STARTUP SESAME

TECH EVENTS
ANNUAL REPORT

1ST EDITION
2017-2018
 WHY
TECH EVENTS
MATTER

TECH EVENTS STARTUPS ALREADY Extract from Atomico’s “The State of

ARE ON THE RISE KNOW THEY MATTER European Tech 2017“ survey results
(3,480 responses)

91% 21%
OF
PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED 6+
AGREE THAT 71%
TECH EVENTS
There are over 62.0001 tech meetups
TECH EVENTS THIS YEAR!

% OF REPONSES
every year in Europe alone. GENERATE
BENEFITS FOR
THEM
16%
This number has almost doubled since 2015
8%
and shows no sign of slowing down; fueled 3% 2%
by new digital landscapes, making it easier
0 1-5 6-10 11-20 20+
for events to attract high-profile speakers
and attendees from all over the world. TECH EVENTS PER YEAR
SURVEY PARTICIPANT
SEGMENTATION*
These events are bringing startups, investors, *¼ Women - ¾ Men
corporates and media together; offering
opportunities for collaboration, demonstration
32.6% Founder
and business development.
16.0% Employee at a private tech startup or scale-up
As the volume of startup events continues 10.4% Employee at a private company that is not
to expand, organizers are battling to build a tech startup/ scale-up
more value for entrepreneurs looking to 10.0% Venture capitalist
tap into industry-leading experts, thought- 6.4% Employee at a publicly listed tech company
leaders and investors.
5.9% Student
1
Atomico: The State of European Tech 2017 5.1% Other
Europe's growing and highly-engaged tech communities Employee in the public sector
4.3%
3.8% Other investor
3,0% Employee at a publicly listed non-tech company
2,6% Angel investor

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FUELING THE
“TECH EVENT GENERATION“
Back in June 2015,
we had this crazy idea to unite event organizers looking
to help entrepreneurs expand within the European Tech
ecosystem. Slush, Pioneers Festival, Webrazzi Summit, OUR NETWORK
Arctic15, Tech Open Air and Challengers were the first
events to trust in our vision and support this initiative. • 30,000 Tech enthusiasts
Since 2015, we have grown this ecosystem to 30 official • 1700+ startups
partner events and are currently working with 100+ events
• 200+ accelerators and incubators
worldwide.
• 30 partner events
As a member of the Tech event generation, we believe
• a pool of 30+ mentors
entrepreneurs can change the world if they attend the
right event, at the right time. Unfortunately, the lack of WHAT WE DO
verified and transparent information about events makes
it hard for these entrepreneurs to decide which events to We connect Tech events in
attend, and when. Europe with our growing
community
We decided to change this and co-create with our
community a world where professional meetings have a We deliver event strategy STARTUP SESAME
sustainable and positive impact on our society. No more to companies looking to
time lost at useless conferences, no more money wasted
efficiently navigate startup IS THE LARGEST
and innovation ecosystems
on poorly-organized tradeshows. ALLIANCE OF
If informed and accurate decision-making fosters We support startups via our TECH EVENTS IN
Event Acceleration Programs
innovation, this annual report is our humble contribution EUROPE & THE
to a stronger innovation ecosystem in Europe.
FIRST COMMUNITY
Ben Costantini OF TECH EVENT
Co-Founder & CEO, Startup Sesame
INSIDERS

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 OUR Startup Sesame has been extremely
valuable for us as an early stage
EVENT startup.
The mentors have helped us Given Startup Sesame’s expertise in
ACCELERATION tremendously - kicking down doors knowing and interacting with tech/
startup events, they were the perfect
PROGRAMS for us at very important events.
fit for us.
Jesper Skibsby
Co-Founder & CEO, Warm Chedy Riahi
Innovation Associate,
BNP Paribas

