10 tech events you should attend this year

10 tech events you should attend this year

Saying 2018 is going to be a good year for technology is overrated because every single year is good for it and is good for tech events. But in a world full of bigger and smaller events spread all over it’s always good to have a guideline and to know which ones would benefit you somehow – there’s many more than these ones.

These 10 events are listed in order of dates, not of size or importance, because all of them are equally important and I wish you can attend all of them (I wish I could, to network, of course).

 

  1. 4YFN – February 26-28 – Barcelona, Spain

4YFN is the startup business platform of Mobile World Capital Barcelona that enables startups, investors, corporations and public institutions to discover, create and launch new ventures together. Of course it has everything normally attached to this kind of event like networking activities, hackathons, workshops, congresses and open innovation programs.

This event is focused on startups, investors and corporates. Startups can expect a boost in their network and business opportunities. Investors can count on connecting with other investors from different markets and getting in contact with new startups. Corporates may expect help innovating and also meeting new startups which can help their business.

 

2. SXSW – March 9-18 – Houston, Texas

No presentation is needed for South by Southwest. For those who have been living in a cave, SXSW aims to help creative people achieve their goals. It’s a conference, it’s a festival, all rolled into one with features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions and a lot of opportunities to network.

SXSW claims it’s the living proof that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. It’s a matter of going there and seeing with your own eyes.

 

3. Wolves Summit – April 10-11 – Warsow, Poland

Innovation meeting business and capital, this is the best definition for Wolves Summit. The conference is dedicated to startups, investors, entrepreneurs, corporates and SMBs. On the way of its seventh edition the event is focused on inspiring, educating and guess what? Networking.

The goal is to create growth opportunities for emerging firms and investment, of course. Connections, innovative solutions, matchmaking tools, meet potential business partners and numerous specialists are all part of this event.

 

  1. Pioneers – May 24-25 – Wien, Austria

The most promising tech startups meet the world’s top investors and executives at the most amazing venue ever: the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Business meetings, inspiring innovations, founders stories and industry insights all come together in this event.

It’s a great place for startups to create meaningful business relationships with corporates, investors and tech innovators. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. Pioneers has unparalleled access access to European-wide tech leaders.

 

  1. Latitude 59 – May 24-25 – Tallinn, Estonia

This event gathers the Baltic, CEE and the Nordic tech ecosystem. They provide opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors and leaders to learn, connect and network.

Which translated would be something like exploring different startup themes, network with like-minded people, join their investor-startup matchmaking and exchange futuristic ideas. Why Estonia? Because it has most startups per capita in Europe (bet you didn’t know this) and it’s the only functional digital society in the world.

 

  1. Arctic 15 – May 30-31 – Helsinki, Finland

The event focus on industries and technologies from a wide range of topics such as Talent and Digital Health, Smart Cities and Virtual Reality. There’s a pre-event matchmaking to optimize the network, a Deal Room for one-on-one meetings and the already famous Pitch Competition.

Every year there’s between 1500 and 2000 attendees with more than 300 investors, 450 startups and 150 corporates. Smaller events are the perfect place to get to know who you really want and create lasting connections with those people, ones that can actually change the course of things.

 

  1. Lisbon Investment Summit – June 6-7 – Lisbon, Portugal

LIS, as it is known, is Europe’s surprisingly informal and slightly unexpected startup conference. The event gathers seasoned investors, daring entrepreneurs and innovative executives for a two-day casual, sunny and action-packed event.

With the motto #nobullshit the event attracts more than 200 investors, 750 startups, 400 corporates, 100 speakers and 2000 attendees work together towards creating unique networking opportunities and real investment.

 

  1. South Summit – September 3-5 – Madrid, Spain

South Summit connects the most innovative entrepreneurs with the most important investors in the world and the corporations seeking to improve their global competitiveness through innovation.

Grab the opportunity to attend keynote talks and debates with worldwide innovation leaders, meet with the largest business angels and VC firms and do some business and networking (what else?). Shape the future thinking outside the box in Madrid.

 

  1. Web Summit – November 5-8 – Lisbon, Portugal

There’s no introduction or explanation needed when it comes to Web Summit. For the third year in a row the largest conference in the world is held in Lisbon. The attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to smaller tech companies in a mix of CEOs and founders of tech startups.

