Stage 2 of the Incubation Programme

🚀 Heading towards project consolidation: a look back at the second stage in Vienna

For its second stage, the Incubation Programme travelled to Vienna on 27 and 28 January 2026, offering participants and projects the opportunity to take part in CIMIx (Cultural Industries meet Industry), an international event that brought together more than 800 people from 44 countries to explore how creative industries are driving business transformation, new financing models and cross-sector collaboration.

🙏 A huge thank you to Europe Creative, the CNC, Aussenwirtschaft Austria and the CIMIx team, our partners and the host venues, without whom this stage would not have been possible.

👉 This stage brought together around forty participants from all over Europe for two days of collaboration.

💡 On the agenda: consolidation of projects around three key areas: the integration of immersive elements, social or environmental impact, and the degree of technological innovation; keynotes by four experts on these challenges to be implemented (Mohammadreza Mazarei, Michele Ziegler, Ricardo Ancona, and Julia Hammett-Jamart); discussions with mentors and experts on market exploration, target identification and competition analysis; visits to Viennese cinemas (Stadtkino, Filmcasino, Breitenseer Lichtspiele); meetings with institutions and venues active in the cultural and creative industries; project pitches and Q&A sessions in front of the Steering Committee; public pitch session in front of CIMIx participants.

🇦🇹 Our participants were also able to discover the Austrian film ecosystem thanks to the presence of Salma Abdalla (Austrian Film Institute) and Laura Köpf (Nonstop Kinoabo). A big thank you also to Theresa Eckstein, from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport, for her participation!

➡️ Next event: 16 to 18 March 2026, in Copenhagen during CPH:DOX, for the third stage of the Incubation Programme!