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Top Venture Capital conferences in 2023

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Top VC conferences in February

4FYN 2023

Feb 27- Mar 2 – Spain
4YFN and UNDP are joining forces again to support women start-up entrepreneurs based in the Arab region who are using technological solutions to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

MWC Barcelona 2023

Feb 27- Mar 2 – Spain
This year, Fira Barcelona was packed with imagination, inspiration, and cutting-edge innovation. Despite the challenges, we hosted expert thought leadership, iconic brands, and participants from almost 200 countries and territories. Whether you flew in or logged on, we hope you enjoyed the event.

Top VC conferences in March

Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2023

Mar 9-10 – France
Hello Tomorrow Global Summit will convene the deep tech ecosystem once more to connect all key players – startups, investors, private & public organizations, researchers, universities & incubators – through this edition. Meet the startups that are transforming a wide range of industries. Touch, feel, and see for yourself the technologies that are enabling this change.

SXSW 2023

Mar 10-19 – USA
South by Southwest (SXSW) dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture.

TNW Valencia 2023

Mar 30-31 – Spain
Valencia is Spain’s fastest-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem — and has the most startups per capita of anywhere in the country. It’s rapidly becoming the Mediterranean’s startup powerhouse. And, in 2023, TNW València is set to bring the heart of tech to the region.

Top VC conferences in April

Startup Grind Global Conference 2023

Apr 11-12 – USA
Overall, 15,000 community members both live and online will come together to learn about and explore the next wave of the web, bridging the gap between web2 and web3, building human-centric products, impacting diverse communities, and more.

EU-Startups Summit 2023

Apr 20-21 – Spain
The EU-Startups Summit 2023 will gather over 2,000 founders, startup enthusiasts, corporates, angel investors, VCs, and media from across Europe. The event is a great opportunity for networking, with a dedicated networking app, and a meeting point for aspiring entrepreneurs and investors who are aiming to build international tech companies.

TechChill Riga 2023

Apr 26-28 – Latvia
Having grown from a small grassroots movement of like-minded tech enthusiasts, TechChill celebrates the best of the Baltic startup community by annually bringing together 2,000+ attendees, including 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 throughout the year.

Top VC conferences in May

PODIM 2023

May 15-17 – Slovenia
Podim is one of the most influential startup & Tech events in the CEE region, based in Slovenia, where innovation meets business opportunities, capital and knowledge.

Tech.eu Summit 2023

May 24 – Belgium
The Tech.eu Summit is bringing together 1,800 thinkers and doers to help shape the best possible future for the European innovation ecosystems. The key focus will be on sustainable growth.

Infoshare 2023

May 24-25 – Poland
This is where visionaries and engineers come together. Join a truly innovative community and get inspired by the rapidly changing world of technology.

Latitude59 2023

May 24-26 – Estonia
Latitude59 is one of the flagship startup & Tech events of the world’s first digital society. But behind the long and flashy tagline, participants will be glad to find an intimate event with quality at its core. It’s the beloved highlight of the year for the whole Estonian tight-knit startup community.

ChangeNOW 2023

May 25-27 – France
The ChangeNOW summit is one of the best accelerator events for a better world. Over 3 days, the summit puts the spotlight on the most concrete and innovative solutions to face the world’s biggest challenges.

Top VC conferences in June

Dublin Tech Summit 2023

May 31-Jun 6 – Ireland
One of Europe’s fastest-growing Tech conferences, DTS sits at the heart of the international tech scene with Dublin now the EMEA base for some of the biggest global tech companies.

Money20/20 EU 2023

Jun 6-8 – Netherlands
In Amsterdam, they facilitate 3 remarkable days of the right conversations, the right connections, and the right discoveries which enable individuals and organizations of all sizes to achieve their goals and grow. C-level executives, renowned speakers, innovators, and disruptors from across the world drive change in the future of money.

South Summit 2023

Jun 7-9 – Spain
They have met in Madrid for almost ten years, but have also seen each other in Bilbao and Valencia, in Mexico and Colombia, in person and online. Their objective was (and still is) very clear: to be the reference hub that shapes the future via initiative, entrepreneurship, open innovation, and business opportunities.

VivaTech 2023

Jun 14-17 – France
VivaTech acts as a powerful global catalyst for digital transformation and startup growth. Every year they bring together, in Paris and online, business leaders, startups, investors, researchers, and innovators to ignite positive change in business and for society.

TNW Conference 2023

Jun 15-16 – Netherlands
The Next Web (TNW) Conference is where industry leaders and tech enthusiasts alike come together, to explore how tech will shape the world of tomorrow. You’ll get insights from industry pioneers, and meet international tech executives, policymakers, startups, and scale-ups.

PIRATE Summit 2023

Jun 27-29 – Germany
PIRATE Summit focuses on real life experiences, authentic connections, peer learning, and is characterized by its festival-like atmosphere. An environment for people to let their guard down, engage in meaningful ways, renew old friendships, start new ones, and just be themselves!

