EY Scale-up Award 2024

Vienna, 24 June 2024 - On 20 June 2024, the auditing and consulting organization EY presented the EY Scale-up Award in Austria for the third time at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace. With the award and the associated program, EY and the 32 top-class partners of the competition promote promising Austrian start-ups and scale-up companies on a growth path. In total, there were more than 250 applications, which were processed via a comprehensive digital assessment for growth companies developed by EY in cooperation with the partners.

The jury selected the Scale-up and Rising Star of the Year in a total of twelve categories. The ten highest-scoring scale-ups and five highest-scoring rising stars across all categories competed in a final round for overall victory. In addition, the special “Spin-off of the Year” prize was awarded in cooperation with the aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice).

63-member expert jury: focus on development, diversity and resilience

A total of 64 companies achieved the benchmark required to be awarded a Scale-up Badge. In twelve categories, 24 awards were presented for the best scale-up and the best rising star. The five Rising Stars and ten Scale-ups with the highest scores across all categories competed for the titles “Rising Star of the Year 2024” and “Scale-up of the Year 2024” in a two-stage Grand Finale - consisting of the Growth Maturity Assessment Day with one-on-one interviews with the specialized and diverse 63-member expert jury and Elevator Pitches at the Award Show.

“Start-ups and scale-ups on a growth trajectory are of essential importance for Austria as a business location: they are not only drivers of innovation, but also essential cornerstones of the business location - because growth always means value creation, especially through newly created, highly qualified jobs or increasing the attractiveness of locations by recruiting top talent. Start-ups and scale-ups are therefore not only drivers of innovation, but also of the economy. With the EY Scale-up Award, we are shining the spotlight on the great importance of start-ups and scale-ups and supporting them in their sustainable growth,” says Florian Haas, Head of Start-up at EY Austria and responsible for the EY Scale-up Award.

“In the economically challenging year 2024, companies, especially start-ups and scale-ups, will have to demonstrate increased resilience and adaptability. The major challenges - from financing difficulties to the battle for qualified specialists - require innovative solutions and a strong vision in order to remain successful in a highly competitive market environment.

For the EY Scale-up Award, we therefore paid particular attention not only to development and potential, but also to dealing with the changed framework conditions and factors such as resilience and sustainable planning and development. The award-winning Rising Stars and Scale-ups particularly impressed the jury and reflect the maturity and good crisis management of the Austrian ecosystem,” says Haas. In line with the motto “HIGHER UP”, the EY Scale-up Award provides participating start-ups with valuable impetus for their next growth step or the next round of financing as part of the application process through analyses, discussions and coaching sessions.

Storebox was named Scale-up of the Year. The Viennese scale-up is the first completely digital self-storage solution in Europe and is building the largest and most innovative logistics network in Europe together with franchise partners. With a team of around 80 people, Storebox creates innovative logistics solutions for urban spaces.

The “Rising Star of the Year” title was awarded to the start-up Circly, which was also recognized as a Rising Star in both the Retail & Consumer Products categories as well as with the special “Spin-off of the Year” award. Circly offers simple, precise and cost-efficient AI-supported planning for production and retail in order to reduce wasted resources. The start-up from Lower Austria thus supports retailers with the challenge of how they can analyze the data and wishes of consumers in analogue and digital business in order to plan in a targeted manner.

“This award is a great tribute to the entire team, who work hard every day and give their all so that we can implement our successful growth course in the way we are currently doing. There is no cooler national or international award and no better recognition for the performance of start-ups and scale-ups in growth. I could never have imagined that we would win three trophies at once and it is still hard to comprehend. After a challenging year with many ups and downs, this is a highlight for the whole team and we are very happy about it,” says Eric Weisz, CEO and co-founder of Circly.

As in the previous year, Sarcura was named Rising Star in the “BioTech & Health” category. The start-up automates, miniaturizes and controls personalized cell therapies in real time on a large, industrial scale.

Congratulations to all the winners!

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