He truly was one of the first of his kind.

When Florian Gschwandtner started fitness-tracker Runtastic in 2009 in Austria, along with three friends, it was long before the European ecosystem saw its current boom. Today, Florian is a household name in the startup universe. After he sold Runtastic to Adidas for 220 million euros, his app attracted 163 million users.

During his career, the Austrian entrepreneur experienced several ups and downs as he shares in the Bits & Pretzels Podcast, including strong headwinds in the beginnings when the team was trying to convince investors to dealing with the different company culture within the new owner Adidas.

Now, he is onto pursuing other opportunities. At the moment, Florian invested in about 20 startups as a Business Angel, one of which he co-founded himself in 2012, called Tractive. The service provides a GPS beacon that is attached to a pet’s collar and can be tracked via a browser or the app. Currently Tractive has 80 employees and Florian as Chief Growth Officer expects them to reach a valuation of 100 million+. 

Learn more about Florian's evolution as an entrepreneur and don't miss the chance to meet him at the Bits & Pretzels Networking Week (Sept 27th to Oct 2nd), at our Meet the Leaders track, where the top-founders of the European ecosystem share exclusive insights into their business strategy and what’s next for their company.

Don’t miss the chance to listen and get your ticket here: