Stanford Executive Program. He is Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Jasmin Güngör (2024)
Jasmin Güngör
General Partner at Onsight Ventures

Mag. Jasmin Güngör, Bakk has over 10 years of international experience in the fields of start-ups, venture capital, and impact investing, with a strong focus on deep tech and blockchain. In 2018, she served as a lecturer at the Blockchain Center of the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Between 2014 and 2016, Jasmin facilitated the sale of an impact bond through a private placement in collaboration with Erste Bank Group AG. As an investment manager and signatory at Hermann Hauser Invest (HHI), she managed over 20 deep-tech investments. Since 2021, Jasmin has been a General Partner at Onsight Ventures, an early-stage deep tech fund based in Innsbruck, Austria, dedicated to deep tech investments across Europe.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Mark Ferguson (2024)
Mark Ferguson
Board of SoilSteam International and immediate past Chair of the European Innovation Council Board

Professor Mark Ferguson is Chairman of SoilSteam and a member of the European Commission High Level Group on Research and Innovation.Previously Chairman of the European Innovation Council, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland,co-founder and CEO of Renovo a biotechnology company developing pharmaceuticals based on discoveries in his academic research group at The University of Manchester.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Rudolf Dömötör (2024)
Rudolf Dömötör
Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at WU Vienna and Director of ECN - Entrepreneurship Center Network

Dr. Rudolf Dömötör is the Director of the WU Entrepreneurship Center and the ECN (Entrepreneurship Center Network), a joint initiative of 35 Austrian universities and universities of applied sciences aimed at promoting interdisciplinary entrepreneurship among students and faculty. He is a co-founder of the Entrepreneurship Avenue, the largest entrepreneurship event series in Europe focused on students, and a co-author of the Austrian Startup Monitor, Austria's largest startup study. He has been active in the Austrian startup ecosystem for many years and has been a member of the Startup Council of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Economy since summer 2022.

Speakers and Panelists
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Ursula Diefenbach (2024)
Ursula Diefenbach
Head of the Research & Technology House (F&T-Haus) at Graz University of Technology

Head of the Research & Technology House (F&T-Haus) at Graz University of Technology, responsible for research projects, funding, financing, industry collaborations, inventions, and technology transfer. Background: PhD and habilitation in Chemistry from the Free University of Berlin. Research stays at Pennsylvania State University, USA. President and CEO of a spin-off company from Penn State University.

Speakers and Panelists
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Tanja Sovic (2024)
Tanja Sovic
Head of Patent & License Management at TU Wien

Dr. TanjaSovic is an accomplished professional in the field of intellectual property and technology transfer, currently serving as the Head of Patent & License Management at TU Wien. With extensive experience in patenting and commercialization of university inventions across various fields, she brings exceptional expertise to her role. Tanja studied chemical engineering at Graz University of Technology and obtained a PhD in Polymer Chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Materials (ICTM). 

In addition to her professional career, Tanja also volunteers her time and expertise as a member of the IP Advisory Board for EIT Manufacturing and the Task ForceInnovation for CESAER (Conference of European Schools for Advanced EngineeringEducation and Research). Furthermore, she is also Chair of the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI)s Innovation Trends Committee, a prominent horizontal task force within the structure of LESI Committees, which monitors and identifies the impact of innovation on the current IP framework and proposes corresponding solutions.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Mark Dürkop (2024)
Mark Dürkop
Co-Founder & CEO of Novasign GmbH

Mark is the co-founder and managing director of Novasign GmbH, a spin-off of BOKU. Novasign specializes in optimizing biotechnological manufacturing processes using a proprietary workflow that is available through a software platform.

