With the Austrian Investing Report 2022, the pre-IPO investment activity in Austria was comprehensively examined for the first time. The knowledge gained now provides information about the investment motives and the behavior of both anglers and institutional investors. The report is intended to contribute to the design of conducive framework conditions for innovative start-ups. The order was placed jointly by the Austrian Angel Investors Association (aaia), the Austrian Private Equity and Venture Capital Organization (AVCO) and Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws).
Over 82 percent of the investors surveyed named the business model as a decision-making criterion for investments, and almost 73 percent named the technology. The main motive for investors is the return (21 percent). Supporting the founders (18 percent), enjoying working together (17 percent) and passing on know-how (12 percent) are also mentioned as motives not much less frequently. “The high focus on investments in Austrian growth companies is quite surprising. More than 56 percent of the shares are held in Austrian companies. That’s positive and important for the location,” says Dr. Rudolf Dömötör, Director WU Business Incubator.
It is also interesting that according to the report, angel investors diversify more between individual forms of investment than institutional investors. Around 21 percent of the invested assets are in startups, scale-ups and spin-offs, 31 percent in real estate, 21 percent in stocks or bonds and 14 percent in SMEs and existing companies. Institutional investors, on the other hand, act with a stronger focus on startups, scaleups and spin-offs. These groups of companies account for around 77 percent of their invested assets.
Read the full report below (in German).