aws First Incubator 2026 Opens Applications for Early-Stage Startups

The Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) opens its call for its program aws First Incubator for the year 2026. This initiative will give upcoming entrepreneurs the chance to make their innovative business ideas a reality. English-speaking applicants aged 18 and over can apply in June and July 2026. The program targets both individuals and early-stage companies across most industries. It offers structured support for projects with one to four team members.

Program offers gender bonus for teams with female members

Applicants can submit through two modules. Module A is for natural persons not yet formally established. Meanwhile, Module B is for legal entities, partnerships, and sole proprietorships that have been established no more than six months prior to application and have not exceeded €10.000 in net sales. The program awards additional points for projects with women in key management positions and for initiatives addressing socio-political challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The funding structure provides a maximum grant of 90% of submitted costs, capped at €49.000. A gender bonus mechanism increases this support significantly. If the project includes one or more women who will own more than 25% of the business shares at the time of application, the grant rises to up to 100% of eligible costs or a maximum of €55.000. This incentive structure aims to address gender disparities in entrepreneurship and technology sectors.

aws covers costs for startup projects

The program allocates funding across two primary categories. Investment costs reach up to €30.000. They cover project costs for third-party services and materials, rental costs for offices, co-working spaces, workshops, or warehouses, and travel expenses for program-internal events and project-related travel. Personnel costs provide up to €7.200 per project member. They are distributed in monthly installments of €540 for up to four people per project.

Under the gender bonus provision, monthly personnel payments increase to €600 for all project members. The program recommends that prospective applicants review the FAQs, participate in an Info Hour. Upcoming Info Hour dates will be published at the end of the year.

VariJektor develops ejector solutions with aws-support

VariJektor, a startup situated in Graz and a participant in the aws First Incubator, develops an ejector with an adjustable mixing chamber designed to enhance the operating range of PEM fuel cells. The innovation holds a patent in Austria.

Gerald Singer is the project lead at VariJektor and a former mechanical engineer who completed doctoral studies on ejector development. Singer explains that he „first learned about the aws First Incubator through a general online search“ and chose to apply after „comparing various funding opportunities from different institutions.“ He notes that „the program had been highly recommended by several founders I met who had successfully participated in other aws initiatives and spoke very positively about the structured and supportive environment.“

Singer describes the timing of their application as strategic. „At that stage, VariJektor was transitioning from research and simulation results toward the development of a physical prototype.“ The team viewed „the aws First Incubator as the ideal platform to bridge this gap.“ It enabled the young company to build both the prototype and a dedicated test bench for performance analysis. Meanwhile, the startup benefited from expert mentoring, business development guidance, and strategic support.

aws First Incubator shows „genuine commitment to helping startups succeed“

He emphasizes that „the program offered exactly the combination of resources and network access that deep-tech startups like ours need in their early phase.“ The support extends beyond funding. „aws First Incubator has provided us with valuable mentorship on go-to-market strategy, intellectual property management, and investor readiness,“ Singer states. „The structured workshops helped us sharpen our business model, while the coaching sessions gave us direct feedback on our product roadmap and value proposition.“

Singer characterizes the team’s experience as „extremely positive.“ He notes that „the program combines professionalism with a genuine commitment to helping startups succeed.“ He credits the incubator with accelerating „our strategic development, clarified our market positioning.“ Also, it gave VariJektor the confidence to scale beyond Austria. The project lead concludes that he „would definitely recommend it to other early-stage technology startups looking for a strong foundation in their commercialization journey.“ The aws network also connected VariJektor „with relevant partners in both academia and industry.“ This helped expand the startup’s ecosystem beyond the direct program benefits.

More information about aws First Incubator can be found here.