Frequently Asked Questions | VERBUND X

VERBUND X Ventures is the Corporate Venture Capital Unit of VERBUND, as such, it looks for investment opportunities to boost the transition to renewable energy. VERBUND Ventures GmbH is a 100% affiliated company of VERBUND AG.

VERBUND X Accelerator is the leading European platform that connects start-ups and tech champions with VERBUND and other industry partners. VERBUND AG orchestrates this platform. The focus of the program is on connecting Europe´s biggest players in the energy, manufacturing, and logistics sectors with innovative startups/ SMEs/ research institutions to join forces and realize pilot projects together.

The Innovation Camp and Demo Day are currently designed as in-person events, and we strongly recommend participating in person. However, for other events, we have incorporated a hybrid or fully remote setting, eliminating the need for travel.

Absolutely! If travel is necessary for the program, reasonable travel expenses, including transportation to and from Vienna and accommodation for non-residents, will be reimbursed according to VERBUND travel expense rules (economy class flights or train, taxi/rental car/own car if required). However, if the event is conducted remotely and does not take place on-site, travel and accommodation expenses will not be covered.

Please submit workshop input, documentation, and pitches in English. However, while working within your team, you are free to communicate in the language of your choice.

No. We are equally interested in startups, SMEs and research institutes working on technologies, solutions, or services that could be used for the energy and infrastructure industry but have not yet provided an application in this field.

Apply here on the website by clicking on one of the “Apply Now” buttons, fill out the application form and provide the core information about your company. It takes approximately 15 minutes to register and present your start-up. If we require further information, we will contact you for a personal interview.

Your pitch deck should include a compelling problem statement that clearly outlines the market need your startup aims to address, a concise and persuasive description of your product or service and its unique value proposition. Additionally, we recommend adding information about your business model incl. revenue potential and scalability, financial projections as well as market size and your competition (Please include URLs of up to 3 of your competitors). Make sure to also showcase the team behind your startup including your qualifications and expertise, and any partners or reference customers that you already have. 

Application for Batch #4 is closed.

Apply now for Batch #5 until November 17th 2023.

The best startups will be invited to a remote/digital pitch in front of the managers and domain experts from VERBUND and its partners to discuss their business model, technology, and potential use cases. Successful candidates will then be invited to the Innovation Camp.
The selected startups will enter the Acceleration (Proof-of-Concept) phase and will pitch at the final event in front of the top management of VERBUND and its partners. Successful teams will then be given a chance to enter a cooperation with VERBUND or its use case partners Österreichische Post, Magna Powertrain and Wienerberger.

A jury consisting of the members of the top management of VERBUND and its use case partners VERBUND AG, VERBUND Energy4Customers, Magna Powertrain, Österreichische Post AG and Elevator Lab.

• For the search field "Recycling of wind turbine blades" VERBUND AG will decide about further participation.
• For the search field "Drone systems for perimeter protection" VERBUND Services GmbH will decide about further participation.
• For the search field "Predictive maintenance for wind turbines" VERBUND Green Power GmbH will decide about further participation.
• For the search field "Alternative forms of renewable energy generation" Post AG and Wienerberger will decide about further participation.
• For the search field "Location-optimized energy management" VERBUND AG, Post AG, Wienerberger and Magna Powertrain will decide about further participation.
• For the search field "Predictive load management for charging point" VERBUND Energy4Business GmbH will decide about further participation.

Community partners are members of the overall VERBUND X Accelerator network. They will be involved in key events of the program as guests and also can play an expert and mentoring role for startups and other partners. But they are not involved in decision-making in the Selection and Acceleration Phases of the program.

Community Partners of the VERBUND X Accelerator 2023 are: Austrian Institut of Technology (AIT), ÖBAG, OMV, Microsoft

Use case partners are also members of the comprehensive VERBUND X Accelerator network. In addition, they will be involved in decision-making in the Selection and Acceleration Phases and will work together with the selected startups on a specific use case.

Use case partners of the VERBUND X Accelerator 2023 Batch #5 are: Magna Powertrain, Österreichische Post and Wienerberger.

The VERBUND X Accelerator network also compromises Venture Capital Partners. These partners are involved in the selection process of potential investments for the respective search fields. 

Venture Capital Partners are VERBUND Ventures, Elevator Ventures, Speedinvest

During the Innovation Camp the business units of the participating use case partners and start-ups will jointly identify a pilot project for their potential collaboration. The top management of VERBUND and of the other use case partner will decide which start-up cooperations will enter the Acceleration phase. The Acceleration Phase is designed to execute the pilot projects directly and, therefore, validate the collaboration.

Each startup-corporate team defines its own pilot scope during the Innovation Camp for the following Acceleration Phase. As the projects are vastly different from each other in their technologies and timelines, we are looking for pilots that get the partnership started.

Budget for testing, field trials, and prototyping are foreseen (the amount depends on the project scope, subject to negotiations), reasonable travel costs are covered.

In this year´s edition we added a second batch. Two separate batches allow for a more flexible and targeted approach. We recommend applying for the batch with the highest topic fit.

Batch #4: Application is closed. 

Batch #5: Apply now until November 17th 2023.

Your pitch deck should include a compelling problem statement that clearly outlines the market need your startup aims to address, a concise and persuasive description of your product or service and its unique value proposition. Additionally, we recommend you adding information about your business model incl. revenue potential and scalability, financial projections as well as market size and your competition (Please include URLs of up to 3 of your competitors). Make sure to also showcase the team behind your startup including your qualifications and expertise, and any partners or reference customers that you already have.

VERBUND X Ventures is the Corporate Venture Capital Unit of VERBUND, as such, it looks for investment opportunities to boost the transition to renewable energy. VERBUND Ventures GmbH is a 100% affiliated company of VERBUND AG.

VERBUND X Accelerator is the leading European platform that connects start-ups and tech champions with VERBUND and other industry partners. VERBUND AG orchestrates this platform. The focus of the program is on connecting Europe´s biggest players in the energy, manufacturing, and logistics sectors with innovative startups/ SMEs/ research institutions to join forces and realize pilot projects together.

We invest in climate tech startups with a special focus on decentralized energy systems, energy storage, e-mobility and digital solutions.

We offer investments from 0.25M€ up to 5M€.

1. Profound Market Knowledge: With over 70 years of experience in the energy industry we provide our portfolio companies with extensive market know-how.  
2. Growth Investments: We are a long-term investor. Thus, if your business grows we are prepared to lead or participate in larger financing rounds.
3. Smart Money: Not only do we provide financial resources and funding but we also support our startups with sparring & coaching to help them scale.
   
   

You can simply submit your pitch here. Alternatively, you can also reach out directly to one of our Investment Team Members.