Turing Fest 2023

Jun 28-29 – Scotland
Turing Fest enables you to learn and connect with the best in tech, gain practical insight into the art and science of building, growing, and leading successful startups and high-growth tech businesses – see for yourself!

Top VC conferences in September

Bits & Pretzels 2023

Sep 24-26 – Germany
Started as a small founder’s breakfast with 80 participants, Bits & Pretzels quickly developed into one of Europe’s leading founders festivals – attracting some of the world’s greatest companies, speakers and entrepreneurs alike!

Top VC conferences in October

World Summit AI 2023

Oct 12-13 – Netherlands
Fearless, forward-thinking, and innovative, World Summit AI is one of the world’s leading events in AI and Tech and hosts some of the brightest AI brains, leading industry speakers, and influencers from business, science, and technology over two days, all in one place!

European Blockchain Convention 2023

Oct 24-26 – Spain
Join 5,000+ attendees in a 3-day event and don’t miss the opportunity to meet with the startups, investors, corporates, and developers that are changing the world. Right in the heart of Barcelona, the event will feature 300+ speakers across a variety of panels, keynotes, workshops, and fire-side chats on the current state of Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi, NFTs, Metaverse, and Web3.

Top VC conferences in November

Web Summit 2023

Nov 13-16 – Portugal
Web Summit is one of the largest Tech events in the world, bringing together founders and CEOs of technology companies, fast-growing startups, policymakers, and heads of state to ask a simple question: Where to next?

Slush 2023

Nov 30-Dec 1 – Finland
Slush is all about connecting founders with what and whom they need while building a new, inclusive, and more purposeful culture of entrepreneurship.

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Events 3 days ago

AI is reshaping how people discover information. Search traffic, once the lifeblood of websites, is plummeting as AI tools provide answers and context immediately, eliminating the need to browse to websites for answers at all.  Understandably, companies are responding by going down avenues they can control: newsletters, podcasts, memberships and events. This reality is true for startups as well. You simply can’t rely on Google traffic or algorithms to build trust anymore. You need direct channels, and there are few ways to build trust more powerful than  meeting people face-to-face. Welcome to the ‘post-click’ era Startups have long played by the ever-changing rules set by Google and social media platforms, which are more often than not prone to changing their algorithms and leaving everyone scrambling to adapt overnight.  AI is not only accelerating this instability, it’s almost making Google referral traffic obsolete. Companies need to adapt to this new reality with strategies that let them talk directly to their prospective customers. The media industry, one of the most vulnerable to the changes, is proving to be one of the quickest to adapt. Morning Brew, for example, blends its newsletters franchises with events. In a recent interview, Sam Jacobs, TIME’s editor-in-chief, highlighted how the company went from organizing two to three events per year, to holding the same number of events monthly. Even digital-first players are embracing events. Podcasts like Acquired and All-In now host live events to bring their listeners together. Finimize has built grassroots meetups around its newsletter. The new defense tech media title, Resilience Media, born on Substack, is planning events to connect experts in its niche. Alex Konrad’s new Upstarts ecosystem includes live interviews, an upcoming podcast and curated events. These aren’t just extensions of the content; they’re ways to nurture communities. Startups should copy this strategy. They must consider where their credibility and relationships will be built in this new landscape, especially as visibility is no longer about simply appearing on top of search results or burning money with ads; it’s about building lasting trust in the spaces that matter. Events are singularly effective at doing that. Lessons from after the pandemic If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that being present online is insufficient. Platforms like Hopin promised a future of global, scalable, online events. Even experiments in VR conferences were the subject of occasional hype.  All of that fell short, however. What founders, investors and marketers learned was simple: There is no substitute for shaking someone’s hand, catching their eye, and sharing time in the same space. When the pandemic ended, events came back with a bang. Companies large and small continue to invest in gatherings. Events still carry symbolic weight: just look at Apple’s meticulously choreographed product launches, or how scaleups like Helsing showcase new technologies.  For startups, events can also serve as tools for strengthening internal communications and bonds with their employees and their community. Here’s a great example: Italian travel scaleup WeRoad holds an annual, two-day global gathering of its travel coordinators and staff that strengthens culture and commitment in ways a Zoom call never could. Why startups need to show up Startups live and die on the strength of their relationships. Securing investors, signing first customers, and finding the right partners are all processes that depend completely on trust. These early relationships are crucial. In an AI-driven world where digital discovery is fragmented, saturated and noisy, events cut through the noise. They offer something AI and algorithms never will: human presence. Startups should think of events as essential investments in visibility and credibility. Whether it’s speaking on stage, hosting a breakfast or simply showing up to the right conference — being in the room matters. It’s OK to be selective. It’s OK to pass on events when priorities point elsewhere. And don’t take this to mean the digital realm and AI should be ignored. But in this era where we’re putting AI on a pedestal, founders should not underestimate the power of a physical meeting for establishing contact with investors, talent, or any other important stakeholder.

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New Materials 4 days ago

After a successful first edition, JEC Investor Day 2026 is now returning for its second year with expanded ambitions.

