Blühendes Österreich - BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung

What Blühendes Österreich - BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung does

Blühendes Österreich – BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung is an Austrian charitable private foundation established in 2015 by REWE International AG and headquartered in Wiener Neudorf, Austria. It is described as Austria's first and largest private-sector initiative dedicated to biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture, serving approximately 230 farmers, 20 municipalities, winegrowers, youth organizations, and the general public. The foundation operates with seven employees and functions as a non-commercial entity with no revenue generation; its purpose is programmatic conservation and public engagement rather than commercial returns.

The foundation's core technology assets include the Schmetterlingsapp (butterfly app), a citizen science mobile application with over 50,000 downloads and 735,000+ logged butterfly observations, paired with an in-house machine learning model trained on approximately 530,000 butterfly photographs that performs automated species identification. It also operates Austria's largest nature experience portal, aggregating events from roughly 100 partner organizations, including all six Austrian national parks, Natur im Garten, and BirdLife Österreich. To date, the foundation has secured cumulative conservation outcomes including 1,056 hectares of renaturation area.

Its business and funding model is non-commercial and grant-based. Primary funding flows from REWE International AG and BILLA AG (the founding corporate sponsor), supplemented by customer deposit (Pfand) donations collected through the nationwide "Dein Pfand fürs Land" in-store campaign, and project grants from EU, federal, and Austrian state governments. Distribution occurs through BILLA's retail network (~1,000+ stores), partner organizations, the digital Schmetterlingsapp and nature portal, and municipal channels, with all core services and digital products provided free to end users.

Name

Blühendes Österreich - BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung

Legal name

Blühendes Österreich – BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung

Website

https://bluehendesoesterreich.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blühendes Österreich – BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung is an Austrian charitable private foundation established in 2015 by REWE International AG to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture, serving farmers, municipalities, and the public through citizen science apps, a nature portal, and renaturation programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Nature, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Conservation (BPADALAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Wildlife Conservation & Species Protection (BPAGAGAB), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI), Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Parks & Reserves (Visitor Operations) (THAAAAAG)

Keywords

• Biodiversity conservation
• Nature conservation
• Sustainable agriculture
• Citizen science platform
• Environmental foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Wiener Neudorf

