
START Summit 2026
Meet Europe’s leading early-stage startups, venture capital firms, and operators.
Partnering with



Choose your path
Pick your role and unlock the experience that fits you best.

Startup
Meet investors, corporates, and top talent ready to work with early-stage startups. Pitch, partner, hire, and find customers at START Summit.

Investor
Curated dealflow, strong investor community, and real insights. Everything investors need to find, assess, and back the next generation of startups

Corporate
Innovation, talent, partnerships, and insight. Everything corporates need to stay ahead of what’s next and position their brand as future oriented.

Student
Explore career opportunities, learn how to build startups, and hear from Europe’s top founders and leaders.

Attendee
Experience the full START Summit - keynotes, workshops, and the START Fair. Meet founders, investors, and operators across two days in St. Gallen.
The Experience
Discover what makes START Summit unforgettable

START Summit App
Book 1:1 meetings with investors, founders & talents instantly.

Speakers
Connect with industry leaders through Stage Sessions and intimate Ask Me Anything sessions.

START Fair
Explore our exhibition floor where 80+ cutting-edge startups showcase their ideas and innovations.

Pitching Competitions
Pitch on the grand stage to Europe's top investors and gain access to decision-makers.

Swiss Weekend
Extend your stay with handpicked Swiss experiences from the casino to the chocolate museum.

Workshops
Dive deeper into practical insights and get hands-on experience in our expert-led workshops.

Side-Events
Forge high-stakes strategic partnerships beyond the spotlight with our curated side-event tracks.
Relive START Summit 2025
Experience the energy, connections, and moments that made START Summit 2025 unforgettable.
Our Network
Discover the ecosystem that powers START Summit
Startups
that have been at START Summit in previous years











Investors
who have attended repeatedly across recent editions.






Corporates
that have attended START Summit throughout the years







What Our Community Says
START Summit is an unparalleled platform for fostering innovation and connecting the brightest entrepreneurial minds in Europe. It's the best place to meet incredible early-stage startups, future unicorn founders, and fellow investors.
START Summit is the best student-led founder conference I’ve had the pleasure of attending. Each year, I’m amazed by the scale and quality of the event, as well as the outstanding connections it fosters. At START Summit ’24, I even invested in a founder I met there just two weeks after the conference.
Don’t forget that the way you win is by having the smartest people on the project. And a lot of them are in Europe, and a lot of them are here at this conference.
Massive. Intense. But well focused. You can find anybody here that you’re looking for - from VCs to other startups that you can collaborate with. There’s also some very good coffee here, which is very nice on a long day.
START Summit really was the starting point of my entrepreneurial career. It’s where I found my first co-founders, learned leadership in real time, and drew inspiration from successful founders.
The idea that you can build a world-class company out of Europe has already been proven - just look at Supercell, Adyen, or Spotify. There’s no shortage of ambition and talent here.
START Summit is a great event, it’s driven by students. I think it’s full of energy. You meet great people here - new people, but usually also old friends. So every time I’m coming, I’m actually super excited because I know I will see familiar faces, but I also will see a lot of very motivated and highly skilled students, and this is a great mix for me.
START Summit, to me, is one of the nicest and most vibrant events of the year. I would recommend it to everyone, from corporates to SMEs, from students to family members, to come here and see what the new generation is able and capable to do.
It’s coming from the student community: lots of young people, the next generation of founders. That’s why we’re here. That’s also the generation that we want to support with Cherry, and our job is to make them more ambitious, to have them work on the important stuff and the big ideas, and that’s why we’re supporting START Summit.
I consider START Summit to be the only event that truly inspires on every level. This event is undoubtedly my favorite for connecting with groundbreaking early-stage startups, future industry leaders, and a dynamic network of changemakers shaping the future of business and technology.
Get Your Ticket
Student
- Meet leading corporates and potential employers
- Learn from founders & build your network
Startup
- Exhibit your booth by applying for START Fair
- Pitch, secure funding & learn from leading investors
- Build valuable connections via our event app
Investor
- Discover new dealflow in meetups with pitching startups
- Build valuable connections and meet fellow investors at our Side Events
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about START Summit 2026. Can't find what you're looking for? We're here to help.
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