Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Selected Events for April

MicroConf Growth 2022

April 3-5 – USA
MicroConf Growth is focused on helping self-funded and indie-funded startups grow into seven- or eight-figure businesses through actionable tactics, inspiration, and their world-famous hallway track.

Non-Fungible Conference 2022

April 4-5 – Portugal
Built around talks, panels, workshops and parties this 2-day event will bring together artists, projects, platforms, collectors and investors from the global NFT community. They discuss gaming, art, collectibles and metaverse and how to make it profitable,  as well as the future of cryptoart and collectibles.

NFT Tallinn

April 6 – Estonia
A 1-day event filled with talks, panels, workshops and experiences that connects builders, creators, investors and other web3 industry pioneers from the global NFT community. The event brings together and will cover topics such as web3, gaming and NFT.

Bitcoin 2022

April 6-9 – USA
Bitcoin 2022 is a four-day pilgrimage for those seeking more information, curiosity and want to gain insights from the bitcoin community. They will cover perspectives of how bitcoin can participate to greater freedom and individual sovereignty. One of the world’s largest gathering of bitcoiners.

Alpha Wolves 2022

April 7-8 – Poland
Wolves Summit’s “Alpha Wolves” event brings together top-tier decision-makers from PE/VC funds and high-growth scale-ups to develop close business relationships and scale in Central Eastern Europe. The event will focus on the growth, insights and needed skills to effectively scale and take your business to the next level.

Paris NFT Day 2022

April 12 – France
Paris NFT Day, will gather some of the biggest players in metaverse, security, art, luxury, gaming and sports to unveil the true potential of NFTs and how they will remodel tomorrow’s business paradigms. Paris NFT Day will be journey into the business of NFTS and the Web3 Ecosystem.

Startup Grind Global Conference 2022

April 12-13 – USA
Overall, 15,000 community members will come together to learn and explore the next wave of the web, bridging the gap between web2 and web3, building human-centric products, impacting diverse communities.  Built for growing, evolving startups + scale-ups around the world. Join Global 2022 for meaningful networking and mentorship, developing deeper connections.

Paris Blockchain Week Summit 2022

April 13-14 – France
During two days, PBWS will host sessions about traceability, leveraging blockchain on the innovation journey, digital governance, what’s been built in 2021/2022, the state of digital asset liquidity and international regulatory cooperation. Renowned speakers from the some of the best blockchain and digital asset companies in the world will share their stories and insights on the market and its prospects.

MIX.E Energy Show

April 13-14 – France
MIX.E, will bring together European innovations, solutions and deployments for a carbon-neutral energy mix: renewables, hydrogen, storage and conversion solutions, networks and data management. With some applications in: Industrial use, Construction, Transportation & Urban planning. All engaged to achieve carbon neutrality by resilient and value-creating businesses!

International Conference on Urban Mobility for Smart Cities

April 14-15 – France
International Conference on Urban Mobility for Smart Cities that aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Urban Mobility for Smart Cities. The conference also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Urban Mobility for Smart Cities.

eMerge Americas

April 18-19 – USA
eMerge Americas are transforming Miami into the tech hub by partnering with the entire tech and entrepreneurial ecosystem, from government to higher-ed, startups to investors, corporate enterprises to media. Connecting the dots between talent, capital and entrepreneurs. Attracting people around the world to come to Miami to launch, build, and successfully scale their ideas.

Sthlm Fintech Week 2022

April 19-22 – Sweden
Sthlm Fintech Week is an annual event bringing together thought-leaders to foster new connections and enhance collaboration. During the event, participants will indulge in different fintech verticals, meet hundreds of world-class experts and participants join forces and share their experience.

Re-work: New York Summit 2022

April 21-22 – USA
Discover advances in AI and machine learning tools and techniques from the some of the world’s leading innovators across industry, research and the financial sector. Find out how NLP and application can be used to create digital assistants, chatbots, and advances in NLP and application. And how conversational interfaces can improve customer experience and increase engagement.

c/o pop Convention 2022

April 21-22 – Germany
c/o pop Convention is a gathering for the music industry and cooperating sectors such as digital business, film, TV, games and advertising. It is a platform for networking and interaction for bands, artists and the entire associated ecosystem.

Startup Extreme

April 27-28 – Norway
One of the world’s most extreme 2-day startup events. Where hundreds of innovators, startups and investors from across Europe gather in the Alps of Norway to get inspired, network the Norwegian way and explore the next extreme bets.

