The European Startup Week 2026
Hundreds of Startup Founders. One Unforgettable Week.
The European Startup Week, now in its 4th edition, is not your typical tech conference. Instead of a convention centre, hundreds of European and Italian early-stage startup founders, investors, and enthusiasts spend a week taking over a Mediterranean beach and city to connect, collaborate, and close deals.
Organised by Startup Network Europe and Feedel Ventures, and supported by Deep Ocean Capital, InnovUp, Italian Tech Alliance, Politecnico di Bari, and Regione Puglia, this immersive 7-day event combines the high-level deal-making of a major tech conference with the authentic, community-driven culture of a summer beach festival.
Our guiding principle is "Friends First, Networking Second."
We encourage everyone to treat this week as an amazing holiday first, and a business networking opportunity second.
Enjoy yourself on the beach, and focus on making lifelong friends with like-minded people. You won't end up doing business with most people you meet, and that is totally ok.
Ironically, when we take this approach of friendship first, then co-founder matches and business deals naturally follow, because the best partnerships are based on trust!
Days 1-3: Connecting
Day 1 (Monday, July 6): Welcome Evening Reception
Day 2 (Tuesday, July 7): Dolphin Watching Boat Trip | Evening Meetup
Day 3 (Wednesday, July 8): Day Trip to Polignano a Mare & Monopoli | Evening Meetup
Day 4: European Startup Conference - Taranto City Day
Taking place on Thursday (July 9th) at 9:30am-4:00pm, this is the headline event of The European Startup Week 2026.
The Full Day event's agenda is as follows:
09:30 AM - 10:30 AM: Networking & Registration
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM: Introductory Speech
Eugenio Di Sciascio, Regional Minister for Economic Development, Regione Puglia
Salvatore Toma, President, Confindustria Taranto
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Analisi Dati Italia e Puglia
Max Brigida, Founder, La Tech Made in Italy & IT’S TECH
StartupItalia, Technology, Information and Internet Company
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM: Italian Scaleup & Investor Panel Discussion, including 15 minutes of Q&A
Topic: The Funding Playbook: Positioning Your Early-Stage Startup for European Investment.
Jason Fontana, CEO, WayfinderBio
Emilia Garito, Chairwoman, Deep Ocean Capital
Annamaria Tartaglia, Executive Director, Angels4Women
Mike Melby, Co-Founder, Fitlab; GP, Profondo Capital; Co-Owner, Cesena Football Club
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM: Soonicorn & Unicorn Panel Discussion, including 15 minutes of Q&A
Topic: The First 1,000 Days: How Europe's Unicorns Scaled from Seed to Global Champions.
Moderator:
Rob Cox, Visiting Professor, Luiss Guido Carli University; Co-Founder & former Global Editor of Reuters Breakingviews
Panellists:
Dmitry Gurski, Co-Founder & CEO, Flo Health (Unicorn)
Razvan Ranca, Co-Founder & CTO, Tractable (Unicorn)
Philipp Nieland, Co-Founder, PPRO (Unicorn)
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Networking & Light Lunch
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM: VC Discussion, including 15 minutes of Q&A
Beyond the Hype: Where VCs are Deploying Capital in 2026
Sara Polatti, Managing Director, CC & Soci
Ken Horenstein, General Partner, Pack Ventures
Patrick Polak, Managing Partner, Newion Partners
Massimiliano Picciani, Head of Innovation & Funding, Bpifrance
Neal Dempsey, Managing General Partner at Bay Partners
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM: Startup Pitches feat. Puglia Techs
Selected from 1,000+ applications, 10 high-potential, early-stage Italian AI startup founders will take the stage for a pitch session, standing before a panel of "Sharks" to defend their tech and prove their scale. This event follows the success of The London AI Startup Conference 2025, which Startup Network Europe hosted at Google London in December 2025.
Judges:
Luisa Torsi, Professor, Università degli Studi di Bari
Dom Ventimiglia, Principal, Squadra Ventures
Bibop Gresta, Founder, HyperloopIT
Silvia Visciano, Head of Internationalization and Financial Instruments, Regione Puglia
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Networking & Party
Day 5: European Startup Conference - Beach Day
Taking place on Friday (July 10th), an immersive "Unconference" that blends peer-to-peer knowledge sharing with a high-energy Mediterranean celebration. The agenda is as follows:
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Beachside Networking & Hangout
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM:
Ain TheMachine, Tailored live experiences :
UNBOXING THE FUTURE OF PUGLIA!!
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM: Roundtable Talks at Frescheria Jamaica
Diego Gaspar, Founder, Inn Remote
Topic: The AI Remote Playbook: How Distributed Teams Can Learn, Connect and Perform Better
Rebecca Eifried, Founder of HR Nomad
Topic: How AI + OKRs Are Replacing Traditional Startup Scaling
Dr. Florian Steiner, Claude AI Consultant & Trainer
Topic: Mastering Claude AI for Startups
Luca Pignatti, Managing Partner, Profondo Capital
Topic: How VC and Private Equity can help Puglia’s economy
Darinka Burovska, Business & Transformation Coach, Founder at The Resilience Club, ex-Product Manager
Topic: Resilience for Founders: Nervous System Reset and guided Self-Discovery
Daniel Wardle, Founder of The Founder Sales Club & Rampart; Sales & Leadership Coach - MBA Programme, Harvard Business School
Topic: Founder Led Sales Mistakes & Challenges
5:30 PM - 5:45 PM: Closing Remarks
Gianna Elisa Berlingerio, Head of Economic Development, Regione Puglia
Adam Patrick Fulham, Founder, Startup Network Europe
Lorenzo Seritti, Founder, Feedel Ventures
5:45 PM - 10:00 PM: Party, with DJ Set from 6:30 PM
Days 6-7: Reflecting
Day 6 (Saturday, July 11): Explore Taranto Day | Summer Beach Party
Day 7 (Sunday, July 12): Goodbye Morning Meetup
About the Hosts
Startup Network Europe is an Irish company that has hosted 280+ Startup, Mid-Market, and Corporate Events since 2021.
Feedel Ventures is a global innovation hub and startup studio based in Puglia. Since 2020, they have built and scaled a portfolio of 20+ disruptive digital ventures across Tech, Web3, and Lifestyle. Specialising in corporate venture building, Feedel secures vital funding and drives high-impact business development to connect Italian innovation with European capital.
About the Partners
Our confirmed partners include the below. Please note that this list will increase significantly in the coming weeks.
Government Partner: Regione Puglia
University Partner:
Ecosystem Partners:
Italian Tech Alliance - Italy’s VC Association
InnovUp - Italy’s Startup Association
VC Partners:
Hospitality & Experience Partners:
💡 Important Info: Logistics & Catering
Based on attendee feedback regarding ticket costs and diverse catering preferences, we have decided to offer tickets at a more accessible rate, with accommodation, food, and drinks not included in the ticket price.
Whether we are on a boat, at the beach, or in the city, we will always ensure we are near excellent local spots where you can purchase refreshments.
✈️ Important Info: Flights
We recommend flying to Bari International Airport-Karol Wojtyla, as it's by far the biggest airport in the region. From there, you just have to travel 85 minutes by bus to Taranto.
As we kick off the startup week at 7pm on Monday (July 6th), we highly recommend arriving by the Monday afternoon or before.