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Events 1 week ago

TechCrunch Disrupt? Overrated. Web Summit? A $4,700 mistake I’ll never make again. I’ve burned $18K learning which startup events actually matter for B2B SaaS founders trying to close deals—not just collect business cards. Here’s what nobody tells you: the biggest events aren’t where B2B deals happen. Why “Best Startup Event” Lists Are Useless for B2B Founders Every January, tech blogs publish the same recycled garbage: “50 Must-Attend Startup Events!” They rank by size and buzz. What they don’t rank by: where your buyers actually show up with budgets. I learned this after exhibiting at a 70,000-person mega-conference. Spent $4,700 on booth space, flights, and hotel. Had exactly zero conversations with our target market. The attendees? Mostly consumer startups and the press are looking for the next Uber. According to Cvent, 81% of trade show attendees have buying authority—but only at industry-specific events. Generic “startup” conferences are networking theater. If you’re serious about finding the right startup event strategy, you need to think differently. The 5 Best Startup Events Where I’ve Actually Closed B2B Deals SaaStr Annual – Where SaaS Deals Actually Happen 13,000 SaaS professionals in San Mateo every March. APIDays – The Technical Depth You Need If you’re building APIs, this is your room. 2,000-3,000 API architects who can actually read your docs. Paris is the flagship, but they run 10+ cities globally. What makes APIDays different: it’s deeply technical. No marketing fluff. €3,000 gets you in, and European buyers are way less saturated than US markets. Big Data & AI Paris – Enterprise Buyers With Actual Budgets 15,000 enterprise CTOs and data engineers. I closed two partnerships here worth €400K combined—with French banks and telecom companies that had active Q4 budgets. The French government subsidizes AI adoption, so budgets are real. But your networking tactics need to adapt. Less aggressive, more relationship-focused. €800 for a pass and 3,200€ to exhibit as a startup, totally worth it if you’re targeting European enterprises. Track it on Sesamers so you don’t miss early bird pricing. MicroConf – Where Bootstrapped Founders Share Real Numbers 200-300 attendees max. Everyone’s profitable or trying to be. Zero VC hypergrowth bullshit. I’ve learned more in hallway conversations here than at conferences 50x the size. The attendees are other founders who share actual numbers—not vanity metrics. Churn rates, CAC, payback periods. This is how you measure real ROI from events. Worth every cent if you’re bootstrapped. Industry-Specific Trade Shows – The Secret Weapon Here’s the move nobody talks about: skip tech conferences entirely. Go where your buyers congregate. Healthcare SaaS? Hit HIMSS. Fintech? Money20/20. HR tech? HR Tech Conference. I watched a founder close a $400K deal at a healthcare event while competitors were posting selfies at Web Summit. These cost $3,000 avg, but attendee quality is 100x better. According to Statista, B2B trade shows hit $15.78B in 2024. This strategy works because you’re fishing where the fish actually are. The 3-Filter System I Use to Pick Events Filter 1: Who’s actually attending? Can you name 20 people who match your ICP? If not, wrong event. Use Sesamers to check historical attendee data before buying tickets. Filter 2: What’s your actual goal? Raising money? Go to investor-heavy events. Closing customers? Industry trade shows. Different goals need different event selection criteria. Filter 3: What’s the all-in cost? Ticket + flights + hotel + meals. If it’s over $3K, you need $30K in pipeline to break even. Most events don’t hit that unless you’re strategic. Events I Skip (And Why You Should Too) Web Summit: 70,000 people is networking hell. Consumer-focused despite the B2B claims. Pass unless you need Series A+ PR. CES: Consumer electronics show. Your B2B SaaS buyers aren’t here. I see founders at CES every year wondering why they’re not closing deals. Now you know. TechCrunch Disrupt: Great for press and VCs. Terrible for enterprise buyers. Worth it for launch PR, not pipeline. How I Track Everything Without Losing My Mind I track every event in a spreadsheet: cost, conversations, pipeline generated, deals closed. After three years of data, the pattern is crystal clear. Niche beats broad. Quality beats quantity—industry-specific crushes general tech. The best startup events for B2B SaaS are never on TechCrunch’s homepage. For API companies: APIDays and API World are superior to generic conferences. For AI/ML: Big Data & AI Paris provides European enterprise access that’s nearly impossible to achieve otherwise. Geography matters—European buyers at European events are way less saturated than US markets. Stop Wasting Money on the Wrong Events You have limited time and budget. Most founders can hit 3-5 events per year max. Choose wrong and you’ve burned $15K and 15 days for zero ROI. Choose right and one event generates $500K+ in pipeline. Use Sesamers to find events filtered by your industry and target attendees. See which ones similar founders recommend. Track ROI data. Set reminders for early bird pricing. Never waste another $4K on an event where your buyers don’t show up. Because the smartest way to pick events is learning from founders who’ve already tested them—and can tell you which ones actually matter. Ready to find your next high-ROI event? Start tracking on Sesamers and build your calendar based on data, not FOMO.

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