Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Jumpstart Your Fundraising: Startup Competitions to Watch in 2023

Startup Pitch Competitions can be compared to skydiving in terms of being an exhilarating and nerve-wracking experience for entrepreneurs. Participating in such competitions provides an opportunity to pitch to multiple investors, gain valuable exposure, receive feedback, and network. The ultimate goal is to secure funding and accelerate the business. To make the process less daunting, a list of the best competitions to attend is provided, along with the advice to research each one, check the qualifications for entry, and prepare a clear and captivating pitch deck. Unlike skydiving, the entrepreneurs should metaphorically open their “parachute” right away by delivering a concise and engaging presentation that showcases their passion for their brand.

Inventures Startup Pitch Event

The Inventures Startup Pitch competition offers finalists the chance to present their product or service to a diverse audience consisting of venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs, early adopters, business educators, and service providers. Attendees can also take advantage of one-on-one networking opportunities with the audience members. Registration for all Inventures programming is free, and attendees have access to professional coaching and on-site mentoring. Additionally, there is a chance to win $10,000 in funding.

KEY INFORMATION
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date: May 31 – June 2, 2023
Cost: There is no fee to apply when attending the program. Tickets for visitors are $899
Industry focus: They have to include one of those categories: the metaverse, Future of Work, AG/Food Tech, Health Innovation, Clean Tech, Computing Infinity
Amount you can win: $10,000 in funding

Calgary skyline, featuring the Calgary Tower and Saddledome in the wintertime.
Photo by Daven Froberg / Unsplash

AWE USA Startup Competition 2023

The AWE USA Startup Pitch Competition is a component of the AWE USA Event, which features over 5,000 attendees and 400 speakers. Since 2010, more than 5,000 companies and 60,000 professionals have relied on AWE to foster growth in the XR ecosystem through networking, learning, and collaboration. Participation in the competition or attendance at the event provides an opportunity to showcase your company to a vast audience and join a community that includes end-users and solution providers, investors and startups, brands and creators, developers, job seekers, and recruiters.

KEY INFORMATION
Location: Santa Clara, California
Date: June 1, 2023
Cost: Prices range from $695-$2499, depending on types of ticket and areas of access. For finalists attending the final event is free
Industry focus: Broad
Amount you can win: No cash prize is awarded for winning the competition. The winning startup takes home a grand prize and is honored on the main stage at AWE USA 2023 with the winning title of “Start-up to Watch”

This is a vantage point seen often on social media, and I wanted to find it, but no one was forthcoming with the info. I started to use Google Maps 3D to try and locate where this was. I knew the ballpark—it had to be northeast of downtown. So after many attempts trying to find this cluster of palm trees, I eventually came across what had to be the location. This area, within Lincoln Heights, has lovely views but is off the beaten path. It was time for me to go make my photograph. That will never get old. I’ve loved that process ever since I was a kid. Here’s to many more in 2018!
Photo by Sterling Davis / Unsplash

SpaceTech @ South Summit 2023

SpaceTech Startup Competition seeks the latest advancements in the aerospace industry, including cutting-edge technologies, business models, and innovations that are transforming the way humanity relates to the sky and space: Aircraft design, propulsion systems, space exploration, commercial space, electric aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, aviation safety, air traffic management, satellites, etc…

KEY INFORMATION

Application Deadline: May 7th
Main Event Dates: June 7-9
Location: Madrid, Spain

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Photo by David Monje / Unsplash

WMF Startup Competition 2023

The WMF Startup Competition is a major international competition for innovative projects in Southern Europe, with over 4,300 startup applications and attendees and international delegations from 49 countries. Participating companies have the opportunity to showcase their projects to a distinguished audience of key players in the digital sector, investors, entrepreneurs, and innovation experts, who could potentially support the growth of promising business ideas.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: Rimini EXPO Centre, Italy
Date: June 15-17, 2023
Cost: TBD
Industry focus: Broad, but requires innovative projects or ideas regarding the digital/technological sector
Amount you can win: There isn’t a specific cash prize but the total value of prizes to date has been more than 3,300,000€

Sunrise in a city with old structures and birds
Photo by Mattia Golinucci / Unsplash

