The EU-Startups Summit is one of the most consistent (and sunniest) fixtures on the European startup calendar, and the 2026 edition (7-8 May at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Malta) looks like one of the strongest lineups yet.
Thomas, Anastasiia and the team have prepared an amazing agenda, spanning everything from founder mental health to bootstrapped fintech to the future of venture capital. And this year we are once again involved with our very own JJ on stage to moderate two panels and joining a third as a speaker.
The entire program looks pretty lit if you ask us, but in case you were looking for another reason to go ahead and buy that ticket, or if you already have it and want to hear our opinion on what’s unmissable, we’ve gone through it and picked out the ten sessions we’re most looking forward to (and perhaps a few bonus tracks).
Here’s what’s on our list:
Day 1
EU Inc: The Challenges and Opportunities of a Europe-Wide Legal Entity
May 7, 10:30 | Main Stage | Panel
Andreas Klinger would approve! The idea of a single, unified European legal structure for startups has been discussed by founders, economists and in policy circles for years. This panel brings together the people who are actively trying to make it happen. But what is actually happening? How much is Ursula doing PR, and how much is tangible progress? And where are we heading, from what we know now? For any founder thinking seriously about building across EU markets, the practical implications of how this conversation develops are real and worth understanding now, not after the fact.
Speakers: Iwona Anna Biernat (Project Europe), Kayvan Hazemi-Jabelli (Chamber of Progress), Vasco Pereira da Silva (Allied for Startups), Vazil Hudak (H2O Fund)
The Scale-Up Playbook: What Actually Breaks Between $10M and $1B ARR
May 7, 11:25 | Main Stage | Keynote
Getting to $10M ARR is hard. Getting from $10M to $1B is a completely different problem, and most founders only find out how different once they’re already in the middle of it. Oyster is a $1.2B unicorn and a certified B Corp that helps companies hire, pay, and manage employees in 180+ countries without setting up local legal entities. Hadi Moussa, its CEO, has lived through the scale-up stretch and this session promises the kind of honest operational insight that’s genuinely rare on a summit stage. Forget the generic scaling advice. This is the stuff that only becomes visible once you’ve actually been there. Whether you’re at 10M+ yet or not, who doesn’t want to find out?
Speaker: Hadi Moussa, CEO, Oyster
More about the session: Meet the speaker
Mental Health Tips for Entrepreneurs and Startup Teams under Pressure
May 7, 12:10 | Growth Stage | Panel
This topic has been circling the edges of the European startup conversation for years and it deserves more than a panel slot. The pressure is real at the best of times, and with AI accelerating the pace of change across every industry, the psychological toll on founders and their teams is only intensifying. A panel with actual mental health professionals and real practitioners is a solid start. JJ is moderating, and we’re sure she’s looking for the answers to those questions as much as you guys are!
Moderator: JJ Jegorova, Founder, Black Unicorn PR
Speakers: Magda Mazloum (Brighter Life Psychology), Karen Tierney (SilverCloud Health), Matthew Bartolo (Psychotherapist), Irene Anggreeni (Wellness Leadership Coach)
More about the session: Meet the speakers
Future of Venture Capital: The Impact of AI, New Trends, New Approaches
May 7, 14:15 | Main Stage | Panel
AI is reshaping everything around the venture process, and… so fast! Deal flow, due diligence, portfolio management, and the fundamental question of what kinds of companies are worth backing in the first place. These questions always needed answering on a regular basis, and by many different stakeholders, to be properly up to date. And now thanks to AI, we need this clarity more than ever. Entrusted with helping these VCs bring clarity is none other than our very own ‘corn JJ. The panel brings together investors from Startupbootcamp, True Capital, Redstone VC, and Kompas VC for what should be a frank conversation about where the money is moving and why.
Moderator: JJ Jegorova, Founder, Black Unicorn PR
Speakers: Alex Farcet (Startupbootcamp, Raspberry Ventures), Joe Seager-Dupuy (True Capital), Lucas Paul (Redstone VC), Ilena Mece (Kompas VC)
More about the session: Meet the speakers
PR and Branding Insights: How Startups Build a Brand People Talk About
May 7, 15:55 | Growth Stage | Panel
Has there ever been more tech PR power in one single session? We have an obvious bias here, since JJ will be joining this one as a panellist, but it is a genuinely exciting session – the panel brings together an awesome collection of experiences and expertise onto one single stage. Brand-building is one of those things that gets talked about constantly and practised badly. And PR is misunderstood way too often. There to bust myths and speak truths, as well as bring the latest takes, trends and developments, are a group of great panelists with deep expertise in the field, many of them having worked with startups, scaleups, unicorns, VC funds, accelerators and ecosystem players… even before launching their own agencies and consultancies!
Moderator: Cathy White, Founder & CEO, CEW Communications
Speakers: Clara Armand-Delille (ThirdEyeMedia), Julija JJ Jegorova (Black Unicorn PR), Kate McElroy (Manyone), Kamilla Strausz (InnoMaker Partner)
More about the session: Meet the speakers
Day 2
AI without the Burn: 5 Tactical Lessons from Bootstrapping an Enterprise AI Leader for Two Decades
May 8, 10:05 | Main Stage | Keynote
Most AI companies right now are in a race to spend investor money as fast as possible. Dimitris Vassos built Omilia over 20 years as a bootstrapped enterprise conversational AI company, serving clients including Capital One, Vodafone, and the UK Department for Work and Pensions, processing over a billion customer interactions in the process. Far from burning a mountain of cash, the company only took its first outside capital in 2020. That kind of longevity doesn’t happen by accident. Five tactical lessons from two decades in enterprise AI feels like a session that will age well.