Startup sesame has a special place in our hearts for

OUR PROGRAMS SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURS embracing us and our campaign by providing unparalleled
LOOKING TO GROW THEIR BUSINESS access to top events across Europe. What stands out most
INTERNATIONALLY. however, and makes Startup Sesame truly special, is the
passion of the incredible team behind it.
It’s all very simple, but
SELECTED STARTUPS BECOME “SESAMERS” AND Soumyadip Rakshit
also extremely valuable in
JOIN A COMMUNITY OF TECH EVENT INSIDERS. Co-founder,
my opinion, as (especially
Mystery Vibe
first-time) entrepreneurs
THEY GET PREMIUM ACCESS TO CONFERENCES don’t always know which
AND TRADESHOWS, VISIBILITY, GUIDANCE event will provide the best
bangs for their (limited)
AND MENTORING SESSIONS WITH A POOL OF VOICES bucks.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS.
Robin Wauters
Founding Editor,
OVERVIEW FROM OUR 2017 CALL FOR ENTRIES Tech.eu
• 200+ CANDIDATES FROM 38 COUNTRIES
• 1.9 AVERAGE YEARS OF EXISTENCE
• 12 STARTUPS WERE SELECTED FOR STARTUP SESAME SEASON 3
Thanks to Startup Sesame’s
expansive network of European tech
influencers and ecosystems, we were
EUROPE able to scout the very best mobility
A program for European startups in different industries
CitizenLab (Belgium) - Citron (Paris) - Combyne (Germany)
and transport startups in Europe! It’s exciting to see an organisation
CyborgNest (UK) - Letz.do (Netherlands) - Limitless (UK) that is by the startup community,
Karima Delli for the startup community, go from
MOBILITY Chairwoman of the Transport strength to strength. We are proud
A program dedicated to mobility startups and Tourism Committee, to support what we view as a key
POMP (France) - Zify (India/France) European Parliament grassroots organisation working
tirelessly to support founders and
ENTERTAINMENT Tech events across Europe.
A program designed for creative startups
Gameway (UK) - Look Live Media (Belgium) Bryce Keane
Soundsgood (France) - WARM (Denmark) Head of Communications,
Atomico

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 October 19-21 November
Paris 24-26
September 4 Tallinn
May 3-5 June 1-2 Stockholm
Helsinki Vienna
February
November 30
9-10 June 14-17 December 1
Riga Barcelona July 11-14 October 26-27 Helsinki
May 18 Berlin September 6-7 October 4-10
Cologne Paris
Tel Aviv Madrid
June 6-7
Lisbon

FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

October 11-12
Amsterdam
June 7-9
Nantes July 31
May 17-19
Gdansk August 1
September 13-17
April 11-12 Hollywood
Frankfurt October 17
Paris June 29
July 2 San Fran-
Clermont-Ferrand cisco
February 27 June 8-9
March 1 Sofia September 26
Barcelona Paris

October 18
Istanbul
June 6-15
Stockholm

1 TECHCHILL 15 WORLDZ
2 4YFN 16 STHLM TECH FEST
3 LEADERS 17 PIRATE SUMMIT
4 ARCTIC15 18 NEW MOBILITY WORLD
5 INFOSHARE 19 FRANCE DIGITALE DAY

EVERY YEAR, WE HANDPICK THE 6 ECOMOTION 20 MONDIAL TECH

BEST EVENTS TO JOIN OUR PARTNER 7 PIONEERS 21 SOUTH SUMMIT

NETWORK, WORKING WITH THEM 8 LISBON INVESTMENT SUMMIT 22 WORLD SUMMIT AI
SIDE-BY-SIDE TO DELIVER MORE 9 SYMPOSIUM 23 SF MUSIC TECH
WHAT VALUE, ENERGY AND CONNECTIONS. 10 WEB2DAY 24 WEBRAZZI

WHERE THIS ANNUAL REPORT SERVES AS 11 DIGITALK 25 AUTONOMY

A USEFUL REFERENCE TO QUICKLY 12 SONAR +D 26 HELLO TOMORROW
WHEN GAUGE THE VALUE OF EACH EVENT 13 EUROPAVOX FESTIVAL 27 ROBOTEX
FROM OUR NETWORK. 14 TECH OPEN AIR 28 SLUSH

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Date: 09 - 10 Feb. 2017 Date: 27 Feb. - 01 Mar. 2017 Date: 11 - 12 Apr. 2017 Date: 03 - 05 May 2017
Next Date: 08 - 09 Feb. 2018 Next Date: 26 - 28 Feb. 2018 Next Date: TBD Next Date: 30 - 31 May 2018
Location: Riga, Latvia Location: Barcelona, Spain Location: Paris, France Location: Helsinki, Finland

