Vienna Business Agency successfully launched its first Growth Lab, an intensive six-week upscaling program designed specifically for Vienna-based startups preparing for their scaling phase. From October to mid-November 2024, the program brought together ten promising companies from diverse industries, demonstrating Vienna’s vibrant startup ecosystem.
Program Leadership and Expert Guidance
Under the leadership of Christopher Wippel and Gregor-Robert Posch from Vienna Business Agency, the program delivered 12 sessions combining workshops, peer-to-peer learning, and personalized coaching. Led by experienced trainers from Konsultori – Petra Wolkenstein, Franziska Kolk, Michael Kubiena, and Tim Birdsall – participants received practical guidance across crucial scaling areas.
Comprehensive Curriculum for Sustainable Growth
The curriculum spanned essential growth areas including Organization Design, Strategy Operationalization, VC Funding, Public Funding, International Market Entry, Goal Setting, Sales and Partnerships, and Pitch Professionalizing. Each module was designed to address specific challenges faced by scaling companies and included frameworks and assignments to implement their next steps on their journey to becoming scaling-ready.
Participant Insights
Nina Amina Authried from Parlai reflects on the program:
“We are grateful for being part of the Growth Lab organized by Christopher Wippel and Gregor-Robert Posch at Wirtschaftsagentur Wien. It’s been a great chance to dive into professional workshops with top coaches from Konsultori like Petra Wolkenstein and Franziska Kolk. Last week’s input on internationalization was super helpful and a great refresher session from studies. Even with global products like software, selecting and preparing for specific markets is key. Digital markets may be accessible, but navigating them is a different story.”
Another participant, Jonas Skielboe from VeloConcerts, captured his experiences in a video:
“I recently attended the Growth Lab from the Vienna Business Agency. It was perfect for us, as we’ve been building our cargo bike event solution for five years, and now it’s time to expand internationally. The program provided a great overview of essential processes: how to scale a business, review your business model, evaluate your team structure, and adopt more efficient sales methods. The team from Konsultori did an excellent job – great team spirit and extremely competent! I highly recommend it to anyone looking to scale their business.”
Meet the Growth Lab 2024
This first batch included some of Vienna’s diverse and growing startups, all set to scale and expand their impact.
Betterlinked, Seatsmatch, Sheyn, Parlai, incaseof.law, Minimist, VeloConcerts, Queen of Green, deskpilot, OFS Lipid Legends, OFS Lipid Legends, Trikoterie
Major takeaways during the sessions
International Market Entry
Selecting the right markets on a city, country, or regional approach asks for an analytical approach. Licensing and Franchising as fast lower-risk market entry models are attractive.
VC Funding
There are major differences between a strategic investor and a financial investor that need detailed discussions about the long-term influence on the company. A long-term funding strategy gives insights on potential proceeds from exits for founders, as well as triggers the discussion about growth points that the startup needs to achieve to make it to the exit.
Strategy Operationalization
Developing an effective strategy for an emerging, growing organization operating in a fast-changing environment is challenging. But bringing strategy into the organization and turning it into action, without being overwhelmed by everyday business, is equally demanding. A structured approach such as OKRs can serve as a useful tool to strike the right balance and not lose sight of your strategic priorities.
Organization Design and Processes
Organization is often perceived as an obstacle, something which stands in the way of change and growth. But organizations and their leaders have plenty of design elements at hand that they can actively shape to future-proof their organizations. Working on role clarity, boundaries, and how roles connect via processes to master collaboration is key for organizations with ambitious growth plans.
Pitch Professionalizing
There is a major difference between pitch decks for sales, live investor pitching, pitches sent to investors that need to speak for themselves, and partnerships. A pitch deck is a door opener and entry point to conversations with investors, customers and partners. Getting invaluable feedback from both, peers and experts ensures your narrative is clear, concise, and compelling from the very first slide.
Looking Ahead
The successful completion of the first Growth Lab marks an important step. Through its industry-agnostic approach and focus on practical scaling challenges, the program fills a crucial gap in supporting startups during their critical growth phase. Vienna Business Agency continues to strengthen Vienna’s position as a leading startup hub by providing targeted support where it matters most.
For more information about future Growth Lab programs and other startup support initiatives, interested companies get in contact Vienna Business Agency.