Universities can represent an abundant source of innovative business ideas. However, many fail at tapping into this huge entrepreneurial potensigning the program we observed three prominent ones in particular:
There is a lack of entrepreneurial know-how: only a small share of students in Austria receive some kind of entrepreneurship education during their studies. As a result, there is a lack of awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable career path. And there is a lack of interconnection between disciplines/universities, although inter-disciplinarity represents a key success factor for innovative business ideas, in particular.
The primary mission of the Entrepreneurship Avenue is to fill these gaps: it is a unique event series designed to inspire, encourage and support young people to start their own business.
The program’s uniqueness? It is open to students from all disciplines and universities. It is a platform of opportunities for students, both ‘explorers’ who simply want to learn about entrepreneurship and for ‘wantrepreneurs’ who benefit from the elaborate support infrastructure the program offers to student startup projects.
Entrepreneurship Avenue is a free and extra-curricular program covering an inspiring kick-off event, a set of five workshops (“Labs”) and the final highlight, the Conference Day. The workshops follow a problem-based learning approach and involve numerous experienced practitioners who stand by the student startup teams as pro bono mentors.
Facts and figures we are proud of
Supporters from the entrepreneurship community
Numbers of participants
Student organising team members
student startups
EVENT-OVERVIEW
THE PROCESS
Kick-off? Labs? Conference? Pitching? Still confused about the structure of the EA? Here is an overview with everything you need to know about the different EA events, terms, and processes.
The Kick-Off
The first event is the Kick-off, which is a half-day long event and will take place on the 22nd of March 2024 at Die Angewandte.
To attend, all you need is to register for free via the registration button on our website, which will be unlocked in February, one month before the day of the Kick-off. The registration will remain open until the end of the Kick-off, so you do not need to worry about missing any deadlines.
At the Kick-off, participants have the chance to listen to different keynote speakers talk about different entrepreneurial concepts, their experience in the start-up world, and more about Entrepreneurship Avenue. During the breaks, participants have the opportunity to network with each other, as well as with the speakers and our partners, who will set up booths in the foyer.
THE LABS
The Kick-off is followed by the Lab series. The Labs are connected and structured in a way that they complete each other.
Notably, during the Labs, participants will learn how to identify a problem, create a business solution around it, and how to pitch it. The Lab series prepares participants for the final pitch competition, which takes place during the final Conference on the 4th of June 2024 at WU Vienna.
Please note: Participating in the Labs series is required if a team wishes to be selected for participation in the final pitch competition during the conference.
The Conference
The Final Conference takes place on the 4th of June 2024. Anyone can join!
There are two ways to participate in the Final Conference:
- If you are selected into the top 10 teams by the jury during Lab 5 (Demo Day). In this case, you will participate and get the chance to pitch your idea during the Final Pitch Award, which is the main event of the Conference.
- If you did not make it to the top 10 teams, or you are simply interested in the start-up world, you are able to join in on the keynote speeches, and panel discussions and watch the Final Pitch Award. All you need to do is register through the EA website.
The Final Conference is a full day-long program. Here, participants have the chance to listen to keynotes, panel discussions, and the Final Pitch Award. They may also register for a “job chat” and network with many like-minded students, professionals, partners, sponsors, and academics.
So now that you know everything, all you need to do is mark your calendar, and make sure to be at the Kick-off!
