Head of startup, EY Austria

Florian Haas is the head of the startup ecosystem at EY Austria and, together with his team, supports founders and young companies in growing sustainably and finding the right partners in order to successfully turn big ideas into big companies. He is the founder and responsible program director for the EY Scale-up Award in Austria, which brings the best scale-ups of today and tomorrow onto the stage. Florian is a speaker and Angel Investor focusing on sustainability and tech.

Projekt Manager, aws Connect Industry-Startup.Net

With a background in tourism, Helen Krüger successfully transitioned into Vienna's startup and scale-up ecosystem, gaining valuable experience at companies like GoStudent and Storebox. Driven by her passion for building strong relationships, she advanced from her role as Strategic Partnerships Manager at GoStudent to her current position at Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws). At aws she focuses on fostering collaborations between startups, SMEs, and corporates, helping to drive innovation and growth within the Austrian startup ecosystem through the Matching service aws Connect Industry-Startup.Net.

Head of Innovations, MAXFIVE

Bea Landl is Head of innovations at MAXFIVE since spring 2022. Together with her team she is working on new ways to make shopping more tangible for all five senses. Previously, she worked in the areas of market research and customer insights for ASFINAG and REWE Group, among others.

Managing Partner, Big Cheese Ventures

Ben Ruschin is Managing Partner of Big Cheese Ventures, a company that supports startups with corporate & business development. Ben is co-founder of WeAreDevelopers, an HR tech scaleup and host of the world's largest developer event (>15k developers), which he continues to support as a major shareholder. He also co-founded the HR tech startup Apprentigo, which focuses on up-skilling apprentices and young professionals. Ben is the lead investor in Notarity and mytalents.ai – his portfolio comprises >20 startups, including Consalio & Halm (DE) as well as the Y-Combinator startups Salvy (Brazil) & Hockeystack (USA).  Ben supports his startups with hands-on sales expertise and a global network of decision-makers. He invests via Founders of Europe, Big Cheese Capital and his private family office. Ben is a Forbes 30 Under 30 list-maker and holds a variety of private & public sector board seats. He is married to the opera singer Hila Fahima, they have one son.

CEO at Agro Innovation Lab & Head of Farming Innovations, Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG

Georg Sladek is the CEO of the Agro Innovation Lab. The Agro Innovation Lab is Europe's first AgTech accelerator and currently has a network of over 1,400 startups. The daily business of the RWA Innovation Platform involves scouting, evaluating, and fostering of innovations within the business sectors of the RWA and Lagerhaus-Cooperatives (Agriculture, Energy, Home & Garden, Building Materials, Machinery). In addition, he leads the RWA department "Farming Innovations," which develops and brings innovative business models to market for the Lagerhaus cooperatives. For example, this year, the Irish startup Farmhedge was acquired and integrated into the department. Previously, Sladek was a member of the management board of the logistics company TKL-Lebensmittellogistik and served as a policy officer for agriculture and environmental issues at the Ecosocial Forum.

Managing Director, Austria Wirtschaftsservice

Edeltraud Stiftinger has been Managing Director of the Austria Wirtschaftsservice and the European Recovery Plan-Funds since 2012. From 2007 to 2012, she was Head of R&D at Siemens Central Eastern Europe. She graduated in Social & Economic Science at the University of Vienna). Since 2022, she has also been Deputy Chairperson of the Supervisory Board for the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft Ltd. and is member of the Supervisory Board of the Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG.

Project Manager, aws Connect Industry-Startup.Net

At aws Connect Industry-Startup.Net, the role focuses on fostering innovation and driving transformation within the startup ecosystem. The primary responsibility is to establish and manage strategic partnerships between innovative startups, SMEs, and large corporations, with an emphasis on Corporate Venture Capital and Venture Clienting initiatives. This includes enabling businesses to leverage cutting-edge solutions and resources, while supporting their journey towards growth and digital transformation. Through these efforts, aws Connect Industry-Startup.Net positions itself as a key enabler for forward-thinking enterprises.