PITCH @ Collision 2023

Although the location has changed this year, with 25,000 attendees moving from New Orleans to Toronto, Collision continues to maintain its status as the fastest-growing tech conference in the US. Participate in various startup workshops, receive firsthand guidance from investors, and take part in the ultimate startup battle at PITCH, where you can compete against the top 70 startups over three days to become the champion.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: Toronto, Canada
Date: June 26-29, 2023
Cost: They are releasing a limited number of discounted tickets for Collision 2023 in Toronto, you can save 50% by registering for their flash sale
Industry focus: Broad
Amount you can win: There is no money — but there is a ton of exposure, and a PITCH trophy

The Toronto Lights
Photo by Conor Samuel / Unsplash

Next Founders 2023

Next Founders is a Canadian startup ecosystem that provides a more immersive and slower option for startups. The program focuses on accelerating the growth of both the startup and the founder through mentoring and access to capital. Successful applicants can receive up to $30K in non-dilutive grant funding and will have opportunities to present their startup at various events and attend workshops prior to the final Venture Day presentation.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Date: The upcoming cohort will run from March – September 2023
Cost: There is no cost to participate in the program
Industry focus: Broad, but your business has to be located in Southern Ontario
Amount you can win: Up to $30K in non-dilutive grant funding

Toronto
Photo by Zia Syed / Unsplash

PITCH @ Web Summit 2023

If your business model hasn’t undergone a significant change in the past three years and your total funding remains below three million euros, it’s time to shake things up. Get ready to compete against top early-stage startups in a live battle, with an audience of over 2,500 global journalists and CEOs and founders of some of the world’s biggest companies. It’s a chance to make a name for yourself and propel your business to the next level.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Date: November 13-16, 2023
Cost: €850, but by pre-registering you can get one extra ticket for free
Industry focus: Technology
Amount you can win: There is no monetary prize, but ask every previous winner and they will tell you the exposure is priceless.

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Photo by Svetlana Gumerova / Unsplash

VDS Pitch Competition

VDS2023 Competition is set up by VDS (organized by Startup Valencia) notably, in collaboration with third parties from the Tech Industry (hereafter the “Partner(s)”). The VDS2023 Competition encompasses applications and participation options for startups to exhibit, pitch and/or have meetings during the VDS event (to be held, ab initio, 26 & 27 October 2023) at the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias, Valencia, Spain. The main purpose of facilitating application information, including personal data, is to be able to offer a platform at the event to boost awareness for shortlisted startups.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: Valencia, Spain
Date: November 26-27, 2023
Cost: No price to submit the application.

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Photo by Jonny James / Unsplash

Startup World Cup 2023

The top-tier of the startup industry will be present at the Startup World Cup (SWC), organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures, which involves over 60 regional events leading up to the Grand Finale held in Silicon Valley. This event provides finalists with the opportunity to compete for a chance to secure a one million USD investment, while attendees have the chance to network with influential figures within the industry. Distinguished judges from previous years have included renowned individuals such as Steve Wozniak from Apple and Marc Randolph from Netflix.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Date: November 29-December 1, 2023
Cost: Tickets to attend have not been announced yet, but there are multiple events organized that anyone can attend, each with different cost
Industry focus: Geared towards improving lives and transforming industries — such as with healthcare, artificial intelligence, robotics, transportation, financial technologies, IoT, augmented reality and agriculture.
Amount you can win: $1,000,000 in investment

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Photo by Joonyeop Baek / Unsplash

Slush 2023

Slush is the ultimate gathering place for the coolest kids in town. With events held in Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Helsinki (where it all began), the festival/conference focuses on building a strong community and facilitating meetings between founders and investors. The event is organized by successful entrepreneurs, including Nokia’s Risto Siilasmaa, who are dedicated to nurturing the startup ecosystem.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: Helsinki
Date: November 30 – December 1, 2023
Cost: Free
Industry focus: Tech
Amount you can win: There is no monetary prize, but you can take advantage of the Slush community; get speed mentoring and resources

Helsinki Cathedral in Autumn Sunset
Photo by Tapio Haaja / Unsplash

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crowds throng the avenue before the Blue Stage at VivaTech 2025
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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 1 day 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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