Speakers and Panelists
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Molly Stevens (2024)
Molly Stevens
John Black Professor of Bionanoscience (University of Oxford)

Professor Dame Molly StevensDBE FRS FREng is the John Black Professor of Bionanoscience at the University of Oxford and a part-time professor at Imperial College London and the Karolinska Institute. Molly’s multidisciplinary research balances the investigation of fundamental science with the development of technology to address some of the major healthcare challenges. She is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of several companies in the diagnostics, advanced therapeutics, and regenerative medicine fields. Her work has been instrumental in elucidating bio-material interfaces. She has created a broad portfolio of designerbiomaterials for applications in disease diagnostics and regenerative medicine. Her substantial body of work influences research groups around the world and she has been multiple times listed as Clarivate Analytics Highly CitedResearcher in Cross-Field research.

Molly holds numerous leadership positions, Deputy Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, Deputy Director of the UK Quantum Biomedical Sensing Research Hub, and Scientist Trustee of the National Gallery. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering (USA), an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she was recognised with the 2023 Novo Nordisk Prize and the 2024 Royal Society Armourers and Brasiers Company Prize, amongst many other accolades.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Klemens Wassermann (2024)
Klemens Wassermann
Founder & CEO Cellectric Biosciences

Dr. Klemens Wassermann studied Microbiology/Genetics at the University of Vienna and Electrical Engineering at the Technical University of Vienna. He was a group leader at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, where he developed a new technology for the manipulation of cells and biological systems. Since 2021, he has been the founder and CEO of Cellectric Biosciences, a deep tech spin-off of AIT, which applies the technology as a new platform in the life sciences sector.

Speakers and Panelists
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Tanja Spennlingwimmer 2024
Tanja Spennlingwimmer
Head of IP Management, Deep Technologies and Entrepreneurship (aws)

Dr. Tanja Spennlingwimmer completed a degree in Business Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, focusing on Public Corporate Governance, and enhanced her expertise through an MBA program in Professional Finance at the WU Executive Academy and Harvard Business School. After gaining initial experience in the environmental technology sector, she worked at Kapsch TrafficCom, where she also accumulated several years of international experience in the USA. From 2016 onwards, she was responsible for the areas of Investment and Innovation at Business Upper Austria. Since 2022, she has been leading the "Deep Technology, Innovation Protection & Entrepreneurship" business unit at Austria Wirtschaftsservice, the federal development bank, promoting spin-offs and start-ups in the high-tech and impact sectors. Dr. Spennlingwimmer is also a member of the Council for Research and Technology in Upper Austria and is actively involved in leading committees to strengthen the Austrian innovation landscape.

Speakers and Panelists
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David Wurm 2024
David Wurm
CEO & Co-Founder of NovoArc GmbH

David Wurm studied Technical Chemistry at TU Wien (Dipl.Ing) and completed a doctorate at TU Wien in the field of Bioprocess Engineering/Biotechnology. This was followed by a post-doc at TU Wien and numerous further trainings in Business Development, Intra- and Entrepreneurship. In 2021, David co-founded NovoArc GmbH with two colleagues (Julian Quehenberger and Oliver Spadiut) and has since been CEO of the Deep Tech spin-off. Additionally, he teaches at the University of Applied Sciences Krems.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Manfred Lampl 2024
Manfed Lampl
IP Management at aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH)

Manfred Lampl works at Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH in the field of intellectual property rights and was able to support funding programmes aimed to establish and optimise technology transfer at universities for several years. This gave him a good insight into the commercialisation of academic inventions and the challenges for universities on the one hand and industry and start-ups on the other.
Mr Lampl studied technical chemistry at Graz University of Technology, obtained his doctorate in the field of lipid biosynthesis at the Institute of Biochemistry and then worked in the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Lampl's professional focus is on intellectual property strategy consulting in the life sciences sector.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Tony Raven 2024
Tony Raven
Researcher, serial entrepreneur and retired Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise at University of Cambridge

Tony is a highly cited researcher, a successful serial entrepreneur and international leader in university research commercialisation, investment funds, and innovation ecosystems. He retired in 2021 after 10 years heading up Cambridge Enterprise, the research commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge. He is currently Chairing Spinouts Denmark’s International Advisory Board, advising the UK Government on the Government Office for Technology Transfer and policy and practice in university knowledge exchange. He is a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge’s University Commercialisation and Innovation Policy Evidence Unit (UCI) and an adviser to the University of Tokyo IPC.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Markus Wanko (2024)
Markus Wanko
Founder and Managing Partner of Xista Science Ventures

Following an international career in principal investment and strategy consulting spanning almost two decades, Markus joined ISTA to build the team that is driving the development of xista, the ecosystem to translate scientific findings into innovative products and services.  

