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Missed out on cool events in 2021? Check out the startup events of 2022!

At Female Founders making meaningful connections is at the heart of everything we do. No matter what stage you are in as a founder or startup in the field of tech and innovation, building relationships, expanding your network, and surrounding yourself with inspiring and supportive people are essential to success (especially as a female or mixed founding team!). One of our favourite ways to do this is by hosting and attending events that bring a diverse group of startups and founders, investors, top talent and industry experts all together in one motivating and exciting place. 

While we are huge fans of IRL events for more reasons than one, after over a year of almost all online meetups, we have learned the many positive attributes that virtual experiences have to offer. We even hosted our flagship Lead Today. Shape Tomorrow. 2021 fully online through Hopin and it ended up being one of the biggest digital tech events in Austria.

The whole event scene has had to evolve quickly and adapt to the constant changes of the past year. In the upcoming months there are plenty of opportunities for in person, virtual and hybrid events that will provide the perfect atmosphere to foster meaningful connections. To help you navigate the busy world of events we have put together a list of dates to save for 2021. Our recommendations include a range of events from the most highly attended conferences in the European tech scene to more intimate sessions with specific content topics and huge value for founders and startup teams. So get your calendar ready and keep reading! 

ViennaUP’21 – Digital

April 27th-May 12th

ViennaUP’21 is a huge international online event spanning over two weeks. The festival includes an extensive lineup of sessions all organised by the Viennese startup community for startups and founders, investors, and talent. The program for every day of the event is packed with workshops, talks and conferences designed to pave the way for new forms of partnerships and innovative business solutions. We suggest browsing the program to tailor the perfect program for you but one event we know we will be at is

B2B SoftWareDays’21 (May 10th) .

St. Gallen Symposium – Hybrid

May 5-7

This year is the 50th St. Gallen Symposium, and while the event is not directly targeted to startups, it does attract the key decision-makers and top thinkers in the field of economics, politics, science and society. The topic of this year’s symposium “Trust Matters” aims to foster cross generational dialogue about the importance of trust as we navigate through unprecedented times. If your startup is focused on innovative solutions to issues on a global scale, this is the event for you! 

How Non – Techies Can Launch Successful Startups – Online

May 25

Hosted by The Next Women and renowned entrepreneur Nelly Yusupova – the CTO of Webgrrls International, this webinar is all about facing the fears of what you don’t know head on. Learning to use new tools and information can be intimidating but if you can look at the situation as an opportunity and channel the feelings of fear of the unknown into drive to succeed you will have a much better chance at doing just that!

Female Founders x Antler Event Series

Session 1: May 26 

We are partnering up with Antler, a global early-stage VC, to present an event series for early-stage tech ventures happening across 4 startup hubs in Europe: London, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Berlin. The first event on May 26th being held virtually from London is targeted especially towards women entering the startup community focusing on the topic of how to find your co-founder and building a strong team. A panel and breakout sessions will give you the chance to learn from and connect with key players in the ecosystem. Sign up here to get the latest updates and info on registration for the whole series. 

Viva Technology – Paris & Online

June 16-19

The Viva Technology conference promises to be the place where business meets innovation. The goal of the event is to ignite positive change in society through being a global catalyst for digital transformation and startup growth. This year’s event is taking on a hybrid format bringing together 13,000 startups, 3,300 investors, 2,500 journalists from over 125 different countries.

Grow F Demo Day – Online

July 1st

Female Founders will be hosting our 5th Demo Day! The event will showcase the group of international tech startups with female and mixed founding teams who have completed our investment readiness accelerator program – Grow F.  As a founder, one of the major ways to improve your own business is to see what other relevant players in the field are doing. Join us on July 1st to watch 10 cutting-edge tech startups pitch to investors from all over Europe and beyond. Sign up also for our newsletter here and be up-to-date about other cool Female Founder events!

Women are networking in order to explore new startup opportunities

Everything About: Financing Tiny CFO – Online

July 7th 

Female Founders is teaming up with Tiny CFO for our Everything About series. This edition of the event will be all about financing for founders and startups with experts from the Tiny CFO team. This intimate interactive digital session is the perfect opportunity to ask your burning questions on topics of financial planning, strategy and content. Event sign ups aren’t open yet but sign up here to be the first to know when they are! 

Web Marketing Festival-Italy & Online

July 15-17

The Web Marketing Festival (WMF) held both in person in Rimini, Italy and online is a huge conference with the ambitious goal to foster a better future by enhancing digital education and promoting innovation, meanwhile boosting cooperation among social, economic and institutional actors, both in Italy and in the world. The WMF will host over 80 events over the three days including talks and shows on the mainstage, and workshops in training rooms. If you are looking for exposure for your start-up, to meet and discuss with other founders and experts in the ecosystem this is a great chance for all of that. 

Mission Female Beyond Borders – Virtual

Aug 9th

The Mission Female Beyond Borders is a virtual discussion panel that is part of a 9 part serious. This session is all creating a healthy work life balance. We know, life in the start-up industry can be a stressful one and often the lines between work and private life can become blurry. This event focuses on learning from each other, seeing what works in across countries and getting inspired. In this session Sanjam Sahi Gupta, Director at Sitara Shipping Ltd. & Founder of MaritimeSheEO (India), Rachel Daly, Chief of Staff Microsoft (USA) and Carol Abade, CEO at Exp (South Africa) will discuss how to manage a good work life balance and strategies for good agreement of the family and the job.

South Summit October – Spain 

Oct 5-7

Do you want to be the next unicorn? Then the South Summit in October is the event for you. The South Summit Competition brings together the most innovative startups regardless of their industry, development stage and country. It is an excellent opportunity to showcase to your project and gain visibility,  new clients, funding, or achieve strategic partnerships. In last year’s iteration, more than 3700 startups presented to over 1100 potential investors with a total of over 3,5 billion dollars raised. You can also use the digital networking platform to make connections all year, not just during the event!

Web Summit – Lisbon

Nov 1-4

The annual Web Summit is known to be the world’s largest technology conference, bringing together the companies and individuals who are changing the tech industry on a global level. The event has special tailored programmes for different audiences. The startup programme is all about showcasing innovative ideas and disruptive technologies, as well as making connections with the world’s leading investors, companies and media outlets. 

Slush – Virtual

Dec 1-2

Slush, one of the world’s leading start-up events, will take place in person in Helsinki this year. Looking for a new generation of founders, this event is all about companies that are acknowledging their responsibility towards shareholders, employees, society, and the planet. The focus of this event is set completely on revolutionary evolution rather than incremental solutions. By redirecting the focus from saturated, current spaces, this event is looking to attract new, groundbreaking companies that involve the full extent of human heterogeneity. We are huge fans of Slush because of the emphasis the event puts on diversity in business and the startup ecosystem.

If you are interested in even more events, we suggest checking the Tech EU event calendar regularly for updates. New opportunities are always being added, especially for the later end of year. To get the latest resources and updates about resources, opportunities and events specifically for Female Founders,  sign up for our newsletter!

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