FORMATS 2023

The Startup Ecosystem is getting faster and faster, many early-stage companies are just a few steps away from blowing up! And here is where START Summiteer comes into play: We offer 30 early-stage startups to present their venture in front of industry leaders, serial founders and Europe's most renowned VCs. Summiteer will be THE source of inspiration for the next and current generation of founders, and VC and Angels will have the opportunity to find the next Google. After the Quarters and Semis, the Final will take place on the main stage on 24.03 and will mark one of the most memorable events of the START Summit 2023. So what are you waiting for?

Listening to industry experts, legendary founders, top-class investors, and many more is an integral part of START Summit, but it lacks the "hands-on" interactive component. This is why we aim to offer all attendees the chance to experience what our startups, corporates and VCs have to offer at START Fair. You will find the hottest new prototypes, the sickest booths and custom meeting spaces, allowing you to truly delve into what the entrepreneurial ecosystem is all about. 

Networking is one of the most important things to do at the START Summit. Therefore, we enable every attendee, both online and offline, to engage in our Matchmaking Tool. Here, you will find the platform to discover the most fascinating fellow participants and schedule meetings with them. You will be able to filter attendees after origin, industry or funding stage, thus finding the best fitting "Matches" will be as easy as ever. A meeting can be planned ahead of the Summit via our messaging tool, although having spontaneous meetings during the Summit will also be possible.

Stage sessions include panel discussions, keynote speeches, and fireside chats.

A panel discussion involves a group of experts discussing a topic from various point of views. They are 35 minutes long and led by a moderator allowing for a holistic examination of the topic.

A keynote speech is held by a single speaker who addresses a topic that he/she is highly engaged in. Thereby, the audience will gain first-hand insights and opinions on topics they have not been as familiar with beforehand.

Last but not least, fireside chats allow the attendees to gain insight into the personal and professional life of the speaker in the form of an informal but structured interview.

"Roast the Hacker" promotes the exchange between participants of START Summit and START Hack which also takes place at the same time in St. Gallen. START Hack is Europes most entrepreneurial Hackathon and unites more than 350 hackers who solve challenging real-life cases within 3 days. Business people or industry experts act as "roasters" and provide feedback, valuable insights as well as constructive criticism to Hackers. This area will help our Hackers to improve their ideas, projects and most important to develop economic meaningful Hack cases. Additionally, this area can lead to interesting networking opportunities and potential prospective collaborations.

Looking to found the next unicorn but still missing the right co-founder(s)? Then make sure you don’t miss out the Co-Founder Matching. In order to ensure a high-quality match, you will be able to screen all participants and state your matching priorities in our app beforehand. Based on this you will be matched with your ideal founding partner(s).

You are looking for ways to expand your knowledge and get in contact with interesting companies? The Workshop Format will be the perfect fit for you! Here you will find Case Studies hosted by the best Scale-Ups, VC or Corporates. You will engage in (more or less) 45-minute sessions with brilliant co-attendees which will be the perfect learning ground for your preferred topic. Also, if you are looking for your next internship, full-time workplace or business partner, this will be the perfect time to get to know the decision-makers from the hosting company!

Looking for your next internship, aiming to recruit the best talent, or discovering the next unicorn? Then apply for the Speeddating. By distinguishing between student-corporate and founder-investor dates, we make sure that all participants only meet those that they deem relevant. Beforehand, you will have the chance to screen all participants in our app and state your preferred date partners.