1,100 participants 19,500 participants 1,200 participants 1,500 participants

70 investors 600 exhibitors 16 exhibitors 150+ corporates
56 speakers 544 corporates 350 corporates 300+ investors
26 countries 700 investors 55 investors 60+ countries
200 startups 748 journalists 65 journalists 450+ startups
10 startup pitches 275 speakers 100 speakers 30 startup pitches
160 countries 50 countries
Website: techchill.co 600 startups 90 startups Website: arctic15.com
1,800M of media reach
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: 200 startup pitches Website: paris.leade.rs STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
• Opening keynote: “How to Hack Tech • Telegram group with 30 members
Events” Website: 4yfn.com STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
• Startup Sesame Summit with 13 EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: international event organisers Sesame startup on-site: Letz.do
• Sesame Dinner with 25 participants • Telegram group with over 60 (Netherlands)
• Startup Sesame Booth members
• Panel: “Hacking Events like a Viking“
• Telegram group with over 100 EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
members Sesame startup on-site: Talent.io
(France)
EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
Sesame startups on-site: TOPDOX
(Portugal) / We Farm (UK) / Talent.
io (France) / 30min MBA (Sweden) /
OpenBack (Ireland) / Mystery Vibe (UK)

We Farm won the “Disrupted by Mobile“

competition

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Date: 17 - 19 May 2017 Date: 18 May 2017 Date: 01 - 02 Jun. 2017 Date: 06 - 07 Jun. 2017
Next Date: 22 - 23 May 2018 Next Date: 23 May 2018 Next Date: 24 - 25 Feb. 2018 Next Date: 06 - 07 Jun. 2018
Location: Gdansk, Poland Location: Tel Aviv, Israel Location: Vienna, Austria Location: Lisbon, Portugal

5,500 participants 1,500 participants 2,500 participants 1,000 participants

180 exhibitors 70 exhibitors 39 exhibitors 37 corporates
2,700 companies and organizations 300 corporates 600 corporates 200+ investors
100 investors 25 journalists 300 investors 100 speakers
150 journalists 45 speakers 200 journalists 40 countries
133 speakers 23 countries 80 speakers 300+ startups
45 countries 200 startups 100+ countries
250 startups 40 startup pitches 500 startups Website: lis-summit.com
3,3M of media reach 1,071 articles
4,741 social media mentions Website: ecomotion.org.il 9M€ media equivalency of online STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
270 publications articles • Telegram group with 20 members
120 startup pitches STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: 80 startup pitches
• Key information shared with clients EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
Website: infoshare.pl • Sourcing for New Mobility World Website: pioneers.io/events Sesame startups on-site: CitizenLab
(Belgium) / POMP (France) / Zify
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: (France) / FaradayMotion (Germany)
• Invitation for mentors Sesame startups on-site: POMP • Startup Sesame booth
(France) / Pzartech (Israel) / • Key information shared with clients
FaradayMotion (Germany) • Sesame Dinner with 30 participants
• Telegram group with over 90
members

EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:

Sesame startups on-site: Gameway
(UK) / CitizenLab (Belgium) / Combyne
(Germany) / Limitless (Netherlands) / Zify
(France) / Pzartech (Israel) / FaradayMotion
(Germany)

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Date: 07 - 15 Jun. 2017 Date: 07 - 09 Jun. 2017 Date: 08 - 09 Jun. 2017 Date: 14 - 17 Jun. 2017
Next Date: 06 - 16 Jun. 2018 Next Date: 13 - 15 Jun. 2018 Next Date: 31 May - 01 Jun. 2018 Next Date: 13 - 16 Jun. 2018
Location: Stockholm, Sweden Location: Nantes, France Location: Sofia, Bulgaria Location: Barcelona, Spain