We can’t predict how many people will be attending the conference this year, it’s too soon, but if it continues to grow like previous years it will sure have more than 60,000 attendees. It is important to say that Web Summit also runs events around the world, events that you shouldn’t miss as well such as RISE Conference in Hong Kong (July 9-12) and Collision in New Orleans (April 30 – May 3).

 

  1. Slush – December 4-5 – Helsinki, Finland

We’ve already wrote about Slush when Rodrigo Zwetsch attended the event last year. If you go to Slush know that it happens during the sh*ttiest weather season of the year. The conference, considered by some one of the best kept secrets, is proud of celebrating entrepreneurship.

The event has grown immensely from a 300 person assembly to more than 17,000 attendees, 2,300 startups, 1,100 investors and 600 journalists. Slush is a collision of a festival and a conference and it’s not a business, it’s a community of people who love what they do. The core of the event is to facilitate founder and investor meetings and to build a world-wide startup community. And we are sure that networking is also on their minds.

 

Get ready for an intense week in Lisbon

Get ready for an intense week in Lisbon

The Web Summit, and with it an exciting week, is about to take Lisbon by storm. The entire city is preparing to welcome 60,000+ attendees and 1,000+ speakers from 160+ countries. In addition to the tech conference, there are countless satellite events, such as workshops, meetups, and parties.

The week can be overwhelming, there are too many cool events, interesting people and new business opportunities, and not enough time to tend to all of them. It can be difficult to navigate through all that’s going on. For you to get the most out of your stay in Lisbon we have compiled a list of all the events happening during the week.

The type of events vary widely. Some are meant to give you an introduction to the city and the Portuguese ecosystem, such as the Street Art Tour, Secret Food Tours and Lisbon Startup Tour. Some offer meetups and workshops on specific topics and interests, allowing you to learn, develop your skills, and broaden your perspectives, such as Public Speaking Trainings and ntop and Wireshark Users Group Meeting. And some are just meant for you to hang out and party, such as WSCO 17 Web Summit Chill Out and Funky Party by La French Tech and Beta-i.

Go ahead, take a look at the various events happening in Lisbon. They present endless possibilities for networking to create global connections. All you have to do is decide which one best fits your needs, take note and show up. Maybe we’ll see you there?

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Prepping the Alpha Startups for the Web Summit

Prepping the Alpha Startups for the Web Summit

The Web Summit is around the corner. You can feel it in the air and there’s is a frenzy of activity similar to what we experienced last year. This time, everyone knows what to expect. But is everyone really ready for it?

For us, the main value of the Web Summit, or any conference for that matter, comes from preparation! So, to ensure that the Portuguese startups get the best out of the Web Summit, one of the first activities that Beta-i will be hosting is the Road2WebSummit Bootcamp in partnership with Startup Portugal and Web Summit. For those who don’t know, this is an immersive 2-day workshop for the lucky startups chosen for the Websummit Alpha program. That is, a whopping 150 startups. The Bootcamp, running both in Lisbon and Porto, will offer practical and hands-on sessions to help them better plan, set clear objectives and milk the Web Summit before, during and after.

Taking some key learnings from last year edition, this year we have an even more focused program with excellent partners and speakers from Torke CC, Faber Ventures, Web Summit, Startup Portugal and also Beta-i’s very own in-house experts.

To give you a sneak peak, the topics we choose to focus on are:

Building Relationships with Investors at the Web Summit – Yes! building relationships, not getting investment. I mean, hopefully, you get it, but the investment can at times be a lengthy process. So we’re bringing everything back down to earth and speaking frankly about what is needed to start that relationship so that months after we will have a success story.

Building Relationships with Corporates at the Web Summit – While it’s not exactly sexy, sometimes it’s the right thing for your business. Getting a large corporate client onboard as a partner who uses your solution can reap the same or sometimes better results. But unlike investors, they are a whole different player to deal with.

How to Network like a Pro – Conferences in my opinion offer unparalleled networking opportunities. So many people, many of them interesting people, many of them not living in your country. The Web Summit brings so many people together you need to know how to approach them, filter them and move along to the next effectively.

How to Hack the Websummit Online and Offline – This will be an epic workshop giving you the tools to be creative and think outside the box to make your startup visible. Because let’s face it, the Websummit is a marketplace. It is huge and slightly disorientating, but for the Alpha startups, it is an opportunity to be seen!

