Capital Meets Creativity: An Investment Route for Europe’s Cultural & Creativity
(Authors: Alion Çaçi & Alexander Diesenreiter)
VIENNA, May 16, 2025—The second morning of the European Culture & Creativity Dialogues swapped yesterday’s brainstorming boards for balance sheets. Over coffee in Belvedere 21’s lobby, artists, founders, and investors compared notes on valuation instead of vision boards, then moved into the museum’s cinema, it was clear: Europe’s creative sector is no longer content to be the warm-up act for tech—it wants top billing.
Alexander Diesenreiter, Business Development Manager, EIT Culture & Creativity (c) Elif Gündüz
Setting the Stage: Innovation with Intent
Alexander Diesenreiter, business development manager at EIT CC South East & Alps, opened the morning with a nod to Vienna’s dual identity—imperial and experimental, a fitting metaphor for the event’s dual themes: cultural tradition and investment innovation.
Gerin Trautenberger, head of the Vienna co-location center, reinforced the EIT Culture & Creativity’s mission: Cross-sector collaboration as the new normal. Whether digital, ecological, or social, transformation is only possible, he reminded the room, if creative workers are empowered—not just celebrated.
Klimt and Digital Revenue: The Belvedere Model
Wolfgang Bergmann, Belvedere’s chief financial officer, presented the museum’s approach to digital innovation.
Wolfgang Bergmann, Chief Financial Officer, Belvedere (c) Elif Gündüz
He recounted the now widely recognized 2022 project in which the institution divided Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss into 10,000 digital tiles and sold them as NFTs. The initiative raised €4.8 million and remains one of the most successful NFT efforts by an art museum.
Bergmann emphasized that while the Belvedere embraces digital transformation, it remains grounded in physical experience. He previewed plans for an AI-powered audio guide capable of instant translation, audience-specific adaptation, and conversational interaction. “It could create an infinite universe of information,” he said. The system could eventually respond to live questions or even let visitors reserve a café table mid-tour. However, he cautioned against overcomplicating the rollout. “We don’t need to build the whole universe at once. Step by step, we can grow it.”
We talked to Bergmann outside the event to learn more about their innovative approach
Embedded video of Bergmann that didn’t play during the event
File:
https://belvedere.hbox.at/index.php/s/GGpxDdKSk28nWfD
YouTube:
The Funding Ladder: From Grants to Growth
Javier Arias, EIT CC’s director of business creation, took the stage with a straightforward message: “Grants are only the first rung.”
Early-stage capital, he explained, arrives through de-risking grants, followed by incubation and acceleration programs that trim time-to-market. Later this year, EIT CC will publish a “100 to Watch” portfolio and introduce co-investment options.
“Our programs are the beginning of the relationship, not the end,” Arias told founders. “We stay on as mentors, brokers, and, when the timing is right, co-investors who can open doors in every European market.”
Javier Arias, Director of Business Creation, EIT Culture & Creativity (c) Elif Gündüz
What Investors Want: Less Buzz, More Clarity
Arias then led a lively investor panel featuring:
- Christina Maria Hummer, Best Nights VC
- Severin Zugmayr, New Renaissance Ventures
- Samanta Peña, CultTech Accelerator
Javier Arias, Director of Business Creation, EIT Culture & Creativity, Severin Zugmayer, New Renaissance Ventures, Samanta Pena, Culttech Accelerator (c) Elif Gündüz
Zugmayr dismissed the idea that culture is a niche. “Spotify, Netflix, Ubisoft—each is a reminder that creative tech already scales to the billions,” he said, adding that eight to ten percent of mainstream VC portfolios could be classified as cultural tech if anyone bothered to label them.
Hummer, whose fund backs nightlife and live-experience start-ups, said engagement is her north star. “If a product moves people and they keep coming back, the revenue follows,” she noted. “Community is a KPI long before EBITDA.”
Peña urged founders to avoid hype. “Everyone slaps ‘AI’ on a deck,” she warned.
“Investors care far more about the problem you solve than the buzzword you use.” She also called for a unified identity: “Culture permeates daily life, but capital can’t fund what it can’t name. We need a single narrative investors recognize.”
The three panelists agreed on one metric: clarity. “Tell me exactly why now,” Hummer said. “The cultural timing matters as much as the technology.”
From Conversation to Connection
After the formal program ended, the cinema gave way to spontaneous meetings in the Belvedere 21 foyer—coffee cups in hand, LinkedIn apps open. If Day One was for provocation, Day Two was for positioning. The sense of momentum was unmistakable.
The Open Days of EIT Culture & Creativity were part of ViennaUP.
