Costvise Wins the 8th SMARTUP Scholarship

“We are taking off.” That was the motto of the 8th SMARTUP Scholarship ceremony in St. Poelten, and we are now proud to count ourselves among the winning teams.

Honored with the SMARTUP Scholarship

Together with two other teams, Costvise received the 8th SMARTUP Scholarship along with 5,000 euros in funding. For us this is far more than financial recognition. It is a clear signal that our approach is needed and creates real impact.

The SMARTUP Scholarship supports innovation, entrepreneurship, and startups in the region, and is awarded as part of the St. Poelten funding program for founders and innovation. The program is backed among others by Sparkasse Niederoesterreich Mitte West and the Digital Innovation Hub.

What Costvise stands for

In residential care and social services, staff account for 60 to 70 percent of the entire cost base and are at the same time the scarcest resource. Even so, many critical decisions still rely on outdated rules, fragmented systems, and manual processes. Organizations steer almost entirely on an operational level, while the strategic questions stay open. Which qualifications does a facility need to build up over the next three years? When does in-house staffing pay off instead of leasing? Which location remains viable under which staffing ratio?

This is exactly the strategic level Costvise occupies. As a decision intelligence platform, we connect operational data across systems and translate it into forward looking foundations for management and financial leadership. The economic impact of a decision becomes visible before it is put into action.

A proven economic lever

That our approach works is not a promise but something measurable. In a real controlling case study in the care sector, the underlying methodology identified around 229,000 euros in net savings potential. Our recommendations follow transparent legal frameworks and stay explainable, rather than working as an opaque black box. In the regulated healthcare sector, this traceability is a decisive factor of trust.

Why this moment matters to us

For us this is a big step, and I am honestly very proud of what our team has built together to reach this point. Behind Costvise stand Liria Binaku as Co-Founder and CEO with deep domain expertise in care controlling, myself as Co-Founder responsible for product and market, and Johannes Felzmann as CTO. From the first concept to this award lies an intense journey, shaped by many conversations, critical questions, and one clear conviction.

That conviction is simple. Decisions in the health and social care sector deserve a better foundation than static reports and isolated data silos.

What this funding makes possible

We will use the 5,000 euros specifically to finalize the founding of our company in St. Poelten. The scholarship comes at exactly the right moment. It helps us complete the incorporation cleanly and anchor Costvise on a solid legal footing in St. Poelten. A validated concept with proven value becomes a genuinely founded company based in the region.

We look forward to what comes next

We want to thank the entire SMARTUP team, the City of St. Poelten, and all the partners who make this program possible. We see the scholarship as an occasion to deepen our roots in St. Poelten and Lower Austria, with pilot partners in the care sector, within the SMARTUP network, and in the region's research environment. We move into the next phase with clarity, focus, and a great deal of anticipation.