WVPU Alumna Wins Startup World Cup Austria with 'All But Sugar'

The company of Webster Vienna Private University alumna Lisa Denise Reiss has taken first place at the Startup World Cup Austria 2025 as well as a win at the Deloitte Grow Program.

Reiss, who graduated in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in international business and management, is the founder of the food-tech company All But Sugar.

All But Sugar develops 1:1 plant-based sugar alternatives tailored to application based on their own platform technology without side effects, aiming to transform healthier sweetness in the food and pharmaceutical industries. With the potential to disrupt multi-billion-dollar sectors, Reiss’s innovation stands at the intersection of health, food, sustainability and technology. 

At a very young age, Reiss already had the intention to become an entrepreneur. She started writing stories as a child that she wanted to sell. By the age of 15, she had her first serious business idea and shared it with friends. At 18, while still in high school, she joined a startup in the aviation sector, taking her to London and Munich. However, the idea behind All But Sugar was rooted in something even more personal.

“My grandmother was a confectionist until she got ill, which disallowed her to consume sugar,” Reiss said. “This led me to already search for sugar alternatives years before I founded a company on the technology.”

Reiss has participated in incubators and accelerators in Austria, Germany, Spain and China, such as AustrianStartups and its Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (ELP), INITS - Vienna High Tech Incubator, the Xpreneurs program bei UnternehmerTUM in Munich, and the Seedbed Incubator in EIT Food. These opportunities have guided her on the topics of technology, intellectual property and strategy, deepening her entrepreneurial abilities to transform her idea into a viable and scalable product.

During her time at Webster Vienna, Reiss was regularly listed on the Dean’s List for Outstanding Academic Achievement, received multiple merit-based scholarships from both Webster Vienna and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education and Science, and was selected for Webster LEADS, the university’s leadership development program. She also took full advantage of Webster’s mentoring and career services.

Reiss highlights the encouragement she received from Alan Noble, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurial Financial Management, as a key part of her journey.

“Alan has supported me ever since I first joined his course in March 2021. He saw the spark early on and has always encouraged me to go further,” she said. 

Determined to move fast, Reiss wrote a motivation letter to gain early entry into Noble’s advanced financial course. 

“Lisa has always shown exceptional enthusiasm and talent for entrepreneurship,” Noble said. “She came to my course with her original ideas for Smiling Food, and these were nurtured and developed in very basic form throughout the course. I am particularly proud that she has beaten 140 other Austrian start-ups in winning the right to represent Austria at the Startup World Cup finals in Silicon Valley. She has already generated significant partnership and investor interest in her sugar substitute product, and this global platform will only enhance her business’ profile and opportunities."

“It felt amazing to realize that the faculty not only allowed that, but moreover, they supported and empowered it,” Reiss said.

"I wrote my thesis on sugar overconsumption and received amazing support from the faculty. On the academic side, I’m especially grateful to Dr. Menbere Workie Tiruneh, Dr. Nikolaos Antonakakis and Alan Noble, who helped me build a strong foundation in statistics and finance. Dr. Calumn Blaikie offered invaluable guidance in understanding the broader dynamics of health, the health care industry, and systemic interdependencies. Professor Andrea Gaal and Alexandra Deubner [with Career Services] provided critical advice on leadership and helped me navigate key decisions with insight and encouragement.

"I’m deeply thankful to all of my professors, not only for what they taught in the classroom, but for what they empowered me to create outside of it.”

Watch an interview with Lisa on Webster’s TikTok account.