530 participants 5,000 participants 2,500 participants 61,000 participants

55 journalists 25 exhibitors 15 exhibitors 66 exhibitors
70 speakers 50 corporates 300 corporates 3,242 corporates
6 startup pitches 300 speakers 100 investors 32 investors
75 startups 20 journalists 90 speakers
Website: symposium.co 19,036 livestreams 60 speakers 104 countries
49 startup pitches 20 countries 30 startups
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: 350 startups 30 startup pitches
• Telegram group with 20 members Website: web2day.co 12 startup pitches
• Discount for mentors Website: sonarplusd.com
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: Website: digitalk.bg
EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: • Moderation of 2 panels STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
Sesame startups on-site: Look Live Media STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: • Telegram group with 20 members
(Belgium) / Soundsgood (France) / WARM EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: • Telegram group with 30 members • Speakers confirmed among our
(Denmark) Sesame startups on-site: POMP mentors
(France) / Zify (France) /Citron (France) EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: • Dinner with 8 participants
Sesame startups on-site: Citron
Zify won the pitch competition (France) / Combyne (Germany) / Letz. EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
do (Netherlands) Sesame startups on-site: Look Live
Media (Belgium) / WARM (Denmark) /
Combyne (Germany)

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Date: 29 Jun. - 02 Jul. 2017 Date: 11 - 14 Jul. 2017 Date: 11 Jul. - 01 Aug. 2017 Date: 04 Sep. 2017
Next Date: TBD Next Date: 19 - 22 Jun. 2018 Next Date: 17 - 18 Oct. 2018 Next Date: TBD
Location: Clermont-Ferrand, France Location: Berlin, Germany Location: Hollywood, USA Location: Stockholm, Sweden

50,000 participants 20,000 participants 1,720 participants 4,000 participants

25 countries 106 exhibitors 16 exhibitors 120 exhibitors
27 startups 75 corporates 50 investors 100 investors
6 startup pitches 450 investors 80 journalists 35 journalists
200 speakers 20 countries 60 speakers
Website: europavoxfestival.com 40 countries 640M of media reach 20 countries
1,200 startups 100 startups
A partnership with digital startup 200 international media outlets Website: worldz.us
incubators, a space for experimentation 22 media partners Website: sthlm-tech-fest-2017.confetti.
offering a selection of startup to test 25 startup pitches STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: events
their prototypes on each dimension • Key information shared with clients
of the cooperation project and in an Website: toa.berlin • Tickets sold via promo code EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
international environment, a space Sesame startup on-site: Combyne
for creativity bringing together STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: (Germany)
professionals, startups and journalists • Telegram group with over 80
in order to stimulate the expression of members
new needs, identification of new uses • Key information shared with clients
and innovative devices.
EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
Sesame startups on-site: Look Live Media
(Belgium) / Combyne (Germany) / POMP
(France) / Zify (France)

Zify won the pitch competition

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Date: 06 - 07 Sep. 2017 Date: 13 - 17 Sep. 2017 Date: 26 Sep. 2017 Date: 01 - 04 Oct. 2016
Next Date: 03 - 05 Jul. 2018 Next Date: TBD Next Date: TBD Next Date: 01- 06 Oct. 2018
Location: Cologne, Germany Location: Frankfurt, Germany Location: Paris, France Location: Paris, France

1,000 participants 250,000 participants 2,000 participants 1,250,000 participants

60 exhibitors 2.013 exhibitors 35 exhibitors 245 exhibitors
100 corporates 25 corporates 200 corporates 10,000 journalists
250 investors 2,000 journalists 40 investors 30 speakers
25 journalists 200 speakers 200 journalists 19 countries
100 speakers 19 countries 60 speakers 26 startups
79 countries 40 startups 800 startups 8 startup pitches
500 startups 75,000+ page views 13,000 newsletter
10,000 newsletter reach 430M of media reach 55,000 social media Website: mondial.tech
10,000 social media reach 150 startup pitches
70 startup pitches Website: francedigitale.org STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
Website: newmobility.world • Startup sourcing
Website: piratesummit.com STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: • Partner of the startup competition
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: • Moderation of 1 panel
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: • Startup sourcing • Key information shared with clients EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
• Telegram group with over 40 • Partner of the startup competition Sesame startups on-site: EverCharge
members EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: (USA) / SmartUp Cities (Spain) / Faraday
• Moderation & speaking at 4 sessions EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: Sesame startups on-site: Soundsgood Motion (Denmark) / Pzartech (Israel)
Sesame startups on-site: POMP (France) / (France) / CitizenLab (Belgium) / POMP
EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: Zify (France) (France) / Zify (France)
Sesame startups on-site: Combyne
(Germany) / POMP(France) / Zify
(France)

