17.04.2020

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

In Edupreneurship, companies and educational institutions cooperate to provide valuable practical knowledge. This is more important in the corona crisis than ever before.
/artikel/corporate-edupreneurship-innovation-driver
elearning studentin mit laptop
(c) Adobe Stock / Antonioguillem
sponsored

In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges. It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments. At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.

Entrepreneurship is an essential tool to be able to react successfully. Because it does not mean inventing something new or managing the company in difficult times – it means much more to recognize market opportunities, find solutions and implement them successfully.

Just as companies react to new circumstances, educational institutions must constantly adapt and create new learning concepts and content to equip students with the right skills. Edupreneurship describes this process of driving change and developing new learning programs to best meet the challenges of our time.

Corship: An EU-project for Co-Innovation

The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and startups is supported with innovative training formats. The knowledge alliance is funded by the EU and brings together seven industry and research partners: FH Joanneum (AT; coordinator), AVL List GmbH (AT), Cracow University of Economics (PL), Hasso Plattner Institute (DE), BETA-I Incubator (PT) and European Startup Network (BE).

The core element is a free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), which brings together over 1500 entrepreneurs, managers and students online to learn about the potential, challenges and opportunities for cooperation. The next MOOC starts already on April 22, 2020, and free registration is available under this link.

Toolbox and MasterClass as parts of Corship

A specially developed „toolbox“ facilitates matchmatching and cooperation between the participants. The „Co-Innovation Builder“ is at the centre of the toolbox: This is a kind of business model canvas for collaboration, which is used in the MOOC.

Additonally, the Co-Innovation MasterClass offers 30 startups, managers and students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and work together on Co-Innovation Challenges in two Innovation Bootcamps in Berlin and Krakow.  The Co-Innovation MasterClass will take place in 2021, you can apply for a place via the MOOC .

„With Corship we want to show new ways of connecting key players of the start-up ecosystem through innovative training approaches in order to exploit the full potential of co-innovation,“ says Christian Friedl, Coordinator and Senior Lecturer at FH JOANNEUM.

The project partner AVL List GmbH has been working with innovative startups as part of the Startup Initiative Creators Expedition since 2017 and can therefore contribute valuable experience and learning.

TECC: FH JOANNEUM cooperates with companies

Another example of Edupreneurship, in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC (Training On Entrepreneurship & Company Creation).

The Institute for International Management at FH JOANNEUM, together with its partners AVL List, Raiffeisenlandesbank Steiermark and 360Lab, launched the project „TECC – Training for Enterprise and Company Creation“ at the beginning of March 2020. The aim of the project is to enable students to develop creative ideas on an interdisciplinary, hands-on basis and to take them through to maturity in a 2-semester applied training programme. Students from different courses of study at the FH Joanneum Graz are admitted to this project. The programme offers a mixture of teaching, seminars, company visits and pitching sessions.

„At TECC not only students learn from the partner organisations. Through close cooperation with the student teams, we also learn for our activities at Raiffeisen TATEN-Bank. We learn where startup customers need support from a bank at an early stage and where we should dive deeper into the startup business in the future,“ says Martina Hölzl, Startups & Digitalization, Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark AG.

TACC: Training for entrepreneurship in the automotive industry

AVL List has already been able to gain experience in this area, as TACC (Training for Automotive Companies Creation) was already developed in 2018.

TACC is also a new training concept with a focus on entrepreneurship – but with a specialization on the automotive industry. With a strong technological component, TACC offers orientation in the rapidly changing automotive industry – a course for those who want to understand, study and explore the world of entrepreneurship and innovation in the automotive industry. For this purpose AVL cooperates with the University of Modena UNIMORE and regional partners of the Automotive Innovation Hub. The output after two semesters is a business case for starting your own startup.

„With TACC we want to promote the entrepreneurial spirit of young people by creating a link between universities, incubation centres and companies. As part of the Automotive Innovation Hub, the initiative enables us to respond optimally to trends in the automotive sector“, says Marta Pellegrino, Program Coordinator TACC.

The target group of this program are motivated students who want to start their own business and acquire the necessary skills. The program includes classes with the participation of experienced managers, participation in national and international trade fairs, workshops, company visits, complementary seminars, prototyping, and design and validation sessions for the planned startup project.

Further information about TACC can be found via this link.

„With programs such as TACC and TECC, we not only want to support the founding process of new startups, but also want to give students the entrepreneurial mindset that we consider essential in today’s working world. It is not only about developing their own ideas, but also about the skills to implement these ideas,“ concludes Viktoria Ilger, Creators Expedition AVL Startup Initiative, summing up the programs.