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Corporate Foundation Funding: Primary funding from REWE International AG and BILLA AG through the establishment of the BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung (charitable private foundation) in 2015. The foundation operates as the first and largest private-sector initiative for biodiversity and agriculture in Austria.
2. Customer Donations (Pfand Campaign): BILLA and BILLA PLUS customers can donate their deposit refund (Pfand) at return machines in stores. The 'Dein Pfand fürs Land' campaign directs collected amounts to conservation projects. BILLA customers have donated amounts such as €10,000 for bird protection in Weinviertel.
3. Project Grants and Co-Funding: The foundation receives and distributes funding for specific conservation and restoration projects. Examples include WIN #landwirtschaft with €1.7 million for farmer support, and €500,000 for 15 new renaturation projects. Funding sources include EU, federal, and state governments as well as corporate partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Blühendes Österreich is a charitable private foundation that funds and operates biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture programs in Austria. Its core offerings include citizen science tools (the Schmetterlingsapp butterfly observation app), grant programs for farmers and municipalities, nature experience events aggregated through a partner portal, youth engagement campaigns, and corporate biodiversity partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Schmetterlingsapp (Butterfly App) Citizen science mobile application enabling users to photograph and identify butterflies in Austria. The app collects butterfly observations used for professional research and conservation, with ML-based species identification from uploaded photos.
• Naturerlebnisse-Portal (Nature Experience Portal) Online platform aggregating nature experiences and educational events from approximately 100 partner organizations across Austria. Functions as Austria's largest nature experience portal, helping users find nature events, tours, and activities by location and date.
• Machine Learning Butterfly Identification Tool Computer vision tool using machine learning to automatically identify butterfly species from photos uploaded by users, trained on a dataset of 530,000 photos from the citizen science community.
• Naturmagazin (Nature Magazine)
• EINFACH GUT - Farmer Biodiversity Program Cooperation program supporting approximately 500 farmers with practical, cost-effective biodiversity solutions for their farms, co-funded by federal, state, and EU sources.
• WIN #landwirtschaft (Werkstatt Innovation Natur) Multi-year innovation program providing €1.7 million to Austrian farmers for renaturation and nature conservation projects, jointly implemented with BirdLife Österreich and Impact Hub Vienna.
• Changemaker #nature Youth biodiversity program providing €70,000–€130,000 per year to youth organizations for biodiversity and climate protection projects; recognized as Austria's largest youth biodiversity initiative.
• Blühende Gemeinden (Blooming Municipalities) Municipal grant program providing up to €15,000 per municipality (10-year maintenance obligation) for creating species-rich flower meadows, with €250,000 total funding across 20 participating Austrian municipalities.
• WIR4Nature - Corporate Biodiversity Partnership
• Dein Pfand fürs Land (Your Deposit for the Land) Nationwide donation campaign at BILLA and BILLA PLUS reverse vending machines enabling customers to donate their bottle deposit refunds to conservation projects managed by the foundation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,056 hectares of endangered biotope areas secured
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• WINZER KREMS eGmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 May 2026Winegrowers cooperative implementing the 'Lebendige Weingärten' (Living Vineyards) project covering 150 hectares with biodiversity measures including herb cover, nesting boxes, trees and shrubs for endangered species, creating sustainable perspectives for viticulture.
• Impact Hub ViennacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Impact Hub Vienna is a co-implementer of the WIN #landwirtschaft (Werkstatt Innovation Natur) program, which provides €1.7 million to support Austrian farmers in implementing renaturation and nature conservation projects. The partnership brings innovation methodology and startup ecosystem expertise to conservation.
• Nationalpark Neusiedler See - SeewinkelmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 September 2025National park partnership for conservation projects in the Seewinkel region, including water buffalo grazing programs for habitat restoration. The foundation supports the national park society through the Pfand donation campaign.
• Natur im Garten (NÖ Umweltbewegung)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 July 2023Partnership with the Lower Austria environmental movement 'Natur im Garten' creates a European-wide conservation collaboration between public and private institutions. Joint focus on butterfly research, documentation, digitization via the butterfly app, and environmental education. The partnership strengthens the 'Schmetterlinge Österreichs' platform and expands nature education across Austria.
• BirdLife ÖsterreichcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015BirdLife Österreich (bird protection organization) is the co-founder partner of Blühendes Österreich and holds a verbriefter Stiftungssitz (guaranteed foundation seat). The partnership combines conservation expertise with private-sector funding. BirdLife provides scientific expertise in nature conservation and biodiversity monitoring. Together they developed the Strategy 2030 for a nature-positive Austria.
• Hochgebirgs-Naturpark Zillertaler AlpenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for renaturation of the Schwemmalm alpine riparian forest, an endangered rarity. The successful project won the Natura 2000 Award in 2023 and exemplifies corporate-NGO-national park collaboration.
• Österreichischer Gemeindebund (Austrian Municipalities Association)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Austria's municipal association for the 'Blühende Gemeinden' (Blooming Municipalities) initiative, providing €250,000 for biodiversity projects in 20 Austrian municipalities to create species-rich flower meadows.
• National Parks Austria (All 6 Austrian National Parks)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with all six Austrian national parks (Hohe Tauern, Donau-Auen, Gesäuse, Neusiedler See-Seewinkel, Kalkalpen, Thayatal) through the nature experience portal, offering ranger-led tours and educational programs.
• ARGE StreuobstmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Working Group for Traditional Orchards (ARGE Streuobst) distributing €100,000-€130,000 for orchard preservation projects. Jointly published the standard work 'Streuobst in Österreich' (Traditional Orchards in Austria) handbook.
• GLOBAL 2000majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental NGO partnership for the butterfly monitoring program 'Schmetterlinge Österreichs' and publishing butterfly reports 'Ausgeflattert' I-III documenting the decline of Austrian butterflies.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WWF Österreich: Austrian arm of WWF, the world's largest conservation organization. Operates broadly across biodiversity, climate, and species protection with corporate partnerships, citizen science, and policy advocacy. Competes for the same Austrian CSR funding and EU conservation grants as Blühendes Österreich, but operates at much larger scale.
• Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU): Germany's largest nature and biodiversity conservation association with 900,000+ members. Operates citizen science (bird counting, insect monitoring), policy advocacy, and habitat protection across Germany, comparable in mission to Blühendes Österreich but at much larger scale with a different DACH geography.
• GLOBAL 2000 (Friends of the Earth Austria): Austria's largest independent environmental organization, working on biodiversity, climate, and consumer protection. Direct partner of Blühendes Österreich for the Schmetterlinge Österreichs butterfly monitoring program, and operates in the same Austrian environmental advocacy space.

Regional players

• Stiftung Naturlandschaften Brandenburg: German state-level foundation dedicated to acquiring and managing nature reserves through corporate partnerships. Comparable retail-linked German conservation foundation with similar mission of securing endangered habitats, but operates in Brandenburg rather than Austria.

Direct peers

• Michael Succow Stiftung: Private conservation foundation based in Germany focused on nature protection, biosphere reserves, and sustainable land use. Comparable as a private grantmaking foundation supporting conservation projects with similar biodiversity and habitat protection mission.
• Heinz Sielmann Stiftung: German private foundation dedicated to biodiversity conservation and habitat protection, founded with corporate backing. Operates similarly to Blühendes Österreich through grantmaking for conservation projects, citizen science initiatives, and educational programs across DACH region. Most structurally comparable as a private corporate-backed conservation foundation.
• Naturschutzstiftung David: German retail-linked conservation foundation with similar DNA to Blühendes Österreich - established with corporate funding from REWE Group Germany, focused on biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, and operated through project-based grantmaking to farmers. Direct structural analog in the German market.
• Naturschutzbund Österreich: Austrian nature conservation association focused on biodiversity protection, citizen science, and habitat preservation. Direct Austrian peer operating in similar conservation advocacy space with membership-based structure and project-based conservation activities.
• BirdLife Österreich: Austrian bird and biodiversity conservation organization, and the strategic co-founder partner of Blühendes Österreich. While a partner rather than competitor, BirdLife operates a similar mission around species protection, habitat conservation, and citizen science (bird monitoring), with overlapping program portfolios in Austria.

Emerging players

• EuroNatur Foundation: European transnational conservation foundation supporting habitat protection and biodiversity across Europe. Comparable in mission and grantmaking approach but with a pan-European geographic scope rather than Austria-specific focus.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC5E2ZZQutl3KDRs0X0jW8LQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/bluehendesoesterreich
• Instagraminstagram.com/bluehendesoesterreich
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bl%C3%BChendes-%C3%B6sterreich-billa-gemeinn%C3%BCtzige-privatstiftung

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blühendes Österreich - BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung