A helping hand for founders: from the initial idea to business success

Our start-up services are designed to create a secure environment in which you can try out your business ideas. 

It’s no coincidence that an above-average proportion of our graduates – between 6% and 8% – work as freelancers or are self-employed. Compared with the national average of 2%, this goes to show that with an IMC Krems education, you’ll be especially well prepared if you want to go freelance or start your own business.

Our services are aimed at both students and alumni of the university, who we support by providing consultation and support programmes. We have relationships with companies in a wide range of sectors which might be interested in your business idea. Let us put you in touch.

Playground Ideation takes place twice a year and is an opportunity to workshop ideas (including business proposals) in collaboration with about 20 other students. It’s an exciting experience, especially if you don’t have a specific concept in mind at the start of the process – because during the weekend the ideas start to flow!

As a group, we home in on the best approaches, and you get valuable feedback from your peers and the IMC Career Service team. We work on the product and on defining the target groups for potential customers. The aim is to plan your start-up as effectively as possible on paper.

Afterwards, you continue the development work on your own. It goes without saying that you can call on us at any stage if you require additional support. On Demo Day you present your start-up idea to a larger audience and an independent panel, who’ll give you feedback.

Applying for Playground Ideation

We’re looking for students from all departments who

• want to develop new ideas and businesses, and/or
• continue working on an existing business idea

Send us your application, telling us in your own words why you’d like to participate.

Find out more and apply today

The Open Innovation Lab in Krems promotes innovation and start-ups. Moreover it is an open space for students, graduates, employees and researchers of IMC Krems, as well as for companies and the local economy.

University and business meet in an open, relaxed environment, where human error is acceptable and is a means to learn and develop innovations for society.

"Open Innovation entails establishing ties with our stakeholders which will extensively boost the innovation potential in research, teaching and organisations." Udo Brändle, the IMC Krems Managing Dircetor emphasized in his speech that the Open Innovation Lab provided the necessary space for it.