Speaker: Dimitris Vassos, Co-Founder & CEO, Omilia
More about the session: Meet the speaker
When Execution Is Worthless, Vision Is Everything: How to Start a Business in the Age of Infinite AI
May 8, 10:50 | Main Stage | Keynote
They used to say “ideas are worthless, execution is everything”. But if AI can execute almost anything, what does that leave us with? Joaquin Cuenca Abela’s talk takes on one of the sharpest questions facing both builders and operators right now. Freepik, the platform half of us in marketing use for images and more, is one of the most quietly successful bootstrapped-to-exit stories in European tech. Built from scratch in Málaga without a euro of venture capital, Joaquin sold a majority stake to EQT at a roughly €250M valuation in 2020, and has since grown to over 100 million monthly active users and more than €100M in annual revenue. So if someone can tell you about vision and execution, it’s him.
Speaker: Joaquin Cuenca Abela, Founder & CEO, Freepik
More about the session: Meet the speaker
The Startup Media Landscape, PR Tips & Tricks
May 8, 11:50 | Main Stage | Panel
As journalism and PR nerds, we’re really looking forward to this one! A meeting of the continent’s startup media minds. What makes the panel interesting is not just the tactical tips, it’s who is sitting on stage and what that combination of perspectives represents.
Thomas Ohr has been covering the European startup ecosystem since he founded EU-Startups in 2010, making him one of the longest-serving independent voices in the space. Akansha Dimri launched Tech Funding News in 2022 after holding EIC roles at both UKTN and Silicon Canals, and has grown it to over 500,000 monthly readers, a reminder that independent, founder-built media is still very much alive. And Alexandru Stan, who acquired TNW from the Financial Times in late 2025 after the FT decided to close it, doing so, reportedly, without seeing the financials before signing. He is not a journalist but a serial tech entrepreneur who has built and exited multiple companies. His perspective on what European tech journalism should look like from the owner’s seat is going to be a different kind of conversation than the usual editorial tips.
Moderator: Thomas Ohr, Founder & CEO, EU-Startups
Speakers: Akansha Dimri, Founder & EiC, Tech Funding News; Alexandru Stan, CEO, TNW
More about the session: Meet the speakers
Bonus: Ponycorn! Christoph Sollich’s Satirical Pöny Keynote
May 8, 12:20 | Main Stage | Keynote
If you need a palate cleanser (or popcorn) between pitches and panels, don’t miss Christoph Sollich. Known as The Pitch Doctor, he is a legitimate startup pitch coach who has worked with over 3,500 founders and companies including Techstars, Airbus BizLab, and Google Launchpad. His EU-Startups Summit keynote, “Pöny: How a Mobility Unicorn (Ponycorn!) is Beating AI with EI (Equine Intelligence),” is a satirical pitch for a fictional mobility startup delivered with the full deadpan seriousness of a Series B deck. If you’ve ever sat through a startup pitch and thought “this could be a comedy show,” Sollich proves you were right. It might not be real, but it’s one of the best pitches out there!
Speaker: Christoph Sollich, The Pitch Doctor
Scaling a Community-Led Business to €130M+: Lessons from Expanding Across Culturally Diverse Markets
May 8, 12:40 | Growth Stage | Keynote
WeRoad has built something that most startups struggle to replicate: a business where the community is the product. Whether travelling and on the road, or in your city with WeMeet, it’s all about IRL experiences. For WeRoad, getting to €130M+ revenue while expanding across markets with genuinely different cultures and travel behaviours is a people and positioning story, rather than a growth-hacking one, and one WeRoad has all the credentials to tell it.
Speaker: Andrea Lamperini, COO, WeRoad
More about the session: Meet the speaker
Profitable by Design: Why We Never Took VC Money and Built a €200M Fintech Anyway
May 8, 15:45 | Main Stage | Fireside
Dilution forbidden! Because who said startup scaling needs to involve venture capital every single time? seQura is a buy-now-pay-later and flexible payments provider for e-commerce merchants and their customers, operating primarily across Southern Europe. In a sector defined by blitzscaling and burn rates, David Bäckström built it into a €200M revenue, €28M EBT fintech without a single euro of venture capital. Whether you’re a founder weighing your funding options or an investor curious about what the alternative actually looks like in practice, his perspective is one you won’t hear very often on a summit stage.
Speaker: David Bäckström, Founder & CEO, seQura
More about the session: Meet the speaker
Bonus: Investors on Stage
May 7 & May 8 | Main Stage
Both days feature a dedicated segment where 15 top VCs present their firms and investment focus directly to the room. If you are actively fundraising or planning to be, this is one of the more efficient opportunities you will find at any event this year. Get the thesis, understand the focus areas, and start a conversation before you even leave the building.
We’ll be at the Mediterranean Conference Centre for both days: JJ on stage for three sessions, and both of us in the corridors, and at the networking drinks, and out and about in Malta! If you’re heading to the Summit, ping us on LinkedIn or email and say hello.
Not registered yet? Tickets are still available on EU-Startups’s summit page!
See you there!