With abroad exposure to natural sciences and technology at MIT ranging from molecularbiology to electrical engineering, he gained experience in venture capital investing with Safeguard Scientifics and the European Investment Fund, strategy consulting with the Boston Consulting Group, and principal investment with QIA, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

Markus is founder and managing partner of xista science ventures as well as Co-MD of our science park and the tech transfer arm. He serves on the board of AUTM, the US tech transfer association, as well as Cutanos and Ribbon Bio. He holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School, an MSc from TU Vienna, and an MIM from WU Vienna and HEC Paris.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Marcus Lebesmühlbacher (2024)
Marcus Lebesmühlbacher
Co-Founder and CEO of Holloid

Marcus Lebesmühlbacher is co-founder and CEO of Holloid. He has expertise in creating, funding and running technology startups, previously as an investor at aws Gründungsfonds, and as an M&A consultant at i5invest.

Holloid offers uniquely powerful 3D microscopy for bioprocess control. The BOKU-spinoff was awarded High-tech start-up of the year, Industry startup of the year, AI startup-of the year, and BOKU startup of the year, amongst others.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Rudolf Zauner (2024)
Rudolf Zauner
Senior Innovation Manager at VERBUND

Rudolf Zauner studied process engineering at the Technical University of Graz and obtained a PhD in chemical engineering from University College London, UK. 

At VERBUND he has formerly been responsible for operation of VERBUND’s wind and solar fleet in Europe and worked in the field of green hydrogen. He is now in charge of new technologies in the innovation and new business department of VERBUND, including R&D cooperations and technical due diligences for start-up investments.

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Speakers and Panelists
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Werner Müller (2024)
Werner Müller
Head of Startup Services at FFG

Werner Müller is responsible for the Startup Services division at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). The FFG is the national funding agency for applied research in Austria and offers startups, scaleups and spin-offs suitable funding instruments to realise R&D projects. Every year FFG invests over EUR 100 million in R&D projects of startups and spin-offs. Werner is also programme manager of the Global Incubator Network Austria (GIN), a startup incubation programme that helps Asian startups to gain a foothold in Austria. Werner studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and before joining FFG he has been in marketing and communications for years at companies such as A1, UPC, bwin, Jung von Matt or Publicis in Austria and Germany.

Speakers and Panelists
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Dejan Jovicevic
Dejan Jovicevic
Co-Founder & CEO at Der Brutkasten
Moderation and Organisation
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Lisa Spöck
Lisa Spöck
Federal Spokeswoman for AplusB
Moderation and Organisation
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Raphael Friedl (Orga 2024)
Raphael Friedl
Deputy Federal Spokesperson for AplusB

During his career, Raphael Friedl has seen technology transfer from a lot of different angles. He started as a lab assistant in automotive R&D where he also helped initiate a multi-million euro cooperative project with extramural r&d. Subsequently, he supported dozens of SMEs and corporates to structure and fund their innovation efforts while working for the Central Austrian Technology Transfer Agency. Later on, he helped design an all-new incubation scheme for high-tech startups at tech2b, one of Austrias most successful incubators. In his current position as managing director of the incubator, Raphael has made it his professional goal to support academia to exploit more of their publicly financed discoveries to the benefit of society. He firmly belives that establishing spin-off companies is a great way to bring the benefits of scientific advances to the people. Raphael holds master degrees in social economics and innovation management.
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Since 2024, Raphael has also been the deputy federal spokesperson for AplusB.

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Moderation and Organisation
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