ZAT start-ups attract over €4.8 million in funding and investment to Leoben
- angelika.hierzer
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
The sustainable start-ups of the incubator (ZAT Leoben) run by the Montanuniversität Leoben and the City of Leoben once again demonstrate the innovative potential of the Upper Styria region. In 2025, five ambitious start-ups and spin-offs that were supported and mentored by ZAT attracted more than €4.8 million in funding and investment for their projects to Leoben.
The supported projects focus on future technologies in the fields of high-tech, materials, sustainability and digitalisation – with solutions that have an impact not only technologically but also socially.
The Highlights
2.6 million euros in private investment for Fiber Elements
ZAT start-up Fiber Elements has completed an impressive seed financing round worth millions to scale up its automated production of basalt fibre components. The team aims to replace steel in the construction industry with mineral composites that are three times stronger, two-thirds lighter and associated with up to 70% less CO₂ emissions. The investment round was led by LEA Partners and the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund. (www.fiber-elements.com)
2.2 million euros in public funding
In addition to the investment, four other teams – MPC2 (https://www.mpc2.at), ACR Materials, Polydecypher (https://polydecypher.com) and Cairos (http://cairos-energy.com) – received funding from the federal government, the state and the EU. The funds come from various programmes run by the FFG, AWS and SFG. The projects range from highly specialised testing technology for metallic materials to deep tech solutions and AI-based data analytics.
The ZAT Leoben incubator acts as a catalyst.
All teams received intensive support as part of ZAT programmes and were assisted in obtaining funding and capital. Among other things, ZAT is part of Green Startupmark as Green Startup Centre Leoben, which focuses on sustainable high-tech start-ups.
The ACR Materials team made another mark by taking first place in the university-wide MUL:idea ideas competition and receiving the GreenTech Special Award 2025 in the i2B business plan competition – a strong signal of the innovative power coming out of the university environment.
Statement
Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. mont. Peter Moser, Rector of the Montanuniversität Leoben:
„The current successes of the start-ups supported by ZAT impressively demonstrate how effectively the transfer of knowledge, research and innovation at the Montanuniversität Leoben works in practice. The fact that over 4.8 million euros in funding and investments have been attracted to Leoben in such a short time is not only a great success for the founding teams involved, but also a strong signal for Upper Styria as a location. Once again, we see how important structures such as ZAT and collaborations such as Green Startupmark are in promoting entrepreneurial thinking in the university environment. Our task as a university is to actively support the entrepreneurial spirit of our students and researchers – with know-how, infrastructure and, above all, the necessary freedom for innovative ideas.“
Statement regional councillor DI Willibald Ehrenhöfer:
„Upper Styria has developed into a real hotspot for innovative start-ups. The fact that young start-ups from Leoben were able to secure over 4.8 million euros in funding and investments within a few months is a strong sign of the innovative power of this region – and also of the excellent work being done at ZAT Leoben. It is precisely these courageous founders who are shaping the future of our economy with fresh ideas, an understanding of technology and a focus on sustainability. As the province of Upper Styria, we are doing everything we can to further improve the framework conditions – especially in rural areas. After all, innovation must not end at city limits; it must be able to flourish wherever expertise, research and entrepreneurial spirit come together. Upper Styria is an impressive example of how this can be achieved.“
Contact for enquiries:
ZAT Leoben – Zentrum für angewandte Technologie
Angelika Hierzer-Königsberger
Tel. +43 664 826 78 46
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