weXelerate

In 2018 our first visit was to weXelerate, a newly established startup & innovation hub

Co-Founder and Managing Director Dominik Greiner gave the Trade Delegates an introduction to the unique and thriving ecosystem of open innovation on nearly 9000 sqm, where weXelerate aims to connect startups and established corporates.

Opened in the summer of 2017 and placed in the heart of the Design Tower, one of the most significant buildings in Vienna, each year the Accelerator supports 100 of the most promising European startups with a focus on energy and infrastructure, industry 4.0, media, insurance and banking, as well as cross-industry technologies such as internet of things, artificial intelligence, bots, mobility, blockchain and cyber security. In the first so called batch 52 startups from 14 countries, took part as well as corporates, supporters and venture capital companies like Speedinvest, i5invest, Q-Capital Ventures, Ithuba Capital, 3TS Capital Partners or Camouflage Ventures.

Andritz, Uniqa, Deutsche Telekom, Palfinger and Wien Energie are among the corporate partners which have already confirmed their three-year participation in the accelerator program. They secure competitive advantages and expertise by using the startups for new developments to enter new markets or to speed up their processes, for talent scouting, or to discover new trends. For this service the corporates pay a kind of membership fee, for the startups the participation is free of charge. The participation is open for startups as well as for corporates from all over the world. The next call for startups will be launched in September this year.

The service and distribution partners involved in the program include the Amazon Web Services, KPMG, Vienna Business Agency, and many more, giving classes and choaching the startups - all together about 100 coaches.
weXelerate also organizes cross-industry events & Workshops, like the Technology Breakfast, Deep Dive, Inspire & Dine and so on. Moreover weXelerate offers rentable conference and event rooms at the Design Tower, with fully equipped event areas, with or without service.

Exemplarily two of the currently housed startups gave a pitch, showing their new developed platforms to the Trade Delegates: Accerole offers an artificial intelligence-powered inhouse online learning system for corporates  (e.g. for languages). Inspired from games, loyalcraft is a gamification loyalty system built by professional gamers and developers ? and the name of the second startup that was presented to the Trade Delegates.
After the presentations and networking with drinks and snacks the Trade Delegates finished the event with a tour through the three floors of  weXelerate, the largest multi-corporate accelerator ecosystem in CEE.