Road to START Summit 2026 - Deeptech Edition
Road to START Summit (RtSS Paris)
✨ The Road to START Summit (RtSS) is START Paris’ annual flagship pitch competition. Every year, 21 START chapters across the world, from Helsinki to Lisbon, São Paulo to Mexico City and more, each select a winning startup to represent their city.
Now it is Paris’ turn!
RtSS brings together the most promising early-stage and deeptech founders in the city. The winning startup from Paris will advance to the Quarter Finals at START Summit 2025 in St. Gallen, one of Europe’s most renowned tech events with more than 7,000 attendees including investors, founders, operators and media.
Join us for an evening that highlights the next generation of French innovation.
What You Can Expect
🚀 A curated selection of early-stage and deeptech startups pitching live on stage
👥 A highly engaged audience of founders, students, researchers and operators
🎤 A jury composed of investors and industry experts
🌟 A vibrant networking environment filled with ambitious people
📅 Program:
🕔 17:00 — Doors open
🗣️ 18:30 — Opening speech
🚀 19:00 — Deeptech pitching begins
🤝 19:30 — Networking break
🎯 19:55 — Final 3 startups
🔮 20:25 — The future of START Paris
🏆 20:40 — Winner announcement
🍸 Until 22:00 — Networking
Startups: Apply to Pitch
📝 If you are building an early-stage startup and want the chance to represent Paris on a global stage, you can apply here:
https://tally.so/r/QK2z6Y
⏳ Application deadline: January 4th 2026
Who Should Attend
💡 Founders and aspiring founders
📚 Students, engineers and researchers
💼 VC funds and accelerators
⚙️ Operators and ecosystem builders
✨ Anyone passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation
About START Paris
🌍 START Paris is the entrepreneurial launchpad for students and young founders in France. We run high-quality events throughout the year, including hackathons, workshops, pitch nights and international delegations. Our community has contributed an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million euros of value to the Paris ecosystem through programs, connections and opportunities.