Attention all aspiring entrepreneurs: Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) has launched a new call for its aws First Incubator program. Until June 23, 2026, innovative, entrepreneurially minded people have the chance to apply for the program, which supports them on the road to founding their first company. Two startups that have already made it into aws First Incubator, Curala and crewhub, told us about their experience.
First, some background on the program. aws First Incubator is aimed at early-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs across every sector. Participants can receive up to €55,000 in funding and take part in a comprehensive 12-month acceleration program. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and hold a valid Austrian residency permit. Teams can range from one to four members.
The program accepts both individuals who have not yet founded a venture (Module A) and recently established companies, founded within the past six months and with no more than €10,000 in prior revenue (Module B). Standard funding covers up to 90 percent of eligible costs, or a maximum of €49,000.
aws First Incubator is especially welcoming to female founders: projects in which women collectively hold more than 25 percent of the business shares qualify for the Gender Bonus, which raises support to 100 percent of eligible costs, or a maximum of €55,000.
Over the years, aws First Incubator has helped many new entrepreneurs find their footing. One startup currently in the program is Curala. Founded in Innsbruck in 2025 by Bruno Kühn and Fabian Sommer, the young company has built an AI-based writing assistant that runs in the background, transcribes conversations, and automatically generates structured findings, physician’s letters, and surgical reports.
Bruno Kühn’s vision is to save medical professionals up to two hours of documentation a day. “Bureaucracy and staff shortages cost practices an enormous amount of time. With Curala, doctors have more time for what really matters: their patients. We’re currently seeing strong growth in human medicine, psychotherapy, and veterinary medicine,” the co-founder explains.
Because AI in medicine is such a sensitive field, Curala places a high priority on data security. The startup is fully GDPR-compliant: all data stays in Europe, and audio is deleted immediately after processing. The product was developed hands-on, together with doctors, and according to Kühn it slots seamlessly into existing workflows.
The aws First Incubator has given Kühn and his team valuable financial backing. “The aws First Incubator supports us financially every month, which matters a great deal to us. I’d recommend the program to other startups as well, especially in the early stage, it provides real financial security. I’d particularly recommend it to founders with little experience, because so much useful, comprehensive foundational knowledge is shared here.”
Another standout participant is crewhub, a Vienna-based startup that builds external crews companies can treat as their own team. It, too, was founded in 2025 by Petra Scheuer and Christopher Newman, as part of the program. The aim is to give companies access to an external, qualified talent pool and spare them much of the time they would otherwise spend on recruiting.
“When staffing needs are short-term or fluctuating, businesses no longer have to search, onboard, and organize from scratch every time. Instead, they draw on an established pool of experienced people who already know their processes and show up ready to work. That saves time, cost, and effort, and brings planning reliability where there would otherwise be stress. Our online platform connects both sides: companies fill open shifts in minutes, and workers find flexible jobs with fair, transparent conditions,” Scheuer explains.
Petra Scheuer previously worked in temporary staffing, where she saw every day how much manual effort goes into scheduling people. At the same time, the complexity of temporary-staffing law often meant a lack of pay transparency, leaving employees unsure of what they were actually entitled to.
Her co-founder Christopher Newman had previously worked at Amazon Web Services, among others, as well as at several startups. Together they set out to build a platform that handles scheduling and administration as autonomously as possible – and one that is fair, transparent, and inclusive for workers.
Scheuer says aws First Incubator was vital to getting crewhub off the ground. “I already knew the program from online. When Chris and I looked at it more closely, it quickly became clear that it was exactly the right fit. We really wanted to be part of an incubator and work on our project alongside other startups. We liked the idea of growing together as a cohort and bringing our project to market readiness with the support of the training sessions and mentors.”
The crewhub founders were able to learn from seasoned entrepreneurs, get feedback, and grow together with other founders. “The program helps us on several levels. Our mentor Alois Reitbauer is especially valuable – he’s been supporting us ever since he was a jury member in our selection process. He’s always there with advice, and his experience is incredibly valuable. He’s a great sparring partner who often brings in perspectives we’d never have reached on our own,” says Scheuer.
Financial support is another key part of the program. crewhub is currently using it to put its go-to-market strategy into action. According to Scheuer, the startup has been able to buy equipment, host its first community events, and keep developing the platform.
“For me, what makes the First Incubator special is that you genuinely get support from every direction, and the program is very open to different ideas. We were given a full year to develop our idea, try things out, throw them away again, and grow as entrepreneurs in the process. The exchange with the other startups was especially valuable. You quickly realize many of them face similar challenges. I’d recommend the First Incubator to every startup in Austria without hesitation. You get exactly the environment you need: support, know-how, a strong network, and the chance to truly develop your own idea,” Scheuer sums up.
Interested in joining aws First Incubator? Don’t miss your chance! Applications close on June 23, 2026 (12:00 noon).
The selection process runs in two stages. After the June 23 deadline, aws notifies the selected projects by August 31, 2026, with invitations to the mandatory aws First Start-up Camp, scheduled for September 9–11, 2026 in Vienna. Attending all three days of the camp is compulsory for admission to the incubator, and participants cover their own travel and accommodation costs. Final acceptance decisions follow by September 21, 2026, and the official program year begins on November 1, 2026.
To apply, interested parties must first register as a project team, individual, or company in the aws Funding Manager. From there, a completed form and a set of application documents are required:
An external expert jury evaluates the applications. Projects that address socio-political challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) earn additional points.
The program strictly prohibits double funding under European state-aid law, so applicants must disclose any other funding they have applied for or received. Certain combinations are incompatible, a notable example being the startup grant from the Vienna Business Agency, which cannot be combined with aws First Incubator support.
Find out more about aws First Incubator here.
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