Menu
AVCO is the national association for Austria’s Venture Capital and Private Equity industry.
AVCO represents the interests of the private equity industry in Austria. It was founded in 2001 as an association and is the central contact point for all questions regarding Venture Capital and Private Equity. Over the past 20 years, we grew from a handfull members to more than 125, today. AVCO exists for and through its members: VC/PE funds, advisors, service providers, banks, investors, portfolio companies, professionals and other institutions which are interested in developing the VC/PE industry in Austria as well as a functioning and growing capital market.
AVCO strives for understanding, visibility and acceptance of the economic importance of private growth capital and aims to foster the VC/PE ecosystem in all its facets.
In January 2022, Arnaud Béasse succeeded Thomas Tiroch as Managing Director, who again returned to the AVCO Board to which he was a member previously.
With Arnaud, AVCO has gained an internationally experienced manager with a broad understanding of the industry. In 2022, he gave a new impulse to the organisation and together with Anna Lanzendorfer (Senior Operations Manager) they developed new services for AVCO members.
In April, Verena Brand joined the team as Marketing Project Manager and AVCO’s corporate identity has been refreshed with a new branding and a new website.
Throughout the year, with the pandemic slowly passing, we held several events to help connect the private capital community, exchange ideas and get input on various relevant topics of the industry. In Q4, we started to work on a big project – infos to follow soon. Stay tuned!
EVENTS
Together with Austrian Business Agency (ABA) we held a networking breakfast for investors at ViennaUp’22 – the largest decentralized and community-driven startup festival. The breakfast was focused on connecting international investors and was followed by aws Connect Day – the main matchmaking event of VUP’22 for the startup ecosystem. We are already looking forward to being part of ViennaUP’23!
On October 19, 2022 the Austrian Angel Investors Association (aaia) and AVCO hosted invest austria, the flagship event for Angel Investing, Venture Capital & Private Equity for the second time. Over 50 speakers and more than 300 live guests attended. We hosted 15 panels, fireside chats, roundtable discussions and offered the community various chances for networking.
Our goal was to connect the entire private funding lifecycle and to promote investments in innovative companies. The conference was held in English in order to reach a broad audience from DACH, CEE and beyond. Throughout the day, industry experts shared their knowledge on the following issues: fixing risks in the current crises, measuring purpose, new investment drivers, benefits of Austria-CEE interactions, and creating a continuous financing lifecycle.
invest austria 2022 has received great feedbacks. You can find some impressions here or watch the after movie on YouTube. We will continue our path with the next conference on November 7, 2023. Stay tuned!
© Marcella Ruiz-Cruz
On behalf of the Austrian Angel Investors Association (aaia), AustrianStartups, Junge Wirtschaft, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) and AVCO, EcoAustria (Institute for Economic Research) conducted a study on the economic effects of extended start-up activity in Austria, as well as the perspectives and framework conditions of a supportive environment needed. The results of the study show that innovative companies and startups play an important role in the development of the economy and are essential for the innovative power of an economy.
Together with the Vienna Economic Chamber, AVCO has commissioned EcoAustria to conduct a study to identify the opportunities and advantages but also the deficits of Austria’s private capital market. The results show that there is still a lot of catching up to do in order to be able to compete internationally as a fund location. Austria and especially Vienna have the potential of being an attractive location for VCs and PEs on the hub between Western and Eastern Europe. With a suitable legal framework and several reforms, the country could get new funds settled in Austria. A fund volume of 10 billion euros established within 10 years could bring almost 4 billion more added value every year.
Further information on the study
© Barbara Lachner
The Austrian Angel Investors Association (aaia), the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ), Junge Wirtschaft, Junge Industrie, Austrian Startups, Handelsverband and AVCO joined forces and formed an alliance with the vision to promote sustainability through innovation. Innovative companies need funding and access to the best workforce as soon as possible to be able to drive innovation and growth. The goal of the alliance is to mobilise private capital and showcase solutions and best practices from the local innovation landscape and energy transition process.
Further information on the initiative: Der Brutkasten, Trending Topics
In 2022, we were delighted to have 131 members on our side – an all time high for AVCO! We were more than happy to welcome 19 new members in the course of the year:
Butchershop, AG Capital, DAAA, Calm Storm, DDG AG, VÖIG, Mutares, What a Venture, SMAPE Capital, Sophora Unternehmerkapital, Marsh, EIT Manufacturing, Stefan Fenz, Advantage Family Office, Rivean Capital, Aon Austria, ImWind Gruppe, Bellevue SME Advisors GmbH
We are very much looking forward to supporting and working with our members in 2023!
