The International Masters Program in Hagenberg (ISI – International School for Informatics) attracts foreign students from all over the world. Although the program is very selective (only top students are admitted) more and more students apply for it. Currently there are 27 students from eight different countries participating in the masters program.
For the next academic year (September 1, 2009) more master places will be available to handle the run from around the world.
isiQiri, another tech2b startup, received 100.000 EUR from AWS Preseed fund in March. With this financial support further steps can be accomplished to finish the prototype. As a next step isiQiri starts to raise another 200.000 EUR from Business Angels as part of their financial strategy.
AWS Preseed: Austrian pre-financing fund up-to EUR 100.00 for innovative startups.
What is isiQiri? read more…
tech2b Startup mogree gets a financial boost and plans to go international. Experts are already excited about the new concept and are curious about the next steps.
Alexander Krajete
Interview with Greentech founder Alexander Krajete. A new startup at the tech2b high-tech business incubation program.
Founder: Dr. Alexander Krajete
Industry segment: white biotechnology, renewable energy, waste gas / waste management
Market: 1. Europe, 2. USA, 3. Asia
Competition: Carbon Capture Storage (CCS), biogas plants (also collaborators)
Product: GreenTech specializes in the development of a biotech process for the direct conversion of waste gases to a gaseous energy carrier. The business model ist based on technical consulting and process development in an early and medium stage. Plant design, construction and operation will be carried out by other partners.
Interview
How did you come up with the business idea?
The inspiration came suddenly during my employment in Norway on a Sunday morning in April 2007. In Chemical Engineering News, I read an article entitled ‘From Waste to Energy’, describing a company from New Zealand which uses genetically modified microbes from the company Genentech for the conversion of waste gas from steel industry to bioethanol.
As a postdoc at UC Berkeley, I gained experience in CO2 chemisty, Genentech from South San Francisco happened to be the first company to call me for an interview. I started to combine the pieces ‘CO2, Genentech, energy’, and I came up with the approach to convert waste gases to methane.
What is special about your new product?
The intention to develop and upscale a process for the converstion of waste gases to methane is new. Other biological processes as for instance fermentation in biogas plants utilize a solid / liquid raw material. GreenTech’s novel process produces a gaseous energy carrier exclusively from emission gases. GreenTech’s process has higher conversion rates due to accelerated kinetics.
What impact will your product have on the market?
The process converts waste gases like CO2 and other components. We generate value from waste which is directly linked to an increase of energy efficiency. At a later stage, we intend to combine the novel process with renewable electricity which would allow the storage of solar and wind electricity.
What do you think will be the opinion of the competition?
The acceptance of the novel technology clearly correlates with the country’s resources. The idea was originallly developed in Norway which is rich in oil and gas. The support for the novel approach was rather limited though. The situation was different in Austria and Germany. People listened enthusiastically to the novel approach, now we witness a huge support. This was one of the main reasons which made me return back to Austria after more than 5 years spent in USA and Norway.
The novel technology will be placed in a new market, I therefore see rather cooperation opportunities than competition.
What is the future of your company?
We intend to found the company in Linz, Austria which has an amazing accompanying infrastructure in mechanical, electrical engineering and automation. Biotechnology will be a novel industry in this part of Europe. Interestingly, potential customers can be found in this region, as well.
Currently, we are designing a prototype reactor for industrial applications, the process data are being evaluated in the USA.
After completion of the engineering work, the reactor will be tested under real life conditions with industrial waste gas. In case the pilot reactor passes the validation test, we will proceed with production in big scale for the European market.
For the 5th time in a row, the young start-up company ma’at solutions Software Gmbh cooperated with the established event management firm MRA Events, with expertise in developing and producing all aspects of high-profile venues, to promote the Viennese Opera Ball in New York. The ball, which represents the Austrian cultural heritage in the United States, was visited by many representatives from the business, political and cultural communities and society. The highlights of the ball were Peter Duchin and his Orchestra, the Midnight Quadrille led by Heinz Heidenreich and The Hayes Kavanagh Band in the Jade Room. The event was hosted at The Grand Ballroom of The Waldorf = Astoria New York, New York.
Website: www.vienneseoperaball.us
To create more room for new teams a joint action of startups and business coaches helped to transport a large number of furniture to the new offices. Many helping hands were coordinated by Nadja in order to get all the heavy packages safe in the second floor. This action showed once again the commitment and the spirit within tech2b.
By the way, more room could be necessary after receiving more teams in the incubation program. A lot of new start-ups and high-tech ideas are in the starting blocks to apply for the program
The main strategy of the SIAB Business Solutions is to offer SAP in the ERP field ERP cost effective and time saving as well as easy to handle SMEs in the Austrian market. Therefore, SIAB addresses the SME segment successfully with it is pre-fabricated (Productization) and simplified (Simplification) components.
After the successful participation in the i2b & go business plan competition in 2007, the BistroBox startup team from tech2b participates in a Knut Ogris Film which launches a three documentary series reporting from young founder teams in Austria. The movie will be broadcasted on the Austrian national television (ORF).
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