Start-up founders
A two-year residence title for founders of innovative companies — EUR 30,000 in capital, a points test, and clear criteria for what must be true two years on.
In short
- The Red-White-Red Card for start-up founders admits founders who set up an Austrian company to develop and launch innovative products, services, processes or technologies.
- Minimum investment capital of EUR 30,000, at least half of it equity — and you must keep a controlling influence on the company's management.
- A points test applies: at least 50 of a possible 85 points for qualifications, experience, languages and bonus factors. English at B2 counts; German is not required.
- The card is issued for 24 months. After two years it converts to a Red-White-Red Card plus only if the company employs at least two full-time staff, the founder still controls its management, it actually offers or is developing the innovative product or service, and it shows annual turnover of at least EUR 200,000 or further financing of at least EUR 100,000 secured.
- Figures as stated by the Austrian migration authorities for 2026.
What counts as a start-up here
Austria's start-up founder category is deliberately narrower than the everyday use of the word. It is not enough to found a company: the venture must exist in order to develop and bring to market something innovative — a product, a service, a processing method or a technology. A consultancy, an import business or a restaurant, however sound, belongs in the self-employed key worker category instead, where the test is economic benefit rather than innovation.
Three structural conditions frame the application. First, a consistent business plan for founding and running the company. Second, investment capital of at least EUR 30,000, of which at least 50% must be equity rather than loans. Third, personal control: the founder must exercise a controlling influence on the management of the company — this is a founder's permit, not an employee's or a passive investor's. Where the plan is to invest without running the venture, no residence right follows; Austria has no golden visa.
Where the start-up route sits among all the others — including the employed Red-White-Red Card categories — is mapped on the immigration overview.
The points table: 50 of 85
Alongside the structural conditions, the founder must score at least 50 points. The table below reflects the criteria published by the Austrian migration authorities (as of 2026). Note what it takes to reach the threshold: a tertiary degree (20), five years of work experience (the ten-point maximum), English at B2 (10) and age up to 35 (10) come to exactly 50 — on three years of experience instead, the same profile reaches 46 and needs one further criterion, such as German at A2 or an incubator place.
| Criterion | Points | Category maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Completed vocational training, or special skills and know-how | 20 | 30 |
| Tertiary programme of at least three years | 20 | |
| Degree or vocational qualification completed in Austria | 30 | |
| Work experience — per half year | 1 | 10 |
| German at A2 | 5 | 15 |
| German at B1 or B2 | 10 | |
| German at C1 or C2 | 15 | |
| English at B2 · French, Spanish or Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian at B1 | 10 · 5 | |
| Additional investment capital of at least EUR 50,000 | 10 | 30 |
| Admission to an Austrian incubator, or start-up agency funding | 10 | |
| Age up to 35 | 10 | |
| Minimum required | 50 of 85 | |
Applying, and what the file must show
The first application is generally filed at the Austrian embassy or consulate in the founder's country of residence; founders already lawfully in Austria — for instance on a visa-free stay — can file with the residence authority directly. The file combines the points evidence (certificates, language diplomas, CV) with the business file: the plan, proof that the EUR 30,000 is available and at least half of it equity, and the shareholding structure demonstrating the founder's controlling influence. The general settlement requirements — accommodation, health insurance and a secured livelihood — apply as for every residence title, and the application fee comes to around EUR 218 in total (as of 2026).
The card, once granted, runs for a maximum of 24 months and permits exactly one occupation: building the start-up named in the application. Time on the card counts in full towards the five years needed for permanent residence.
Two years on: the follow-up criteria
The start-up card is best understood as a two-year proving period with a published finish line. At the end of it, the founder changes to a Red-White-Red Card plus — a title with unlimited access to the labour market, covering both self-employment and any salaried work — if the venture has become real by all four of the statute's measures:
- it employs at least two full-time staff;
- the founder still personally exercises a controlling influence on its management;
- the company actually offers, or is actually developing, the innovative product or service; and
- it has reached annual turnover of at least EUR 200,000, or further financing of at least EUR 100,000 has been secured.
The Public Employment Service reviews the evidence in a written appraisal. Founders who fall short do not face an automatic dead end, but they must fit themselves into another category on that category's terms — most often the self-employed key worker route or ordinary employment.
Plan the two-year evidence from day one: clean accounts showing the turnover line or signed financing documentation, payroll records for at least two full-time employees, and a shareholding and management structure that still puts you in control together decide the follow-up title. A funding round closed in month 23 is worth as much as one closed in month 6 — but only if it is documented.
The company, the money and the taxes
Most founders incorporate an Austrian GmbH — minimum share capital EUR 10,000, half paid in — or the newer FlexCo, a variant designed for start-ups with enterprise-value shares for employee participation. Formation mechanics, costs and the beneficial-ownership register are covered on the company formation page, and the favourable regime for start-up employee participation on the employment and executives page.
Founders who move personally while earlier ventures stay abroad should look hard at the tax side before relocating: a foreign company managed from Austria can become Austrian-tax-resident, and Austrian rules on controlled foreign companies can reach passive income offshore — the mechanics are set out under foreign income and companies. Equity stakes, options and any planned exit deserve a look under pre-immigration planning, because the step-up on becoming resident and the timing of a sale interact — often decisively — with the move itself.
Questions on this page
Can I qualify as a start-up founder with English only?
Yes. English at B2 level earns 10 points, the same as German at B1 to B2, and no German is required at any stage of the application. Reaching 50 points without any German is entirely realistic.
Do accelerator or incubator places help the application?
Yes. Admission to an Austrian business incubator, or funding from an Austrian start-up funding agency, earns 10 bonus points — the same as being aged 35 or under, or showing EUR 50,000 of additional capital.
What if the start-up has not hit the follow-up numbers after two years?
The card is not simply renewed on the old basis. Founders who cannot yet show the two full-time employees, or the turnover or financing figures, can switch to another route whose criteria they meet, such as the self-employed key worker category or salaried employment.
Considering a move to Austria?
Tell us where you stand — the country you are leaving, the shape of your family and your assets, and when you plan to move. We advise on the legal and tax consequences of relocating to Austria and coordinate with advisers in the country of departure.
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