How might we turn prototypes into startups?
Best Startup Idea Award presented by
From prototype to company
Most ideas in the InnoDays solve a problem for one challenge partner — and that’s exactly what’s needed. But some ideas reveal more. They show a market that goes beyond a single hotel chain, a single region, or a single guest card. They have the shape of a company.
This award goes to the team whose idea has that shape, and to the challenge partner who sees the opportunity to grow with it. A great startup idea doesn’t have to compete with the partner’s interests — it can become a corporate venture, a spin-off, or a new business line that the partner builds together with the founding team.
Stay in your challenge. Solve it well for your partner. But also ask yourselves: what becomes a company here — and who’s the right partner to build it with?
Questions to ask in your challenge
Every brief contains a market larger than the use case it describes. A few prompts to surface it:
Inclusive Arrival — Carinthia is the first market for an accessible-travel buddy system. Could the same model work in every Austrian region? Across Europe? Could Kärnten Werbung and NDK become the founding partners of a buddy-system company that other destinations license?
Orchestrated Mobility — Vienna’s morning peak is one bottleneck; every European tourism city has a version of it. Could Wien Tourismus, Columbus, or Dr. Richard back a flow-management product that other cities and operators adopt — with your team as the founding core?
Sustainable Stay — CASABLANCA’s PMS is the natural starting point. The brief itself opens the door: a standalone product, a certifier-licensed standard, an industry-wide sustainability data layer. Could this become a CASABLANCA-backed venture that scales beyond CASABLANCA’s customer base?
Connected Region — Burgenland is the pilot region. The card ecosystem pattern fits every Austrian region and every European one. Could feratel or Burgenland Tourismus turn this into a licensed product for other destinations — with your team building it?
Open Ecosystem — The connective layer is cross-provider by definition. Could Österreich Werbung, Change Tourism Austria, or one of the participating partners back an independent operator that none of them would build alone — but all of them would use?
What the jury looks for
– Market beyond the use case. Who else needs this — and how many of them are there?
– A revenue logic. Who pays, what for, and how predictably?
– Founding readiness. People in the team who want to take this forward, not just present it.
– Path to a partner. Could the challenge partner — or another player in the ecosystem — back this as a corporate venture, a spin-off, or a co-founded company?
– Implementation perspective in Upper Austria. Could the solution be piloted with Upper Austrian tourism businesses, or could the team set up there?
What you win
– Consultation meeting with advisors from tech2b and Oberösterreich Tourismus to assess your idea’s startup potential and possible partner constellation
– Direct access to the tech2b Tourism Incubator team — get to know the program, the partners, and the path that suits your idea best
– Visibility as the Best Startup Idea team in InnoDays communication and across the tech2b network
– If accepted into the Tourism Incubator program: €10,000 grant, 12 months of coaching, access to the mentor network and tourism industry network
About the Tourism Incubator
The Tourism Incubator is a joint accelerator program by tech2b, Business Upper Austria and Oberösterreich Tourism located in Upperaustria. Since 2021, it has supported more than 45 startups in tourism, hospitality and leisure on their path to market readiness. Success stories include trailpulse, SURFjobs, hublz and majourny.
