Startup Fall ’18: Where to Promote Yourself This Autumn

Even though we hear a lot about global digitalization and online conferences, personal communications are still a must and play huge role in business networking and self-promotion. If you are a startup and don’t want to miss out on a chance to be seen and heard, here is a list of the most promising events this fall where you can pitch your business.

TechCrunch Disrupt SF

When: September 5–7

Where: San Francisco, USA

Price: $1,595 — $2,495

If you don’t know TechCrunch, go and read it right now. And if you are following it on the daily basis, you should understand that this conference is one of the biggest and coolest in the world.

In addition to outstanding speakers, the conference features Startup Battlefield where you can compete with other companies and gain attention of potential investors. Among the judges will be TechCrunch reps themselves as well as world-known entrepreneurs and VCs. Some of the past-year winners are Dropbox and Yammer — and you can become the next game-changer! And the most awesome part about it? Participation in the Battlefield is 100% free!

Os!o Innovation Week

When: September 24–28

Where: Oslo, Norway

Price: Free

This event is considered one of the largest innovation conventions in Europe. It promises about 50 events and always has outstanding speakers — it even was Barack Obama once!

For the startups, it offers a chance for pitching from the Innovation Week stage. The competition is held among 100+ companies and strives to find the best startups that focus on sustainability. As they describe it on the website: “Showcasing the best early-stage startups building shit that matters”. Oh, and did we mention that Mike Butcher himself will be among the judges?

Bits & Pretzels

When: September 30 — October 02

Where: Munich, Germany

Price: €399 — €1699

Bits & Pretzels is an application-only festival that features 5 000 + attendees (investors, decision-makers and startup reps) and is actually an amazing place for any startup to learn, network and promote itself.

The agenda includes Startup Exhibition, Startup Academy, the Spotlight Stage and many other activity zones, where every startup will have a chance to shine. Don’t forget about awesome speakers, liquid networking and overall fun atmosphere — Bits & Pretzels knows how to add a twist to a professional event.

IP EXPO Europe

When: October 3–4

Where: London, UK

Price: £499 — £650

The conference is among top-notch European events in the sphere of IT. It covers latest IT trends such as block chain, IoT, cyber security and AI-analytics.

For startups, attending the conference would be a good chance to learn from the best and find out what’s buzzing in the IT world today. Cisco, Lenovo, Oracle, NSL — all of them and more will be present at the conference as exhibitors and will be available for a chat. As well the conference will be offering free beer– seems like a good alternative to classic refreshments, doesn’t it?

FastCompany Innovation Festival

When: October 22–26

Where: NYC, USA

Price: $799 — $2900

This event is at times compared to Disrupt in terms of size and awesomness. It will feature over 300 speakers, 150 sessions and 10 000 attendees — and it’s one hell of a conference to network, promote yourself and learn new things.

The keynote speakers will include reps from such giants as Microsoft, Apple and Airbnb and they will cover a variety of topics, not necessarily related to the IT industry. The conference promotes creativity heavily and is aimed to inspire the guests and let them learn from the best. So you may want to visit the Innovation Festival just to pick up some priceless knowledge and who knows — maybe get the attention of an Apple executive!

Written by Natalia Kukushkina