There are exactly 30,285 founders who took the step into self-employment in 2018.
More and more women as founders
A particular trend in new start-ups: the proportion of women climbed to an all-time high of 45.3 percent in 2018. Ten years ago, the share was 40.7 percent. Thus, the Austrian economy is becoming more and more female, more and more women have the courage or the need to become self-employed.
For comparison: In Austrian start-ups according to a narrower definition, there are only 12 percent of women in Austria. Not least because of this there are now numerous initiatives that seek to create (sometimes exclusive) offers for women – including their own coworking spaces, their own incubators or their own hackathon (trending topics reported).
2.4 jobs per foundation
Start-ups are important for the Austrian economy, which is heavily influenced by small and medium-sized enterprises. The Chamber of Commerce creates new businesses on average 2.4 jobs. Of course, some have to lock up again, but after five years, 65 percent of start-ups still operate successfully in the market.
For comparison: according to the Austrian Startup Monitor, Austrian startups employ an average of 8.2 people. In Austria you can count about 1,500 companies to the startup definition in the narrower sense (more here).
GmbHs at 12.6 percent
The vast majority of start-ups are still unregistered sole proprietors with a 77.1 percent stake. This is followed by the GmbH with 12.6 percent. Here are the classic startups in the narrower sense to find – so those new companies that can also take the legal form venture capital or employees participate.
In the sectors “trade and crafts” leads with a share of 40 percent, followed by “trade” with 26.9 percent and the division “information and consulting” with 19.7 percent. Another 7.6 percent of start-ups were in the tourism and leisure sector.
Also published on Medium.