Setup · Relocation · Market access · Austria

Set up in Austria - the company, the structure, the residence - then the market.

We help international companies and private clients establish in Austria: company formation, holding and corporate structures, and relocation for founders, investors and financially independent individuals - plus market access when you are ready to sell. A German-speaking EU base and the gateway to Central and Eastern Europe.

GmbH & NiederlassungCompany & branch setup
Aufenthaltstitel & RWRResidence & relocation
EKO & DachverbandReimbursement & access
The real question

Austria is a smaller market than Germany - and that changes what most clients actually need here. More often the first job is not selling: it is establishing the company, the right corporate structure, and a residence for the people behind it.

For many international founders, investors and financially independent individuals, Austria is the place to base a business and a life inside the EU: German-speaking, stable, high quality of life, and a genuine hub for Central and Eastern Europe. That work - the company, the holding structure, the residence, the ongoing local administration - is where most of our Austrian mandates sit.

Market access is the second track: reimbursement, distribution and partners for companies ready to sell into Austria and DACH. And when the work turns into deep German pharma reimbursement - AMNOG, the G-BA, IQWiG - our German practice at bcaun.de takes it end to end.

Where our Austrian work sits

Roughly 60% is company setup, corporate structures and relocation; 40% is market access. Two tracks, one firm - and a clean hand-off to Germany when you need it.

Why Austria

Three reasons to base yourself in Austria

01 · BASE

A stable EU base for company and residence

German-speaking, politically stable, high quality of life, and attractive residence routes for founders, investors and financially independent individuals. A place to put both the business and the family, inside the single market.

02 · CEE

The CEE gateway

Vienna is a genuine hub for Central and Eastern Europe. A large share of foreign investment lands in Austria specifically to run CEE and SEE from a German-speaking EU base - one location, a whole region within reach.

03 · DACH

The DACH bridge

Prove the commercial motion in a smaller, lower-risk German-speaking market, then move into Germany - where our German practice takes over the heavy regulatory lift. Austria first, Germany next, EU from there.

What we do

Two things we do in Austria

A strategy document is the cheap part - and something any tool can now draft. The value is execution and the relationships behind it. That is the layer we own, across both tracks.

~60%  Setup, structure & relocation ~40%  Market access
Track A

Establish in Austria

FORMATION

Company formation

Setting up your GmbH, branch or subsidiary - the right legal form for what you are actually doing in Austria, established cleanly and fast.

STRUCTURE

Holding & corporate structures

Holdings, subsidiaries and cross-border structures for owning and operating in the EU - built with your tax and legal advisers, kept coherent and defensible.

RELOCATION

Relocation & residence

Residence routes for founders, investors and financially independent individuals - the Aufenthaltstitel and Red-White-Red pathways, and the practical relocation around them.

REPRESENTATION

Local representation & administration

An ongoing local presence: registered office, authorities, banking introductions and correspondence handled on the ground, in proper German.

Track B

Access the market

ACCESS

Reimbursement & market access

The EKO route: Dachverband dossier coordination, box strategy and price-negotiation support, aligned to the commercial plan.

PARTNERS

Partner & distributor search

We identify and approach the right partners, payers and hospital contacts - not the ones who merely hold business cards.

HAND-OFF

Deep German pharma: bcaun.de

AMNOG, G-BA and IQWiG reimbursement in Germany is run end to end by our German practice. Visit bcaun.de

EKO · the Austrian reimbursement pathway

For the market-access track: how Austria decides what it pays.

If your product needs reimbursement, outpatient access runs through the Erstattungskodex - the positive list published by the Dachverband. The box you land in, and the price you negotiate, set your Austrian ceiling.

01

Electronic application (ewEKO)

Every company authorized to distribute an approved product in Austria can apply for inclusion in the Erstattungskodex. Applications are submitted electronically through the ewEKO workflow to the Dachverband.

02

HTA assessment

The product undergoes a pharmacological, medical-therapeutic and health-economic assessment - a Health Technology Assessment that determines reimbursement eligibility and the terms.

03

HEK recommendation

The independent Heilmittel-Evaluierungs-Kommission advises the Dachverband, which bases its decision on that recommendation. Your evidence and comparator framing shape the outcome - a strategic choice, not an administrative one.

04

Price negotiation

Price is negotiated with the Dachverband on the basis of the assessment - and capped by the EU-Durchschnittspreis (EU average price) rule. Austria is one of Europe's most-referenced pricing markets, so the number you agree here echoes across the continent.

Green box
Free prescription Reimbursed without special approval - the fullest access, if the benefit case was built early.
Yellow box
Restricted / conditional Reimbursed under defined conditions or prior approval - a narrower path to the patient.
Red box
Not yet reimbursed New applications under assessment - no routine reimbursement until the case is made.

Entering Germany too? German pharma reimbursement runs through AMNOG and the G-BA - our German practice handles that end to end at bcaun.de

Sectors

Deepest in life sciences - capable across regulated sectors

The market-access track goes deepest in life sciences; company setup and relocation, of course, are sector-agnostic.

Anchor capability

Life Sciences

PharmaEKO reimbursement, distribution and local representation. German AMNOG access via bcaun.de.
Medtech & DiagnosticsMDR / IVDR pathway, CE marking, hospital and tender access, distribution partners.
Digital HealthDigital-health reimbursement routes and the step nobody plans for - turning a listing into prescriptions.
Each of these follows a different regulatory and reimbursement logic. We keep them as distinct tracks - because pretending one playbook covers all three is exactly what a generalist would do. See the EKO pathway
How we work

What we own - and what we coordinate

We own
  • Company formation, structure design and local representation
  • Relocation & residence guidance for founders and investors
  • Market & pricing-environment read for Austria and DACH
  • Identification and approach of distribution / licensing partners
  • Orchestration of the specialists into one plan
We coordinate, not replace
  • Tax structuring & notarial company formation
  • Immigration & residence filings
  • The EKO / Dachverband reimbursement dossier
  • Regulatory submissions, pharmacovigilance & legal contracts

Executed with specialist partners, kept aligned to your goal and timeline - so nothing falls between the desks.

A boutique that claims to do company formation, tax, immigration, reimbursement and law all in-house is not credible to anyone who has done it. Owning the commercial and relationship layer, and orchestrating the rest, is.

Proof

Why clients trust us with the Austrian step

Replace with real proof - the most important block on the page
  • Named Austria lead + one-line credential (About cannot be anonymous).
  • 1-2 anonymized mandates: setup / relocation (origin country, structure, outcome) and one market-access case.
  • Named specialist partners you coordinate (tax, notary, immigration, regulatory), if disclosable.
  • BCA Group / Italy as evidence of EU reach; any association memberships (e.g. PHARMIG, WKO).
One firm · two practices

Going into Germany too?

Deep German pharma market access - AMNOG, G-BA, IQWiG - is run end to end by our German practice.

Visit bcaun.de
Start here · low risk

Austria Setup & Access Assessment

A focused working session plus a short written output - so you know the realistic Austrian picture, whether you are here to establish, to relocate, or to sell, before committing budget.

The recommended legal structure and residence route
A company-formation and relocation roadmap
A realistic reimbursement scenario (EKO box & price), if selling
A partner / distributor shortlist and the route on to Germany
Book a session

Details, price and booking on one page · Led by [ Name, credential ]