How to pitch your Startup – Not only pitching on stage but learning the techniques of the elevator pitch and how to quickly introduce yourself so that my grandmother understands what you are doing for a living.

Goal Setting – Making sure that you know what you are going out there to do!

The Bootcamps take place already on the 18th/19th of October in Lisbon and on the 25th/26th in Porto and we’re looking forward to work with all Web Summit Alpha Startups:

  • 3DWays
  • 4Geo
  • AdsYeah!
  • advertIO
  • Agriw
  • Aixtel Engineering
  • AltarIO
  • Alugados alugados.pt
  • Analiticómania
  • Apponscreen
  • Aquaponics Iberia
  • Aromni
  • Awesome
  • Bandora Systems
  • BeOnit – IoT Solutions
  • BeOutdare
  • Biklio
  • BLOCKS
  • Botly
  • BrainScrap
  • Cereja no Topo da Net
  • CloudStream Portugal
  • comunicatorium
  • Cosoftw
  • Costa Rank
  • Darefor
  • Darwin & Warhol Marketing e Comunicação
  • DentlaSoft
  • Diktalist
  • Doc-Digitizer
  • Drag & Print
  • Drible Lda
  • Drivit
  • euPago
  • Exaud
  • Famel
  • FarmCloud
  • FAXIME Game Studio
  • Fintech Server
  • Fixando
  • FoundVet
  • Framelink
  • Full Circle
  • FullNumber
  • Gamma Flow
  • Globestamp
  • Goin
  • GOVWISE
  • gowi-fi
  • GuideSquare
  • Hipnode
  • HotelVoy
  • Houzguide
  • IBSHURANCE
  • Icontrends
  • Ideal Sumario
  • Ideia Magenta
  • Infinite Foundry
  • INFOECO
  • INIU – Your True Nature
  • Inspire IT
  • Invoice Capture
  • izigo
  • Jamap Consult
  • Kylega
  • Lettuce Grow
  • Lisdesigners
  • Loyalchain
  • Lymphact
  • Mad4ideas
  • MakeWise
  • Mapidea
  • Match-Photos
  • Metablue Solution
  • Mitdream
  • MITMYNID
  • Mobinteg
  • mobiware
  • MOC
  • Moloko
  • Mredis
  • Muuv
  • My Greener Trip
  • Nazareth Collection
  • NDI Lda – Pipa Apps
  • Near Partner
  • Neargrow
  • NeuroPsyAI
  • Nrides
  • Nutsoft
  • OyO – Organize Your Office
  • P2T – Email protector
  • ParallelWisdom
  • Parcela Já
  • Perceive3D
  • PetUniversal
  • phyen
  • Picma
  • PicoSpark
  • Pixelplan – Digital Web
  • Pixnit
  • Pluralo
  • Poosh
  • Probe.ly
  • ProGrow
  • Prova de Vida
  • Reckon.ai
  • RedShift
  • RETMARKER
  • Reveal Portugal
  • RI-TE Radiation Imaging Technologies
  • Rotacional
  • SANA HR
  • Scrutinit
  • Serfarma
  • Shake It
  • SHELF.AI
  • SHLOKLABS
  • Shut Eye Space
  • SMARTIDIOM
  • SmartLunch
  • SnapCity
  • Social Grid
  • SOFT4BOOKING
  • SOFTINGAL
  • Sound Particles
  • Storesace
  • Strayboots
  • Supper Stars
  • Swwel
  • Techwelf
  • Think Future
  • tIV- the INNER Value
  • Tonic
  • twoosk
  • U.MAKE.ID European Best Manufactures
  • UOU MOBILITY
  • Upstream
  • Vision Tech Lab
  • Voxelscope
  • Wallnut – Construction business
  • We are Casino
  • Weasy
  • WeCreateYou
  • WeDoTech
  • WelcomeToNet
  • Wonder Cover
  • YouBeep
  • YOUSHIP
  • Zeta Mobile

 

Top 13 Events You Shouldn’t Miss at Web Summit in Lisbon

Top 13 Events You Shouldn’t Miss at Web Summit in Lisbon

Web Summit is a Monster. A big beautiful Monster. Its big and incredible and terrifying. If you are like me, then you’ve found yourself scrolling down and down through the endless list of speakers, summits, parties, gathering and drinks and felt a little overwhelmed.

