Bachelor in StartUp Management

What you study

This is a business degree built around starting and growing companies. In the first four semesters you cover the basics: accounting, management essentials, economics, marketing and marketing research, finance, investment and mathematics, and the legal environment. Sustainability runs through the early semesters as its own course, Principles of Sustainability. From there the start-up content grows: Lean Startup and Effectuation, Innovation and IP Management, Networks and Funding Opportunities, Business Models and Business Planning, and Scaling and Expansion. You also take Creativity and Innovation Lab, StartUp Research, Data and Decision Making, Emerging Technologies, Behavioural Science and Psychology, Product and Project Management, Sales and Negotiations, Change and Risk Management, Law and Taxation for Entrepreneurs, and Leadership and Communication. Two Future Skills courses cover diversity management, stress management and intercultural skills. In your final semester you write a bachelor thesis and sit a bachelor exam.

How the programme is organised

The structure is unusual. Each semester has five modules, and each module is taught as a one-week face-to-face boot camp. Boot camps sit about two weeks apart. Between them you review the last one, prepare for the next, and sometimes join online sessions with lecturers. The whole degree follows a start-up process: pre-seed, foundation, then expansion. In the pre-seed phase you learn to develop and validate ideas. The foundation phase is about the business model, first products or services, and customers. The expansion phase covers growth, new markets, a wider product range and scaling operations. From semester two, each module ends with a task where your team applies what you learned to your own business idea, so you move through an iterative process as you study. Many lecturers are entrepreneurs. You also get hands-on projects, hackathons, start-up conferences and excursions to successful start-ups. The sixth semester is an internship: you can work on founding your own start-up, join an Austrian or international start-up, work in innovation management at an established company, or get involved in start-up promotion. You can also use the Founders Lab alongside your studies for support with your own venture.

Who it suits

You should apply if you want to build something, not just study business. The programme suits people who already have an idea and want to develop it step by step, and people who want to learn how to spot and realise opportunities. It helps if you are comfortable with intensive weeks and self-directed work between them. The teaching language is English, and the whole programme is taught in English.

Admission, language and next steps

You need an Austrian school-leaving certificate or an equivalent qualification. If your certificate was issued outside Austria, IMC Krems checks equivalence under section 4 of the University of Applied Sciences Studies Act (FHG) once you send your documents through the online application tool. If it is not equivalent, you will be told which supplementary examinations you need; you can take a summer school and the exams at IMC Krems or look at the International Foundation Programme at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. English proficiency is assessed at your interview, so no extra certificate is needed. The application includes a statement of motivation with set questions and character limits. That statement is the basis for an application interview, usually with the degree programme director, held in English either online via Microsoft Teams or in person. Your statement and interview are assessed on content, communication skills, background knowledge and how you present and justify your arguments. Applications go directly to IMC Krems, not through a central portal; the programme page gives the application period. The degree is 180 ECTS over six semesters, full time, and leads to a Bachelor of Arts in Business.

The StartUp Management bachelor degree programme empowers its students to effectively plan their professional goals and pursue their innovative ideas. Beyond imparting theoretical knowledge, the programme provide practical insights into the central concepts of start-up management, from inception to scaling.

There is no central application portal in Austria: you apply to the institution, here IMC Krems University of Applied Sciences. Universities of applied sciences set their own application periods and admission procedures, so read them on the programme page. Entrance examination, as the register states it: Admission procedure. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, the student residence permit and housing.