START Summit is Europe’s leading talent conference for entrepreneurship and innovation. Organized by START Global, the event takes place each year at the University of St. Gallen and brings together about 600 students, entrepreneurs and investors for two days of inspiration, learning and networking. The main motivation has been to motivate and support young people willing to found their own business by spreading the entrepreneurial spirit.
This years START Summit will be on 17-18 April 2015, and is all about creating a platform for intercultural and interdisciplinary knowledge transfer. START Summit offers a wide diversity of highly influential speakers united by their passion for entrepreneurship. With a total of seven speakers on the main stage, the attendees of the Summit will be offered exclusive insights into the views of Europe’s leading entrepreneurs.
Some of the names include: Alfred Gusenbauer (Former vice chancellor of Austria and passionate investor), Dalton, Caldwell (Partner at YCombinator), Jose Luis Cordeiro (Futurist), Ryo Umezawa (CEO of Hailo), Matteo Achili (Founder of Egomnia), Omid Scheybani (New Business Development at Google).
The conference will also feature several activities aimed at interdisciplinary dialogue between founders and investors. During the Startup Speed Dating, participants looking for co-founders, employees or researchers will be given the chance to expose their project in a 30-second pitch to a selection of 100 highly skilled candidates. Another program is Meet the investor, being held in a similar format to speed dating, will be the place for startups to find investors.
The conference will is also hosting the START Competition. Selected startups will get the chance to pitch their idea in front of a chosen jury and the START Summit crowd. The winner startup gets 10.000 CHF cash prize and further benefits, such as a fast track to the Axel Springer Plug & Play accelerators pitch days.
The START Summit manages to provide an experience suiting each participant’s interests. Tickets start at 79 Euros for students and range up to 400 Euros for investors. All ticket prices include paid travel expenses by Flixbus, full catering and accommodation in St. Gallen. Early bird prices still apply until 20 February, so hurry up and grab your tickets now!
