Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The Master’s degree programme in Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation combines theory and practice in a unique way and guarantees a high level of practical transfer through various labs and intensive support in small groups. Right from the start, you will develop creative business ideas and learn how to analyse problem areas and design digital products and services in design thinking workshops.

Startup and Tech Labs – where technology and entrepreneurship merge

From the first to the third semester, you’ll work in multidisciplinary teams on digital business ideas within the Startup and Tech Labs. You’ll be supported by experienced startup founders who accompany you as coaches. They help you critically reflect on your ideas, assess market potential, and provide continuous feedback on pitches, simulations, and testing procedures for your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). In the Tech Labs, you’ll receive hands-on technical guidance and can test digital or hybrid business models.

Focus areas of the Startup Labs:

• Startup Lab 1: Experiencing Tech – laying the foundation for innovation and identifying problems worth solving.
• Startup Lab 2: Customer Discovery & Product-Market Fit – defining your target group and how the solution should be built.
• Startup Lab 3: Digital MVPs & Technical Feasibility – turning ideas into action with first prototypes.

Beyond that, our Startup Hub offers space to experiment, collaborate, and further develop your ideas.

The results of this intensive work feed directly into your Master’s thesis, which can include the MVP or prototype of your innovation project. Your preparation starts already in the 2nd semester (Individual Project Work 1: Startup Research) and continues in the 3rd semester (Individual Project Work 2: Tech Lighthouse Project), leading up to your Master’s thesis and accompanying seminar in the 4th semester.

I don’t want to start my own company – what are my options?
Instead of developing your own startup idea, you can also choose to:

• join an existing innovation project as a Co-Founder, or
• work as an Intrapreneur on real innovation challenges within established companies.

In this track, you’ll tackle exciting challenges from the innovation departments of leading organisations. In the past, we had project with AVL List GmbH / Creators Expedition, Raiffeisenlandesbank Steiermark / Hummelnest Accelerator, Greiner Innoventures, PayPal, TeleHaase, Pioneers, Next Incubator / Energie Steiermark, LebensGroß, Wien Energie, and others. You can then further develop these projects as your own innovation case leading up to your Master’s thesis.

Through elective courses such as Elective 1b for Intrapreneurs: Smart Services & Automation, Elective 2: Open Campus, and Electives 3: Interdisciplinary and International Competences, you can deepen your innovation and leadership skills individually.

Many of the startup methods you’ll learn throughout the programme have now become mainstream innovation tools used by established companies — making these skills equally valuable for founders and intrapreneurs alike.

Success in realisation: Awards and prizes for our students

Our students also regularly win prizes and awards at external competitions and events, such as the Startup Playground, the Gründungsgarage of the Ideentriebwerk or at startup competitions as part of our numerous EU research projects at the institute.