Deine ungelesenen Artikel:
10.09.2026

Plug and Play errichtet in Linz sein erstes EU-Zentrum für „Physical and Industrial AI“

Plug and Play errichtet am JKU-Campus sein erstes EU-Exzellenzzentrum für Industrie-KI. Keba, Primetals, Swietelsky, TGW Logistics und voestalpine starten als Anchor-Partner. tech2b betreut die Initiative für das Land Oberösterreich.
/artikel/plug-and-play-errichtet-in-linz-sein-erstes-eu-zentrum-fuer-physical-and-industrial-ai
10.09.2026

Plug and Play errichtet in Linz sein erstes EU-Zentrum für „Physical and Industrial AI“

Plug and Play errichtet am JKU-Campus sein erstes EU-Exzellenzzentrum für Industrie-KI. Keba, Primetals, Swietelsky, TGW Logistics und voestalpine starten als Anchor-Partner. tech2b betreut die Initiative für das Land Oberösterreich.
/artikel/plug-and-play-errichtet-in-linz-sein-erstes-eu-zentrum-fuer-physical-and-industrial-ai
Foto: OTS Amt der Oö. Landesregierung

Das Land Oberösterreich holt einen prominenten Player aus dem Silicon Valley dauerhaft nach Linz: Am Campus der Johannes Kepler Universität (JKU) entsteht das erste „Center of Excellence for Physical and Industrial AI“ von Plug and Play innerhalb der Europäischen Union. Das gaben Landeshauptmann Thomas Stelzer und Vertreter der beteiligten Unternehmen am Donnerstag bei einer Pressekonferenz im Landhaus Linz bekannt.

Plug and Play wurde 2006 im Silicon Valley gegründet und betreibt ein internationales Netzwerk für Innovation und Startup-Kooperationen. Nach eigenen Angaben zählt das Unternehmen zu den aktivsten Early-Stage-Venture-Capital-Investoren der Welt, mit mehr als 65 Standorten auf fünf Kontinenten, über 550 Unternehmenspartnern, rund 250 Startup-Investments pro Jahr und mehr als 2.500 Unternehmen im Portfolio, darunter über 35 Unicorns.

Neu ist Plug and Play in Österreich dabei nicht: Seit 2019 kooperiert das Netzwerk mit dem Flughafen Wien, 2021 eröffnete es dort sein österreichisches Headquarter (brutkasten berichtete). In den ersten fünf Jahren dieser Partnerschaft wurden mehr als 700 Startups gemeinsam gescreent, rund zwei Dutzend Projekte in Bereichen wie Robotics, Predictive Maintenance und KI entstanden daraus. Geleitet wird Plug and Play Austria von Managing Director Nik Munaretto. Mit dem Exzellenzzentrum in Linz kommt nun ein dauerhafter Standort mit industriellem Fokus hinzu.

Fünf Industrie-Schwergewichte als Anchor-Partner

Mit Keba, Primetals Technologies, Swietelsky, TGW Logistics und voestalpine beteiligen sich fünf oberösterreichische Industrieunternehmen als künftige Anchor-Partner an der Gründungsrunde. Als Gründungspartner erhalten sie besondere Mitgestaltungsmöglichkeiten und können industrielle Aufgabenstellungen und technologische Schwerpunkte in das Programm einbringen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen konkrete KI-Anwendungen in Produktion, Anlagenbau, Logistik, Engineering und Bauwirtschaft.

Das Prinzip dahinter ist der Open-Innovation-Ansatz von Plug and Play: Etablierte Unternehmen bringen konkrete technologische Herausforderungen ein, Plug and Play identifiziert über sein internationales Netzwerk passende Startups und Technologien und bringt beide Seiten für Pilotprojekte und Kooperationen zusammen.

„Oberösterreich wartet nicht darauf, was die Zukunft bringt: Wir gestalten sie. Mit Plug and Play holen wir eines der weltweit führenden Innovationsnetzwerke nach Linz und machen Oberösterreich zum europäischen Pionier bei ‚Physical and Industrial AI‘“, sagt Landeshauptmann Thomas Stelzer. Neue Technologien sollten „nicht irgendwo Wertschöpfung und Arbeitsplätze schaffen, sondern bei uns in Oberösterreich“.

Knogler: „Bei KI entscheidet nicht allein, wer die besten Ideen hat“

Keba-CEO Christoph Knogler, zugleich Vorsitzender der KI-Taskforce der Industriellenvereinigung, sieht in dem Zentrum einen Hebel für die Umsetzungsgeschwindigkeit: „Bei Künstlicher Intelligenz entscheidet nicht allein, wer die besten Ideen hat, sondern wer sie rasch in die industrielle Anwendung bringt.“ Das Exzellenzzentrum schaffe einen direkten Zugang zu internationalen Startups und Technologien. „Damit haben wir die Chance, die weltbesten und innovativsten KI-Lösungen nach Oberösterreich zu holen und gemeinsam mit unseren Unternehmen in konkrete Wertschöpfung zu übersetzen.“

Im großen Cover-Interview der aktuellen brutkasten-Printausgabe hatte Knogler zuletzt dargelegt, warum er die Chance Europas nicht im LLM-Rennen sieht, sondern in industrieller KI: Produktionswissen und Maschinendaten als europäische Souveränitätschance.