Well fear not! This is not a list of all the events of Web Summit in Lisbon, this is a much smaller, cuter, easier to handle list. I want to show you the nicer side-events. These are less about learning how self driving cars will hack our social media bubble, replacing APIs, launching us into a new age of VR Porn and a very confused IoTs! No, this is curated list of side-events that are more interested in networking with specific groups. So sit back and feel comforted in the knowledge that, no matter how much you plan, you can’t possibly go to everything and that’s ok.

7th November

Lisbon Startup Tour– 09:00 – 13:00

The Lisbon Startup scene has been growing and if you want to see where the action happens and the meet the people pushing the frontier of the Lisbon ecosystem, then this is one to go for. Let’s take the first edition of Web Summit in Lisbon to showcase our startups to the world. Meet the best startups in town – register here to attend and get your own copy of the book Startup Guide Lisbon.

Uniplaces in Lisbon

The Uniplaces office in Lisbon was considered by Inc was one of the coolest startup offices.

Ladies Night 18:30 – 21:30

Are you strong, independent and don’t need no man? Then Woman, I’m calling you out!

This is an informal event between female founders, investors, journalists and startup/corporate employees. This is a great chance to make friends, talk business and swap tips on how to best tackle Web Summit in Lisbon. This is a women-only event and I have it on good authority that donning a dress is not the only requirement.

Ex-YU Meetup 19:30 – 21:30

Ćao you ex-Yugoslavians! Fancy a drink and some fun with some people from your part of the world? Well here’s your chance. The purpose of this event is to gather people from Ex-YU countries to exchange ideas, network and have fun.

Meetup with Sendgrid 16:00 – 20:00

Sendgrid is one of the fastest growing companies from the US, and they’re coming to Lisbon for the Web Summit. Attend this meetup at Beta-i and learn from Sendgrid’s VP, Paul Ford. Beers are on us.

8th November

Biohacking Breakfast 08:30 – 10:00

Web Summit in Lisbon is bound to be exhausting, if you want some help getting through the week then this might be the event for you. At this breakfast you will learn how to self-hack with techniques and technology to optimize your health and performance. Everyone wants to be a hacker- maybe this is your way to do it!

Dutch Rooftop Drinks 17:30 – 20:00

A number of Dutch tech companies have organised a mixer for the Dutch community- they chose a rooftop bar presumably because no indoor bar had high enough ceilings for the average Dutchie. Come on by enjoy a Biertje and Kroket!

Beta-i Meetup with Techstars 19:00 – 20:00

The verb “Networking” seems to have two meanings – the first is what you tell your boss when she asks you about the latest conference, the second meaning is to party. This event caters to both meanings: first there is a meetup with Beta-i and Techstars, two leading tech accelerators. After 20:00 the gloves come off and the disco balls come out with an all out party until the wee hours of the morn.

Beta-i Tradiio Live 19:00 – 02:00

The real trick of Web Summit, experts say, is in attending the parties, because once the sun sets that’s when the real deals get closed. So, with this in mind Beta-i and Tradiio decided to throw the best party in town where 1000 entrepreneurs, investors and executives will come together, under one roof, to listen to the best new bands and DJs of Portugal. Join us  for the best party during the Web Summit at the iconic TimeOut Market in Lisbon.

Beta-i Tradiio Live will gather 1000 entrepreneurs, investors and executives at the TimeOut Market.

Techfugees 18:30 – 20:30

Techfugees Portugal is part of an international network made of engineers, designers, social entrepreneurs and NGOs dedicated to working together and sharing learnings to come up with tech solutions to help refugees from their first journey to their arrival and societal integration. Techcrunch editor at large and Techfugees founder, Mike Butcher, will share what has been achieved to date, and officially launch the Portuguse chapter of Techfugees.

9th November

Technology and You: Who is Really in Control? 18:00 – 19:30

During Web Summit, I am sure you will be surrounded by the most pro-tech people you will ever meet. This event provides a necessary counter balance to all this pro-tech propaganda by helping us to re-evaluate our relationship with technology.

Taking it to the USA 18:00 – 20:00

If the USA is the land of opportunity, then startups are the ones pushing the new frontier out in the Wild West. This event is for startups looking to move to and excel in the land of the brave. Held in Microsoft Portugal’s Accelerator Hub The Reactor, this workshop is run by industry pros who have seen it all.

