What conferences are worth founders’ time in 2024?
The year 2024 offers a challenging climate of high interest rates and a constrained venture capital landscape in Europe. The startup founders have always been struggling more than their peers in the US but the current conditions have made it even harder.
In this context, startup conferences emerge not only as networking events but also as arenas to find investors for your upcoming round. These gatherings can bridge the gap between your innovative startup and forward-thinking investors, focusing on creating opportunities for meaningful interactions, pitch sessions, and one-on-one meetings.
Nonetheless, not all tech events are created equal… All events claim that investors will be there. But what is the actual quality of those investors? And how easy is it to actually connect with them at the event? Lucky for you, I’ve been to many startup events in my career as an investor. Here are the hottest startup events in Europe in 2024 and however they are worth your time:
TechChill 18-19 April in Riga, Latvia
TechChill stands out in the Baltics for its focus on facilitating investor-startup connections, offering pitch competitions and dedicated networking spaces. As you hear in the name, it offers a chill, down-to-earth atmosphere. About 1 of 10 participants are investors and you get the full list of investors so you can connect with them during the conference or after.
Mashup 15-16 May in Malmö, Sweden
Europe’s most exclusive startup meetup aimed at hosting the most ambitious VC-backed founders, VCs and LPs. This event stands out as an anti-conference experience. They replace the stage program with roundtables and meeting areas to foster dialogues for meaningful connection. Half of the visitors are investors, in other words, you’ll run into plenty. If you’re one of the lucky ones to receive an invite, you don’t want to miss this unique experience!
Latitude59 24-26 May in Tallinn, Estonia
This conference is nestled in the digital-forward city of Tallinn and leverages Estonia’s reputation as a startup-friendly ecosystem. They provide curated matchmaking events and a pitch competition to win a €1M investment. This event has been created with startups and investors in mind, attracting about 500 investors to the event.
VivaTech 22-25 May in Paris, France
VivaTech in Paris is a massive event with 150,000 visitors every year, the largest tech event in Europe. It’s a well-organized event with an impressive set of speakers. Unfortunately, only 2,000 of the visitors are investors. It should be possible for you to find investors if you can steer clear of the politicians, corporations and other attendees.
This is a big conference with 45 000 visitors every year. What stands out is the free access so you can sign up and use the matchmaking app to connect with investors completely free of charge. However, free tickets mean you get a varied quality of people so you’ll have to do some research to qualify investors. Many side events are happening over the week which are the best places to expand your network.
TechBBQ 11-12 September in Copenhagen, Denmark
This is a tech conference mixing startup founders, corporates and investors of the Nordics. They have over 1,000 investors joining the event every year, all looking to invest in Nordic startups. If you’re a founder based in the Nordics, you should add TechBBQ to your calendar.
Bits & Pretzels 29 September-1 October in Munich, Germany
This festival uniquely combines insightful keynotes, workshops, and startup pitches with the Oktoberfest networking experience in Munich, creating an informal yet effective setting for startups to connect with investors. Over 1000 of the visitors are investors who you can connect with in a fun way as you’re both drinking beer and wearing Lederhausen.
Websummit 11-14 November in Lisbon, Portugal
With its global reputation, Websummit in Lisbon attracts a large number of investors from various sectors, offering startups extensive opportunities to pitch, network, and secure meetings with potential funders through its highly praised matchmaking app. After last year’s scandal, many investors canceled their visit to Websummit in 2023. Let’s hope they will be back in 2024.
Slush 20-21 November in Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki’s Slush is renowned for its vibrant energy and the quality of venture capitalists it attracts from all over the world. It is a big conference with 13,000 visitors though. You will have to work on your pitch to stand out among all the other thousands of founders there. Startups are provided with the opportunity to engage in side events, meetings with investors, and the pitch competition with a chance to win a €1M investment from top-tier VC funds.
For startup founders in Europe, these conferences represent more than just events; they are vital stepping stones toward securing the necessary capital to fuel growth. The right startup conference can be the next giant leap for your startup to make an impact in 2024.