SaaS Connect

April 27-28 – USA
Join this  10th annual SaaS partnership conference  to meet, network, learn from, and close deals with business development, partnership, marketing, platform, reseller, channel and distribution experts across SaaS.

TechChill 2022

April 27-29 – Latvia
One of the main tech and startup events in the Baltics bridging the gaps in knowledge, skills and network! TechChill brings together 2000+ attendees, including some of the fastest-growing startups, most innovative corporations, investors active in the region and talented tech enthusiasts. TechChill is organized by a non-profit foundation of the same name, empowering the Baltic startup ecosystem.

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crowds throng the avenue before the Blue Stage at VivaTech 2025
Events 2 days ago

At Sesamers, we’re always looking to be the first to learn about the latest trends in the startup and tech events space. That’s why it feels like a privilege that Sesamers was invited by Olivia Hervy, chief ecosystem officer of VivaTech, to the exclusive kick-off VivaTech 2026, alongside key partners.  As Europe’s largest startup and tech event prepares for its 10th anniversary, scheduled for June 17-20, 2026 in Paris, being part of this circle of industry professionals gives us early insight into what promises to be VivaTech’s most ambitious edition yet, with significant expansions and new experiences that reflect a decade of growth and evolution. Major infrastructure expansions After calling Hall 1 and 2 at Porte de Versailles home for a decade, VivaTech 2026 is relocating to Hall 7, a new three-floor building that the event will occupy fully. The venue now features 30% more exhibition space across three floors; upgraded infrastructure; excellent internet connectivity, and a much larger business center. The building has 12 dedicated restaurant areas, providing ample dining options to better accommodate the growing crowds. The centerpiece is a brand new, 2,200-seat main stage where the event’s most significant announcements and keynotes will be held. Greater business focus Building on 2025’s  success (180,000 attendees, 14,000 startups), VivaTech 2026 introduces several business-focused improvements: Doubled innovation showcase The “Garden of Innovators” concept has been expanded upon, with organizers promising to double startup participation, product announcements, and exhibition surface area compared to previous editions.  Located on the first floor, the welcome area will showcase exemplars of innovation through the centuries to remind attendees of humanity’s continuous drive to invent and create. Germany takes center stage For 2026, Germany has been selected as the “Country of the Year,” and VivaTech will highlight the nation’s contributions to the European tech ecosystem with an eye towards strengthening Franco-German technological cooperation. Thematic villages  VivaTech 2026 introduces a new organizational approach: We have four dedicated thematic arenas, each of which features its own startup village and specialized programming: Each thematic village will feature startups building in those sectors, creating focused ecosystems where attendees can explore innovations that cross-pollinate within a concentrated area. Every theme features its own dedicated stage, which will host talks, panels, and presentations tailored to that sector. An additional Executive Arena will cater specifically to marketing and tech leaders, providing a hub for C-level discussions and strategic content. “Revolutions in Progress” VivaTech2026’s theme emphasizes ongoing technological revolutions, with particular focus on: Special anniversary experiences To mark the event’s 10th anniversary, VivaTech 2026 will feature several special events: Looking forward With its tagline, “VIVA LA REVOLUTION,” VivaTech 2026 positions itself not just as a retrospective celebration, but as the launch pad for the next decade of European tech innovation. The expanded format and new experiences point to how the event is evolving from a showcase into an increasingly sophisticated business platform for the global tech community. VivaTech 2026 builds on last year’s impressive satisfaction metrics (92% of exhibitors satisfied, 82% of attendees planning to return) while substantially expanding capacity and capabilities to serve the growing European tech ecosystem.