13014369065_072cae0dbe_o-1

Lisbon has been compared to San Francisco and this bridge is just a coincidence – or not.

AWS Startup Day 18:00 – 20:30

Amazon is a giant, if fact, they don’t get much bigger. Amazon wants to teach startups how they can use Amazon Web Services to keep IT costs down when scaling up. So come down and learn for the best.

Pixels Campfire 19:00 – 02:00

Ok, so by now maybe you have been to a couple Beta-i events and you feel like you’re starting to get to know the ecosystem but have you heard of Pixels Camp? Bright Pixel is a venture builder studio – it incubates startups in the heart of the city in Chiado. Get over there and learn about one of the biggest hackathons in Europe.

10th November

Product Hunt Meetup 17:30 – 19:30

Product Hunt is a leading destination for Product discovery. Founder, Ryan Hoover, is hosting a meetup to give launchers, startups and investors to mingle and meet. Registration for this one has ended but Paddy Cosgrave told us to Hack Web Summit in Lisbon, and who are we to disobey the great Cosgrave.

The so called Pink Street will be the epicentre of all the parties on the Web Summit week.

The so called Pink Street will be the epicentre of all the parties on the Web Summit week.

Music Tech Drinks 19:30 – 22:30 

One of the major themes of Web Summit is music and as a result, a lot of music bosses are going to here such as Hans-Holger Albrecht (Deezer), Marian Goodell (Burning Man), Eric Wahlforss (Soundcloud), Jason Flom (Lava Records), Seth Farbman (Spotify) alongside musicians such as Ne-Yo, Tinie Tempah, Ja Rule and many others. With this many pros in the house, it would be criminal if there was no party! This is an other invitation only event- we’ll let you do what you like with that information…

So there you have you have it: just a nice short list of 13 events you should go to in three and half days. See, not every thing about Web Summit has to be absurdly long and scary. Short and cute!

See you at Web Summit. And if you need a place to get work done our office will be open to the community. Meaning there’s free wifi, plenty of desks, warm coffee, cold beer, 1 dog and 2 fish in a bowl, and more than 30 crazy booming startups for you to meet. Register here to let us know you’re coming.

Beta-i at Web Summit in Lisbon

How to hack the Web Summit – The Bootcamp

How to hack the Web Summit – The Bootcamp

Web Summit is not magic. Seriously, you have to hack it. 45.000+ attendees are announced. It’s massive. Much more than a conference, it will be a whole city fuelled by enthusiasm during a full  week and that’s what we should leverage on.

You can easily get lost with the amount of stages, people and side events happening while you juggle with limited resources such as time, team and budget allocated to the event. The Web Summit is at the same time a huge source of opportunities and a potential trap if you just seat there and wait for things to happen. Sorry to say this, but you need to act on it.

To ensure that you get concrete outcomes from the Web Summit, you should take on an integrated vision and define a specific strategy for the main objectives, whether they are related to investment, media, sales, talent or further opportunities.

That’s what the bootcamp “Road 2 Web Summit” will be about. In partnership with Startup Portugal and the Web Summit team, Beta-i will help Portuguese founders to plan a relevant roadmap. Trainers include Josh Collins (Startup Programme Manager @ Web Summit) , Marian Gazdik (Managing Director Europe @ Startup Grind), Felix Petersen (Managing Partner @ Faber Ventures), Clara Armand-Delille (Founder @ ThirdEyeMedia),  Jorge Reto (Founder & CEO @ Xposition), Pedro Alegria (Founder & Creative Ideator @  TORKE+CC), Rita Mendes (Operations Lead @ Landing.jobs) and Maria Almeida, our almighty Duchess of Content.

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Interested in better understanding how to get ready to talk to investors, journalists, prospects, potential hires; master your 1-min pitch and hack your way to stand out at the Web Summit? Stay tuned as we will share some insights from this bootcamp, happening at the end of the week.

As Paddy Cosgrave told us a few weeks ago at the event “Road 2 Web Summit”: The Portuguese have an unfair advantage, they know the city. Now, it’s game on!

Here is what you need to know:

1 – The side events will be announced tomorrow

2 – The app will be released next week

Any question or suggestion, feel free to reach out to me: ines.dartiguenave@beta-i.pt