DoubleJack wins Austria’s Next Top Start-up

Company founder Heinz Past convinced the jury with his idea, and came out ahead in the close race among the top five. The other finalist projects were: EverSport, Flatout, Terminheld.at and MyFly.

DoubleJack wants to start offering its service on the market this year. The company is considering a freemium offer as a business model, in which customers can list up to ten products free of charge. This allows the use of basic functions without restriction. Anyone who needs more, or who wants to use DoubleJack professionally (such as companies), will pay EUR 9.90 per month.

One year of professional assistance

“With DoubleJack, we have decided to support an outstanding business idea that helps customers store receipts so that they do not lose out on their guarantee entitlements,” said Marcus Grausam, A1 TCO, commenting on the decision. DoubleJack will now receive professional assistance from A1 for one year, and will be provided with an office in the A1 building on Obere Donaustraße in Vienna. Technical equipment will also be provided together with consulting for all issues of starting a businesses such as legal, marketing, controlling and sales advice. A1 will also take care of public relations work in cooperation with futurezone.

futurezone will report about the new founder and the development of the company. DoubleJack is also guaranteed a nomination in the Start-ups category in the futurezone Award 2013, which will be presented on November 14. “I was surprised and excited by the large number of submissions,” said futurezone editor-in-chief Gerald Reischl. “For me, this shows that there are not only many innovative people in Austria, but also a large number of brilliant ideas. One of futurezone’s tasks is to find suitable start-ups and present them to a broader audience.

Special prize

Because of the many exciting ideas that made it into the finals, A1 decided to award a special prize, which went to the project Flatout. The goal of this project is to revolutionize the smart home industry on the basis of an app-controlled system. Key aspects of the project are cost reductions and open standards. A1 was convinced by the concept and is also supporting Flatout with one year of A1 support in the most important areas. Flatout will also be provided with office space.

And futurezone also decided to award a small special prize. In addition to DoubleJack, Eversport will be given a fixed spot on the nomination list for the futurezone Award.

futurezone and A1 had searched for Austria’s Next Top Start-up together since May 6, 2013. Creative and innovative entrepreneurs were given an opportunity to submit their ideas and projects for the multi-stage founder's contest. Over 40 young entrepreneurs submitted their ideas. Ten of these were selected by the jury, and were then voted for by the readers. The top five from this vote then went into the finals.