a wall of amplifiers
Events 2 days ago

Europe recorded €108 billion from exhibitions and events in 2024, according to UFI’s latest data. The continent welcomed 102 million visitors to over 2,000 certified exhibitions across 17 countries; Web Summit Lisbon set a record with 71,528 attendees in November 2024, making it the largest edition to date; and Stockholm’s Techarena secured just over €1 million from VC firm BackingMinds to expand internationally. By any reasonable measure, Europe’s events space has absolutely crushed the events game. End of story. Fin. However, from where I’m sitting, the elephant is still lurking quite comfortably in the room. At the risk of being ostracized, I’ll go ahead and ask the question: Why are some of the most innovative companies on the planet still schlepping to Austin for SXSW to make their biggest announcements (Salt Lick and Stubbs BBQ’s aside)? The room vs. the world Looking at the numbers: Europe’s events spark more meaningful connections per square meter than anywhere else on Earth. In 2025, VivaTech set records with 180,000 visitors, a 10% increase from a year earlier. MWC Barcelona authoritatively anchors a circuit stretching from Kigali to Las Vegas. The continent plays host to an estimated 32,000 exhibitions annually, generating 4.3 million full-time equivalent jobs. These are numbers you cannot take lightly. But walk into any European tech conference and you’ll witness something that should make every one of us reach for the Advil: major announcements received by something akin to a boisterous golf clap from 500 or so people. And that’s it. Those announcements then usually disintegrate into the digital ether, seemingly never to be heard of again. Meanwhile, across the pond, a throwaway tweet about the same topic has the potential to garner upwards of 50,000 shares and three podcast invitations faster than you can drink your morning coffee. But data and numbers don’t lie, and when it comes to events, they’re frankly embarrassing. Europe’s events sector processes roughly €108 billion, and is  extraordinarily efficient in bringing decision makers together in the same space.  European startups consistently struggle with what should be the easier bit: translating those promising conversations into sustained media coverage, investor attention and market validation. The great muppet caper Picture this scene playing out roughly 847 times per week across Europe: Monday: A Finnish startup leveraging AI presents a true breakthrough in supply chain management/optimization/operations to 200 logistics executives at a specialized track. The demo is genuinely impressive. The potential is genuinely massive. The audience is the very definition of target market. All the right pieces are in all the right places. Tuesday: Three tech publications publish brief summaries, perhaps even covering the entire conference, and not just the logistics breakthrough. The fledgling company’s LinkedIn post gets 47 likes (including the founders’ mothers, university mates, and the intern). A single podcast interview is scheduled for three weeks later. It may or may not happen. Wednesday: The story is now less alive than disco was on July 13, 1979. Look that one up, kids. Now let’s compare the same actions to the American playbook, which, if I’m honest, makes me simultaneously impressed and nauseous. The same company makes the announcement at a Bay Area-based event (yep, you know it as well as I do). It generates immediate response across a variety of channels from some  truly influential voices and some noise makers, but enough to garner the attention of major media (print, podcast, and pulp) outlets within 48 hours. It then spawns derivative content, and creates a sustained conversation that drives real, true, business development for the startup for weeks. The difference here isn’t the quality of the innovation; it’s how the messaging was amplified. Folks, you can hate me for saying this, but this is where Europe is getting schooled. There is no stopping in the Red Zone Take one look at today’s media landscape, and you’ll leave with a rather morbid impression. The problem isn’t structural fragmentation; it’s an endemic contraction. Leon may be growing, but European tech media is shrinking,  at precisely the wrong moment. A brief reminder: TechCrunch, long the go-to outlet for European startup coverage, quietly shut down its entire European operation in 2025 when private equity firm Regent LP acquired the publication.  Digital Frontier, the London-based tech publication that launched in early 2024 with a team of 20, “paused” operations just a few months ago, making all 16 staff members redundant.  Business Insider cut 21% of its staff in 2025, citing “extreme traffic drops” and AI disruption. Just days ago, we all found out that The Next Web, once one of Europe’s flagship tech conferences and media brands, was shutting down its events and media operations after nearly 20 years. The Financial Times, which bought TNW in 2019, confirmed it was winding down the business by the end of September following a “strategic review.” Conference attendance had dropped to 4,500 in 2025, less than half of pre-pandemic levels. The failure to capture content The folks at Black Unicorn PR earlier this year put together a guide that reveals something anyone working in European tech media already knows but pretends isn’t true: “Unlike the U.S., which has a few dominant tech media outlets and an emerging class of star indie writers, Europe hasn’t yet consolidated its practitioners’ knowledge in one place.” Stop and think about what that really means for a second. Sure, we’ve got strong regional players, and I salute Sifted, EU-Startups, and Tech.eu doing the do. But the lack of a unified amplification machinery, by definition, puts Europe at a disadvantage over Silicon Valley stories that are destined to be heard in Phuket faster than you can finish reading this sentence. To put it bluntly, European tech events suffer from content capture failure. The most valuable insights surface within conversations, at roundtable discussions, and networking sessions that generate no permanent content.  Unlike American events, which increasingly operate as content factories designed for social media amplification, European conferences optimize to create value in the room rather than post-event content distribution. All that

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New Materials 2 days ago

Winning the JEC Startup Booster's 2025 Sustainability Award transformed Strong by Form from a 'promising startup' into a serious player with industrial credibility.

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