Auch die übrigen Partner ordnen die Initiative in ihre Strategien ein: Primetals-CFO Michael Kienberger will „modernste KI-Ansätze noch schneller in unsere Systeme“ integrieren, Swietelsky-CFO Harald Gindl kündigt an, „Physical AI und Robotik im Baubetrieb in Oberösterreich gezielt erproben“ zu wollen. TGW-CTO Christoph Wolkerstorfer spricht mit Blick auf autonom agierende Systeme von einem „echten Game Changer“ für die Intralogistik. voestalpine-CFO Gerald Mayer verweist darauf, dass sich der Konzern über die Partnerschaft „den Austausch mit führenden Forschungseinrichtungen und den Zugang zu globalen Startups“ sichere.

tech2b als Schnittstelle, keine Parallelstruktur

Die Abwicklung für das Land Oberösterreich übernimmt der Inkubator tech2b. Damit soll keine neue Parallelstruktur entstehen, sondern das internationale Netzwerk von Plug and Play mit dem bestehenden oberösterreichischen Innovationsökosystem verbunden werden. Über die fünf Anchor-Partner hinaus sollen auch weitere tech2b-Mitgliedsunternehmen Zugang zum Netzwerk erhalten.

„Oberösterreich vereint genau das, wonach wir als globales Innovationsnetzwerk und Venture Capital Investor aus dem Silicon Valley suchen: eine unglaublich starke industrielle Basis, exzellente Forschung, ambitionierte Startup-Gründer und Unternehmen, die neue Technologien in die Anwendung bringen wollen“, sagt Nik Munaretto, Managing Director von Plug and Play Austria.

Umsetzungsschritt der KI-Exzellenzstrategie

Das Zentrum ist ein konkreter Umsetzungsschritt der von Landeshauptmann Stelzer initiierten KI-Exzellenzstrategie für den Industriestandort Oberösterreich. Deren Mitautor Teodoro Cocca sieht die „eigentliche Pionierleistung“ darin, „dass das Land nicht bei Strategiepapieren stehen bleibt, sondern eine Struktur schafft, die weltweit nach den besten Lösungen sucht und sie systematisch in die oberösterreichische Industrie bringt“. Mitautor Meinhard Lukas ergänzt: „Aus Wissen werden Anwendungen, aus Kontakten konkrete Kooperationen und aus technologischen Chancen neue Wertschöpfung.“

Dass der Standort Substanz mitbringt, untermauert die Aussendung mit Beispielen: Die JKU bietet ein englischsprachiges Bachelor- und Masterstudium Artificial Intelligence. Das 2024 gegründete JKU-Spin-off Emmi AI holte sich 2025 eine Seed-Finanzierung über 15 Millionen Euro und wurde im Mai 2026 vom französischen KI-Unternehmen Mistral AI übernommen (brutkasten berichtete). Und das oberösterreichische Technologieunternehmen Tractive hat sich mit GPS- und Gesundheitstrackern für Haustiere zu einem international tätigen Anbieter entwickelt, dessen Produkte laut Aussendung in mehr als 175 Ländern funktionieren.

Wie Oberösterreich als Industrie- und Innovationsstandort insgesamt aufgestellt ist, beleuchtet brutkasten im großen Standort-Check der aktuellen Printausgabe: von der Tabakfabrik über die JKU bis zu den Exits von Emmi AI und Tractive.

Toll dass du so interessiert bist!
Hinterlasse uns bitte ein Feedback über den Button am linken Bildschirmrand.
Und klicke hier um die ganze Welt von der brutkasten zu entdecken.

brutkasten Newsletter

Aktuelle Nachrichten zu Startups, den neuesten Innovationen und politischen Entscheidungen zur Digitalisierung direkt in dein Postfach. Wähle aus unserer breiten Palette an Newslettern den passenden für dich.

Montag, Mittwoch und Freitag

AI Summaries

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Welche gesellschaftspolitischen Auswirkungen hat der Inhalt dieses Artikels?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Welche wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen hat der Inhalt dieses Artikels?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Welche Relevanz hat der Inhalt dieses Artikels für mich als Innovationsmanager:in?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Welche Relevanz hat der Inhalt dieses Artikels für mich als Investor:in?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Welche Relevanz hat der Inhalt dieses Artikels für mich als Politiker:in?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Was könnte das Bigger Picture von den Inhalten dieses Artikels sein?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Wer sind die relevantesten Personen in diesem Artikel?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.

AI Kontextualisierung

Wer sind die relevantesten Organisationen in diesem Artikel?

Leider hat die AI für diese Frage in diesem Artikel keine Antwort …

Corporate Edupreneurship as a driver of innovation

  • In times like these, both companies and the education sector face new challenges.
  • It is essential now to react more and more flexibly and agilely to new developments.
  • At the moment we all feel how fast our environment is changing and how quickly we have to react to it in order to survive.
  • Educational cooperations within the framework of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ help us to do so.
  • The concept of „Corporate Edupreneurship“ is also the core of the EU project Corship, in which co-innovation between established companies and start-ups is supported with innovative training formats.
  • Another example of Edupreneurship in which Styrian companies and FH JOANNEUM have joined forces to develop a new learning format is TECC.
  • The TACC programme, on the other hand, imparts the knowledge necessary to set up a company in the automotive sector.