- This year’s edition took place on 24-26 of March 2021. It was the 13th edition.
- The summit gathered more than 2127 attendees from 66 countries.
- The event was hosted on Hoppin, officially the fastest growing online event software company in Europe.
- More than 100 speakers, 265 investors, 1183 startups and 337 partners participated at the 13th edition of Wolves Summit.
The 13th edition of Wolves Summit was anything but unlucky, according to the stats.
Of course, we thought about it, too. 13 is the number for bad luck but for this edition of Wolves Summit was anything but unlucky.
The stats are here to prove it.
Who were the speakers?
Networking has always been an important part of the and on 23-26th March 2021, industry experts, tech professionals, investors and startups gathered up to connect and make business happen despite current circumstances. We hosted workshops and they had important discussions on the state of the business ecosystem in COVID-19 times.
I am glad the European Innovation Council (EIC) has been part of this great innovation arena creating growth opportunities for small and medium companies. Wolves Summit gives an insight into the CEE ecosystem and offers the EIC the opportunity to present its mission to identify, develop and scale-up breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovations, said Kinga Stanislawska, EIC Advisory Board Member and EIC Fund Investment Committee member.
Among the speakers that attended the event, we mention:
- Ms Anna Clunes OBE, Her Majesty's Ambassador to Poland
- Giovanni La Placa, European Innovation Council
- Tomasz Mazuryk, Managing Partner at FundingBox
- Mark Masters, Vice President of Finance at Hopin
- Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
- James Hughes, Minister-Counsellor for Economic Affairs, British Embassy
- Kobi Shkuri, Principal at LT Capital
- Gabriele Tatzberger, Director of Startup Services at Vienna Business Agency
- Ana Vázquez Romero, Research Startup Analyst at TNW
- Kinga Stanislawska, Managing Partner, Co-Founder at Experior VC
- Stéphane Ouaki, Head of unit for Financial Instruments in DG Research and Innovation at European Commission
- Maciej Kraus, Partner at Movens Capital
- Shalini Khemka, CEO at E2Exchange
- Sonja Sulzmaier, Managing Partner at Navispace GmbH
- Suzanne Ali-Hassan, Head of Commercial Engagement at UCL
- Oliver Mahr, Global Sales & Relationship Manager, Deutsche Börse Group
- Robin Wauters, Founding Editor, Tech.eu
- Kaythlin Das, HubSpot for Startups EMEA, HubSpot
The Great Pitch Contest
A record breaking number of more than 1000+ startups from 66 countries have participated in the pitching competitions, masterclasses and workshops.
We handpicked the most promising of them to participate in the Great Pitch Contest and showcase their ideas in front of the Jury of over 50 investors and corporate representatives.
After two days of pitching, the judges selected 9 finalists with the winner of the Great Pitch Contest - Veizo, a startup established in early 2018 with the idea and goal to help the fourth Industrial revolution expand faster and cheaper without needing to think about powering the sensing equipment.
The 2nd and 3rd places went to LAM'ON and SpinDrive.
The winner got an opportunity to compete in Pitch to London contest, a semi-final entry to the 13th IoT Innovation World Cup, and a guaranteed investment meeting with Chinaccelerator 中国加速.
The three winners also got credits to use the EdWorking platform, and all finalists got a 3-month Startup membership at Startup Grind (worth $400/team), as well as 90% off in HubSpot for Startups program.
Special awards were also given to a dozen of promising startups:
- An award from AI Startup Incubator - to pitch in front of their investment board committee with a chance to win €50k funding - was given to Subly.
- An award from Navispace - direct semi-finals entry to the 13th Healthcare Innovation World Cup® - was given to Pulsewave AG;
- Another award from Navispace - direct semi-finals entry to the Smart Building / Smart Construction Innovation World Cup® - was given to EyeVi Technologies.
- An award from Publicis Groupe - free workshops with Oded Lavie VP of Innovation and Business Development in NextTechnow by Publicis - was given to WEARFITS, AdInMo and Memento.
- Finally, another award from Publicis Groupe - fast track to acceleration program NextTechnow by Publicis in Poland and UK and business meetings on product implementation - was given to AdInMo.
If you want to watch the final of the Great Pitch Contest, you can watch it here and you can find more information about the finalists and the winner. We have comprised information about each finalist below:
Aether https://www.aetherbio.com/
Build the next industrial revolution. Aether uses its state of the art platform to rapidly engineer enzymes, enabling our customers to manufacture complex and novel products at fractional cost.