Combyne was the finalist of the pitch

competition

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Date: 04 - 06 Oct. 2017 Date: 11 - 12 Oct. 2017 Date: 17 Oct. 2017 Date: 18 Oct. 2017
Next Date: TBD Next Date: 10 - 11 Oct. 2018 Next Date: TBD Next Date: 22 - 23 May. 2018
Location: Madrid, Spain Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands Location: San Francisco, USA Location: Istanbul, Turkey

12,500 participants 2,800 participants 800 participants 1,500 participants

46 corporates 30 exhibitors 78 speakers 65 exhibitors
650 investors 390 corporates 20 startup pitches 650 corporates
325 journalists 360 investors 100 investors
460 speakers 51 journalists Website: sfmusictech.com 50 journalists
3000 startups 136 speakers 38 speakers
95 startup pitches 72 countries STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: 20 countries
360 startups • Jury of the startup competition 200 startups
Website: southsummit.co 10 national newspaper coverage
Website: worldsummit.ai 5 magazines
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: 10 startup pitches
• Telegram group with over 30 STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
members • Key information shared with clients Website: summit.webrazzi.com
• Event Hacking & Brand Activation for
OpenUp BNP Paribas EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
Sesame startup on-site: Letz.do • Moderation of 1 panel
EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: (Netherlands) • Information shared with client
Sesame startups on-site: WARM
(Denmark) / Combyne (Germany) / EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:
Limitless (Netherlands) / Zify (France) Wildcard invitations

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Date: 19 - 21 Oct. 2017 Date: 26 - 27 Oct. 2017 Date: 24 - 26 Nov. 2017 Date: 30 Nov. - 01 Dec. 2017
Next Date: 18 - 20 Oct. 2018 Next Date: TBD Next Date: TBD Next Date: 04 - 05 Dec. 2018
Location: Paris, France Location: Paris, France Location: Tallinn, Estonia Location: Helsinki, Finland

10,000 participants 4,000 participants 20,000 participants 20,000 participants

220 exhibitors 160 exhibitors 84 exhibitors 350 exhibitors
200 journalists 18 corporates 10 investors 60 corporates
110 speakers 300 investors 25 journalists 1,500 investors
30 countries 113 speakers 16 speakers 610 journalists
80 startups 10 countries 35 countries 176 speakers
2,5M € of media reach 72 startup pitches 300 media 131 countries
342 press 12 startup pitches 2,600 startups
33,6000 social media mentions Website: hello-tomorrow.org 49,800 tweets
Trending topic in Paris on October, Website: robotex.ee 100 startup pitches
2017 STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:
39 startup pitches • Tickets sold with our promo code Website: slush.org

Website: autonomy.paris STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION:

• Telegram group with over 200
STARTUP SESAME ACTIVATION: members
• TweetChat organised with our • Event Hacking & Brand Activation for
mentors on the future of urban mobility OpenUp BNP Paribas
• Event Hacking for clients • Event Hacking for clients
• Sesame Workshop
EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM: • Dinner with TOA/Opnrs
Sesame startup on-site: POMP (France) • Tickets sold with our promocode
• Support of the State of European
Tech Report by Atomico & Slush
• Jury for the Slush competition

EVENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM:

Sesame startups on-site: WARM
(Denmark) / Soundsgood (France) /
Cyborg Nest (UK) / Combyne (Germany) /
Limitless (Netherlands) / POMP (France)

Warm and Soundsgood won the

Slush music competition

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 Le Studio Graphique des Improductibles - studio.lesimproductibles.com - Photo credits: Dan Taylor
Thank you to our community and team for
their help with this report.

In particular, thank you to Maxime-Jean

Guibbert, Ando Razafindrainibe, Jonny
Yin and Suzanne Newman. Thank you Dan
Taylor for providing us with the visual story
of our network of events

www.startupsesame.com
info@startupsesame.com