Suggestions
Michael Kowatschew
President at Sigma Squared - Forbes 30 Under 30
Michael Kowatschew is an impact-driven entrepreneur and former Austrian Karate champion based in Vienna, Austria.1 He co-founded and served as Managing Director at The Pixel Beat, a tech-driven venture builder, from January 2021 to February 2023.1 The company was later acquired by somethingcreative.1
Kowatschew's entrepreneurial journey includes:
- Founding Heizma, a company focused on making heating climate neutral34
- Co-founding friendzone, an app for building communities (March 2018 - February 2020)1
- Founding NOVID20, Europe's first automated contact tracing application (March 2020 - February 2021)1
He has also been involved with Sigma Squared Society, serving as President from February 2022 to April 2024.12 Kowatschew holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, specializing in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Digital Marketing.1
Kowatschew is multilingual, with professional proficiency in Spanish and English, native proficiency in German and Bulgarian, and elementary proficiency in Russian.1
Highlights
The right team makes all the difference.
I can’t explain how valuable it is for me to be building Heizma not only with absolute beasts I am amazed by every day, but also true friends.
This makes this (crazy) ride so enjoyable and the development of a great culture so much fun.
To the climate neutral moon and beyond, Alexander & Valentin! 🚀 💚
Ps: We might have been celebrating the end of a great week at the office on this picture 🥂

Our new company Heizma is out of stealth mode! 💚🔥💚🔥
A few months ago I embarked on a new journey with my friends and now Co-Founders Alexander V. and Valentin Perkonigg.
We all have worked together individually in the past, but none of us could have imagined, looking back, that our paths would now cross with our biggest adventure yet. 💚
👉 Valentin & Alex started a newsletter (FounderForge) by and for founders in Europe a few months ago, sharing their experiences from building their companies Brickwise and Coinpanion.
👉 Valentin & I worked closely together on Novid20 during the peak of the Covid19 pandemic, where we launched Europe's first automated contact tracing app.
👉 Alex & I started investing together through our investment company morgen ventures, backing young outlier founders.
On top of that, all three of us are proud members of Sigma Squared Society - arguably the best place for founders under the age of 26. 😉
And now, we are building our new company: Heizma
At Heizma we are tackling a problem that is much bigger than anything we have ever tackled before.
We are on a mission to make Austrian 🇦🇹 homes climate neutral by replacing fossil fuel heating systems (like gas or oil) with heat pumps.
Today, around 10% of all CO2 emissions in Europe are the direct result of home heating - making it the third largest CO2 emitter. 🤯
Fortnuately, heat pumps not only save emissions and make technological sense, but now are also the economically better solution.
At Heizma we now offer the whole process, from the first digital visits to offers, installations, subsidies and more, with our team of technicians and partner companies all over the country.
🚀 To this day, we have already sold heat pump installations worth 7-figures, received over 2.500 customer enquiries and are growing fast!
I am not only grateful to be able to work with exceptional people like Valentin and Alex, but also that we have an incredible team that is so passionate (and fun) that on Sundays I can't wait for Monday again! 🫶🏻 #TGIM
Let's do this! I can't wait for the time to come! 🚀 💚