Subly https://www.getsubly.com/
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Viezo http://www.viezo.co
Viezo is a startup, established in early 2018 with the idea and goal to help the fourth Industrial revolution expand faster and cheaper without needing to think about powering the sensing equipment. Our technology can convert vibrations into usable electricity, therefore powering sensors indefinitely which are deployed on vibrating, dynamic machinery.
Pekat Vision https://www.pekatvision.com/
PEKAT VISION© Smart Camera is universal. It can be used with all kinds of materials such as wood, stone, metal, lacquer, castings, leather, rubber or fabrics.
PEKAT VISION can work either in so-called unsupervised mode. It is then able to find defects which it didn't see before. It is even enough to train it on images of defect-free objects or material.
Or it can work in a supervised mode - it can be trained to search for a specific defect or surface problem - e.g. scratches, rust, leaks, holes etc.
It does not matter that each product or material is slightly different and it does not matter whether it is difficult or even impossible to describe what is a defect. PEKAT VISION is able to find it anyway.
It is an all in one solution. No additional hardware required.
MindHug https://www.mindhug.io/
Built on the vision of our CEO after some personal challenges in his own life, MindHug is a UCL (University College London) incubated mental wellbeing startup. The founding team has nearly 50 years of combined experience In psychiatry, risk, regulation, finance, marketing, branding and technology. We’re a small but passionate team, currently divided between the UK and India, but in time we hope to be able to expand to other countries around the world.
LAM'ON https://lam-on.com/
LAM’ON is biodegradable and suitable for composting laminating film. It offers the same results as the currently used ones, looks and feels the same, even using the same machinery. What makes it stand out is its composting properties of both film and glue. We are making the production and use of our product harmless for everyone involved. A new kind of working environment meeting the needs of every customer linked to the printing industry directly or not.
The team:
Gergana Stancheva, Co-founder and project coordinator
Angela Ivanova, Co-founder and project coordinator
Philip Ublekov Phd., Research associate and Partner
Aqai https://www.aqai.io/
At AQai, we're a determined bunch who are focused on developing a framework for millions to follow, strengthening their AQ and levelling up their adaptability to a wide range of unexpected situations. It's this determined spirit that helps us guide our community to a stronger position of change readiness.
CrystalEn Semiconductor https://www.linkedin.com/company/crystalen
CrystalEn is a start-up company based in Israel that has developed and holds a unique, state-of-the-art technology in the field of growing carbon-based crystals. Carbon-based crystals are the industrial material of the future, particularly in the semi-conductor industry. This unique technology, developed by CrystalEn’s team, will enable the growth of “single crystal” wafers. Its rapid and controlled process will produce high quality single-crystal wafers with advantageous physical properties, in an ecologically friendly, green process with no pollution.
Spin Drive https://spindrive.fi/
SpinDrive provides design, prototyping and serial production of active magnetic bearings (AMBs) for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). SpinDrive reduces energy losses in the machine by half. For a 500-kW unit, this solution mitigates 200 tons of CO2 emissions annually, which is equivalent to 2,000 barrels of oil burnt and enables 2-year payback time. An active magnetic bearing levitates the rotational part of the machine, eliminating mechanical friction. It enables 20 years of maintenance-free operations. SpinDrive solution is completely oil-free, which allows OEM customers to enter rapidly growing markets and ensure alignment with a contaminant-free environmental strategy. We help customers to significantly increase their solutions’ system efficiency, reduce material consumption and minimize maintenance costs. SpinDrive lowers the customer’s equipment lifecycle costs by 35%. Maturity: pre-seed
Pulsewave AG http://pulsewave.ch/
PulseWave aims to become a digital healthcare company redefining the way arterial sclerosis is clinically diagnosed and monitored over time. PulseWave’s development, the TempleGuard combines a wearable biosensor device worn conveniently and permanently with patients' Eyeglasses and cloud-based data analytics with powerful proprietary algorithms that distil data from millions of heartbeats into clinically actionable information. PulseWave believes improvements in arterial stiffness monitoring and characterization have the potential to change the clinical Management of patients.
Today there is no convenient wearable available on the market, which provides reliable and constant daytime measurements of cardiac indicators to predict the development of arterial stiffness, coronary artery disease and ischemic heart disease.
PulseWave develops a smart wearable solution to monitor cardiac indicators using patients glasses which are the perfect “vehicle” for adding a smart monitoring element. Eyeglasses are a very individual choice! Personal taste and fashion play an important role in the choice of an eyeglasses frame. Our solution is an add-on to existing eyewear frames, elegantly hidden behind the ear and not influencing the comfort of wearing the frame in any way!
