NewsFH Upper Austria, Steyr Campus

Entrepreneurship Lessons at the FH Upper Austria bear International Fruit

Hygienic packaging for potatoes


With the course "Entrepreneurship and Business Entry Models", the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria offers committed students an optimal combination of theory and practice. During their semester abroad at one of the four FH Upper Austria locations, interested students can gain insights into the topic and develop business ideas. One of the students is Shaswat Tiwari from India, who is now putting his idea into practice.

As part of his exchange semester, the 27-year-old attended the course offered at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and is now founding an innovative start-up in his home country. His idea is to develop and market a hygienic packaging for potatoes - an important innovation for the Indian market. This is because potatoes in India are usually sold unwashed and loose. Hygienic packaging is therefore an important necessity not only in the times of Covid-19.

Since 2017, FH Upper Austria professor Ahu Genis-Gruber and Gerold Weisz have been jointly teaching the course "Entrepreneurship and Business Entry Models" at the schools of FH Upper Austria. "Our aim is to encourage students to set up their own start-ups and to explain the paths to entrepreneurial activity," the two say. This begins with the development of ideas and continues right through to the first steps of marketing. Austrian as well as international students of FH Upper Austria are very interested and every semester several business ideas are born.

The infrastructure, business model and distribution system have been developed with the two professors and the student has realized his idea. "I would never have come up with this concrete idea if I had not been given the task of developing a business idea during the seminar. That inspired me," says Shashwat Tiwari, whose family has been running potato fields in India for six generations. "The support and cooperation of the professors was very motivating and now I have founded my own start-up," Shaswat proudly continues.

Support of national and international start-ups

Ahu Genis-Gruber and Gerold Weisz look after Upper Austrian and international start-ups worldwide. "After the worldwide Covid-19 crisis, the global market dynamics will change dramatically and the new economy will motivate many to become self-employed. We want to help committed people to find their place in the 'new normality'", they said.

Further inquiry contact:

Univ. Prof. Dr. Ahu Genis-Gruber, FH OÖ Campus Steyr, Tel.: +43 5 0804-54111, E-Mail: ahu.genis-gruber@fh-steyr.at

FH-Prof. Mag. Dr. Gerold Weisz MBA, FH OÖ Campus Wels, Tel.: +43 5 0804-43135, E-Mail: gerold.weisz@fh-ooe.at

FH-Prof. Dr. Andreas Zehetner, Vize-Präsident International Relations der FH OÖ, Tel.: +43 (0) 664 80484-33511, E-Mail: andreas.zehetner@fh-ooe.at