Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Staying SaaSy in Dublin

SaaStock’s Startup Program offers the opportunity for SaaS startups to partner with your event and amplifies their visibility. What else can applicants look forward to throughout the process?

The Startup Program is a launchpad for early-stage SaaS startups to get the reach and visibility of leading SaaS VCs and investors, alongside the main program and expert-led workshops.

As part of the program, participating startups get wider exposure from the SaaS VC ecosystem through our Global Pitch Competition, designed to take their SaaS from ideation to realization and fund their growth.

Between 2018 and 2019, over 300 startups passed through our Startup Program worldwide and benefited from the power of our network.

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SaaStock Traction stage 2019

The “growth at all costs” era has ended. Building sustainable revenue and maximizing efficiency is one of our key themes for SaaStock 2022. Some of the world’s leading SaaS voices will be in Dublin in October, unveiling how to generate sustainable revenue and why building your SaaS company upon the strongest foundations possible is the key to longevity.

The race to recruit and retain top talent is one challenge the European tech ecosystem has faced for some time. At SaaStock 2022, each of our four main stages will be hosting content dedicated to this very topic. With sessions on leveling up your company culture to maximizing employee lifetime value, our stages will showcase practical insights by speakers from unicorn companies all the way to bootstrapped start-ups.

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SaaStock main stage 2019

SaaStock promotes “Human connections, not just meetings”. What are the differences in networking for your conference that sets it apart from others?

This year, SaaStock will be like no other SaaS conference. We’re working really hard behind the scenes to make this the most impactful conference for SaaS founders, execs, and investors by providing a number of face-to-face networking opportunities.

This includes our dedicated event app which will be launched closer to the event and that’ll allow attendees to pre-book meetings with their peers. For a full breakdown, check out our blog post.

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SaaStock meeting tables

In addition to the SaaStock conference, you offer SaaS.City and SaaSociety. Can you give potential attendees a quick rundown of what these events are all about?

SaaS.City is a series of focused workshops structured to facilitate learning and networking. They take place across a variety of venues throughout Dublin and are an upgraded experience open to SaaStock ticket holders only.

These pre-event boot camps offer advanced-level mentoring in intimate hands-on workshops that deep-dive into specific business challenges. You’ll take part in a structured, peer-driven learning environment and leave equipped with practical solutions, frameworks, and methodologies to overcome any obstacle.

SaaSociety is a VIP, application-only retreat that brings together 60 scaling SaaS founders with a minimum of $5 million in ARR.

This two-day retreat allows founders to round up the main conference with opportunities to reflect, build meaningful connections with peers, and work on their business instead of in their business.

Taking place at Castle Leslie’s 5-star rated estate, SaaSociety promises an impactful, quality experience for attendees to network in roundtable sessions, and enjoy outdoor activities such as horse riding, whiskey tasting, golf, or off-car road driving (to name a few!) and connect with peers at a gala dinner.

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SaaStock 2019 hall

There is also the “Investock” program that SaaStock is curating for investors and VCs. What can they expect from this experience and what are the advantages of joining?

Investock is a one-day event that brings together the most influential SaaS investors from international funds to connect together on an annual basis.

This network-focused event allows the investor community to collaborate with one another on topics such as deal flow, leading an investment round, best processes for closing rounds, the current market climate, and more. Investock gives attendees the unique opportunity to have six months’ worth of meetings in one day with peers, partners, and funds.

Taking place this year at the Aviva Stadium on 17 October, attendees can also expect select content featuring a special guest from the investor and partnership world.

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SaaStock Investock table

Lastly, this is the first year SaaStock will be back to Dublin after 2 years of remote/virtual events! How do you feel about returning to RDS in Dublin and what have you learned from running several online events throughout the pandemic?

We’re absolutely thrilled to be returning to the RDS! To think that SaaStock had started as a small gathering back in 2016 and we’re now at a point where we’ll be bringing 5000+ SaaS founders, execs and investors together is our biggest motivation.

We’re so happy to hear from our community that they’re ready to meet in person again after a few years of online events and virtual gatherings. Those were definitely a challenge but we pivoted at the right time and helped keep the community together during an extremely difficult time.

We learned the importance of community and really stuck to our roots.

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SaaStock sign 2019 

⚡Electrified for SaaStock? Join the club smrs.link/SS22

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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 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

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