EyeVi Technologies https://eyevi.tech/
EyeVi is a provider of on-demand mapping technologies for transportation infrastructure consulting, management and services companies. From modest beginnings to project cooperation across 5 continents, our mission is to make 3D mapping more accessible and infrastructure management more sustainable.
WEARFITS http://www.wearfits.com
We provide a stunning digital shopping experience with modern 3D and AR solutions with size fitting, helping manufacturers and retailers from the apparel and footwear industries to increase sales and reduce return rate.
We believe that shopping for clothing and footwear online can be more convenient than in reality. Apparel e-commerce is struggling with returns and mismatches. Our virtual fitting room solves that problem. We enable trying on digital clothes and shoes online and in AR.
WEARFITS is a new quality of visualization and sale of clothes and shoes on the Internet with size and comfort advisors. We reduce the number of product returns and improve customer shopping experience.
AdInMo https://www.adinmo.com/
AdInMo is a dynamic in-game advertising platform that delivers engaged customers for advertisers and quality monetization for developers & publishers. Our platform serves click-free immersive brand ads without interrupting game flow. Unlock new revenue streams that enhance gameplay, offer authentic brand experiences and engage your gamers.
The online conference on Hopin
Due to the pandemic situation, the 13th edition of Wolves Summit happened again as an online event, like the March edition in 2020 as well as our side events called Wolves Summit Live and 100 Wolves Pitching Competition.
This format allowed:
- Online sessions on the Main Stage
- Online pitching opportunity
- Matchmaking via our native platform Wolves Match, supported by Microsoft Team as our Matchmaking Sponsor
This edition saw new features as well, including new digital experiences such as:
- Multiple themed stages for more variety and choice
- New networking features for the attendees
- A dedicated Scale-up stage powered by tech.eu
- An exclusive UK accelerators block
- A startup programme supported by the British Embassy in Warsaw
The strength of the conference lies in its focus on networking. The event represents a massive window of opportunity, since the right people, who joined from all over Europe and the UK, are here to share knowledge, giving access to new products and fostering partnerships. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Wolves Summit bridging the gap between the CEE and the UK startup ecosystems, adds Michal Sobczyk, Digital and Business Attache at the British Embassy in Warsaw.
The online format was not only useful considering the pandemic, but it attracted a record breaking number of attendees, startups and speakers from all over the world.
All the pitching sessions were held online, making them accessible to everybody, no matter the location.
More than 1,000 startups attended the event and more than 100 startups participated in the Great Pitch Session.
What’s next?
The next edition of Wolves Summit will take place this fall in October 2021. The 14th edition will include a hybrid programme celebrating innovators through local, national and global events & activities run by local event partners across Central Eastern Europe.
In the last five years we’ve grown Wolves Summit to become one of the largest tech conferences in Europe. We have empowered over 10,000 startups connecting them with the right investors and clients to grow revenue and expand cross-border collaboration. Whilst we’re feeling buoyant about the future, we know that we’ve just scratched the surface of what can be achieved in the CEE region, shares Michael Chaffe, Vice-President at Wolves Summit.
Wolves Summit is already in conversation with leading regional conferences to join the event, as well as co-creating the programme for the 14th edition. Based on what happened on the 13th edition, the October Wolves Summit will be even better and even more crowded (not to worry, we will be online and following the recommended restrictions, regarding the pandemic).
If we took a close look at how many startups entered the competition and the numbers of speakers as well as the numerous meetings within the 13th event, the 14th edition will be a record breaking event as well.
There are a lot of reasons to sign up for the Wolves Summit in October:
- As a startup, you can participate in the pitching sessions: you will gain experience as well as important rewards and expand your network.
- As an individual, you will gain experience, you will meet investors and VC funds and you will expand your professional network that will come in very helpful if you want to open your own company.
- Wolves Summit is also an opportunity for showcasing your startup/company and your work and it can be used as a platform for greater exposure.
- You will get a lot of insight from the industry, you will be able to understand the latest trends and get updated on the world of business.
The 13th edition of Wolves Summit was certainly a success. It was an event that saw inventive startups pitching for a chance to win big prizes, it saw discussions that needed to be held, such as the future of business and work in the ongoing pandemic situation and it brought together experts and professionals from all over Europe.
We hope to see you on the 14th Edition of Wolves Summit this October.
For more partnership inquiries please contact mike@wolvessummit.com
