Page 8 - RBI FIntech Atlas 2018

8
Spotlight Austria
Austria’s ntech scene has been enjoying increasing recognition over the past few years. The most signi cant developments in 2018 were unquestionably the growth in the level of nancing available to ntech companies during funding rounds and the greater degree of cooperation between players. In April 2018 The Federal Ministry of Finance convened a Fintech Advisory Board whose role is to promote ‘growth through regulation’ as a means of safeguarding standards on the emerging markets for digitised nancial services, ICOs and cryptocurrencies.
The Financial Market Authority (FMA) has established a ntech contact point with a view to creating transparency and clarity as well as fostering growth in the sector. Recently published plans for the creation of a ntech regulatory sandbox have been and are another positive sign of a ntech-friendly regulatory environment.
View of Vienna nancial district cityscape with Danube river, Austria
One of the biggest boosts to the ntech ecosystem
came from the announcement by the UNIQA Group, Speedinvest and RBI of a total investment of up to €50M in Europe’s ntech growth phase. The objective of this is to support promising growth in the late seed phase and by ‘Series A’ companies.
Universities are also devoting more attention to the ntech sector. Vienna University of Economics and Business established a new Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics in 2018. And co-working spaces – such as weXelerate and Talent Garden in Vienna and Tabakfabrik in Linz – have been established across the country as a means of bringing together startups and established companies.
The numerous Austrian ntechs that successfully expanded their business internationally and raised new rounds of venture capital in 2018 included Bluecode and cashpresso.