Fit4Business Finale: Spotlight on Innovative Startup Ideas
- 02.01.2026
- General
The award-winning founders of Fit4Business 2025 at the award ceremony with the organizing team and the jury in the Kufstein Innovation Room.
At the final of the Fit4Business business idea competition, founders from the Kufstein region presented their concepts to a high-caliber jury and received valuable feedback, networking opportunities, and prize money.
The Fit4Business business idea competition culminated in the final on Thursday, December 11, 2025. The format of the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol offers aspiring founders from the Kufstein region a structured platform to further develop innovative business ideas, receive professional feedback, and network with relevant players in the regional innovation ecosystem.
Fit4Business supports participants from the initial idea to the presentation before a jury of experts. The basis for this is a so-called potential paper, in which the business idea is developed according to key criteria such as degree of innovation, customer benefit, economic viability, and feasibility. After a preliminary selection, the finalists presented their concepts in the Kufstein Innovation Room before an interdisciplinary jury of experts.
STRONG PARTNERS AND BROAD EXPERTISE
The competition is supported by strong regional partners. These include Sparkasse Kufstein, the Kufstein Chamber of Commerce, Startup.Tirol, Innovationsraum Kufstein, and—new from 2025—Standortagentur Tirol. Together, they make a significant contribution to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in the region.
The expert jury brought together expertise from the worlds of business, start-up support, and higher education. Among them was entrepreneur and mentor Reinhold M. Karner, who emphasized the value of such formats, especially in the early stages: “You have to give founders the chance to test their ideas, ask critical questions, and learn from them—regardless of whether they implement or reject the idea.” It is precisely this learning process that is crucial for promoting entrepreneurial thinking in the long term.
The interdisciplinary jury of experts from the worlds of business, start-ups, and academia evaluated the business ideas submitted in the final round of Fit4Business 2025.
Franziska Lässer, MA (Startup.Tirol) also emphasized the wealth of ideas: “There are an incredible number of good ideas and even more courageous people who are willing to implement them. Competitions such as Fit4Business raise awareness for start-ups and provide an important framework.”
For Robert Schimpf, MSc. (INNcubator Innsbruck), Fit4Business is a key entry point into the Tyrolean start-up ecosystem: “From the initial idea to implementation—formats like this are often the starting point for several years of support and further development.”
The jury was supplemented by experts from the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol with Markus Ehrlenbach, MSc., Prof. (FH) Dr. Uwe Heil, and Prof. (FH) Dr. Christian Schmid, Fit4Business alumni and successful founder Constantin Badawi, BA (Kombiticket Austria), as well as Alina Laimgruber from the Standortagentur Tirol and representatives of Kufstein's partner institutions Diana Baldinger, BA, and Klaus Ossanna-Zala (Sparkasse Kufstein), Thomas Ebner, MA (Innovationsraum Kufstein), and Tobias Loinger (Kufstein Chamber of Commerce).
THE WINNING PROJECTS 2025
Kathrin Lindauer secured first place and prize money of €300 with her project Gastgeber-Zukunft.at. The AI-supported solution for the hospitality industry aims to structure operational processes and relieve hosts in their everyday work. Lindauer emphasizes: “The experience of presenting to a jury of experts and facing critical questions is enormously valuable in itself. It is precisely these questions that help to further refine your own idea.”
Winner Kathrin Lindauer presents her business idea at the Fit4Business 2025 final in the Kufstein Innovation Room.
Second place went to Patrick Funke-Rapp with EcoSport Nation and Alexander Zimmerer with GreenSenseRobotics.at (200 euros each). While EcoSport Nation focuses on a sustainable sharing system for sports equipment, GreenSenseRobotics uses data to visualize environmental and safety impacts in companies.
Third place was also awarded twice (100 euros each): Serafim Karalionok impressed with the Cleverhinos learning app, and Christoph Hechenbichler with Kinovo, a digital platform for promoting healthy, active growth in children.
PLATFORM FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL POTENTIAL
In addition to the award-winning projects, Fit4Business 2025 presented a wide range of other business ideas – from a mobile coffee truck to AI-supported music and social media tools to innovative food concepts. All participants were awarded Kufstein ducats for their commitment.
Initiator Dipl.-Kfm. Karin Steiner, Head of the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol, draws a positive conclusion: “Every year, Fit4Business demonstrates the diversity of entrepreneurial potential in our region. The exchange between founders, the jury, and partner institutions is particularly valuable.”
With Fit4Business, the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol and its partners are making a lasting contribution to promoting regional start-ups – and creating a stage for ideas that could become tomorrow's businesses.
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