2 years of WELCOME – and now the project is drawing to a close
This was an intense journey across Europe, bringing startups to meet new ecosystems, organising and taking part in the biggest tech events in the continent and so much more.
One way to look at the 2 years past is to look at our numbers (click for high resolution!):
Looking back, it felt we were everywhere at the same time!
We were in more than 18 of the most important startup events around Europe, either through one-shot activities like Europass programme (Pioneers Vienna, IoT World Dublin, Slush Helsinki, Tech Open Air Berlin, etc) or with our two batches of the Roadshow that visited WELCOME’s ecosystems: Madrid, Salamanca, Berlin, Milan and Dublin (South Summit, Web Summit, Uprise Festival, Seeds & Chips, …).
We’re very proud to have gathered such an impressive group of startups – check them out at our competition winners page and ask for our pitchdeck!
We were organising not only activities for startups, but for accelerators, universities, policy makers and all other ecosystem builders. Throughout these 2 years we also carried out initiatives such Accelerator Assembly, Startup Europe Comes to Universities, and Startup Europe Nations.
Now that the project is over, we look at what’s next in the horizon: new projects, new initiatives! Stay connected with the Startup Europe initiative to be part of this future!
WELCOME project: South Summit post-event blog!
South Summit ended on Friday 7th October, but it’s almost as if we were still there! We’ll need a few more days to really soak in all we’ve learnt and experienced during those, very intense, 3 days. 12.000+ attendees from over 100 countries were present at the event, and I’m positive our startups met quite a few of them!
Both our Roadshow and Europass startups had meetings scheduled during those very intense 3 days, but let me start from the day they landed in Madrid on Tuesday 4th of October.
On that same evening, Tetuan Valley, one of Welcome’s partners, organized a dinner for the selected startups, and, as we all know, food, especially if served with a glass of cold beer –over 35 °C that week in Madrid, just saying!– makes socializing easier than usual.
Day 1:
The following day, October 5th, South Summit officially started. Startups from both the Europass and the Roadshow programme spent the whole day attending talks, workshops and, of course, networking!
The Roadshow teams got to meet the representatives of two international VCs: Nauta Capital and Balderton Capital; and the head of the startup program of Orange France. Over four hours were spent talking to investors and corporates at this meet up that WELCOME organized for them.
Just after lunch, all the Europass startups checked in at our meeting point: the Startup Europe Booth. It was great to feel such enthusiasm, and to hear many stories of just a few hours at the event! This time was also used for networking between the teams and sharing success stories, tips and tricks on how to master the conference. As you can imagine, we could not miss the opportunity to take a group photo before getting lost in the event again.
Day 2:
On Thursday the founders attended a PR workshop on how to prepare your startup for a PR campaign and how to make the best out of it. The workshop was facilitated by Olivia Czetwertynski, PR Consultant and founder of Becomewide. According to startups, this was one of the star events of the programme. In addition, throughout the three days Olivia held 1-to-1 sessions with the Roadshow startups on how to tackle specific PR issues for their startups.
The rest of the day was left for networking at South Summit, which proved to be a great event to make contacts, meet other entrepreneurs and learn lots from others.
To be more precise, startups were involved in over 60 meetings with investors, corporate and potential partners! We’re already following up with them to see if something decisive has been discussed during the event. Bear with us and you’ll find out!
What they said:
“South Summit helped us to expand our vision. Nice event, nice people, good opportunity. We enjoyed Summit” Lorenzo Ricciardi, Karmahouse
“It was a great well done organised event” Caio Bulgarelli, Sprintfire
“South Summit has been interesting, mainly related to some insights and lessons learned through the Fintech space and the Dave McClure keynote…Lucia, Silvia and all the team members were really amazing and supportive. We do really appreciate their work and their kind help” Daniele Galifa, Goalshouter
Take a look at Welcome’s pre-event blog post to check out their Roadshow and Europass startups.
Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U) 17th-21st Oct!
Under the wing of Welcome, Startup Europe and the European Commission, Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U) is set to take place from 17th-21st October!
This will be the first ever edition of SEC2U, and is set to be an exciting platform to bring together Universities, students, entrepreneurs, government, local businesspeople and technology parks across Europe.
What is SEC2U?
SEC2U is an initiative that aims to support universities to hold events within their local startup ecosystems, to connect startup players, and foster a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation across European universities.
SEC2U aims to bring together 30 European universities and business/scientific parks with an entrepreneurial perspective, and act as a platform for innovation in society.
How does it work?
Universities with initiatives that support entrepreneurs and startups can sign up to create an event by visiting the signup page for SEC2U.
The events will be supported with additional resources by the Startup Europe University Network and the European Commission, including guidelines and dissemination materials.
Where are events taking place?
Events will be taking place all over Europe, with each event focusing on the local or regional ecosystem in that particular area for entrepreneurs and startups.
There are currently a number of events being planned at universities in many countries, including the UK, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Israel, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Greece and Romania, with multiple universities taking part.
By taking part, you would be part of this exciting SEC2U network, and showcasing the commitment of European universities to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship.
I’m in! How do I sign up?
Just visit the SEC2U page to fill out the short application form!
Let’s showcase the commitment of European universities to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in university communities!