• On 10^th April 2019, at the Prague Congress Centre, the first ever European finals of global competition Startup World Cup 2019 in history is held, as a part of Startup World Cup & Summit (SWCSummit).
• For the first time, Prague is going to witness the best startup projects found in Europe, the winners of almost twenty national finals of Startup World Cup. The finalists will compete to win 500,000 USD, the title of European Startup Champion, and the entry to world finals held in San Francisco. Europe is the first continent to hold its own finals of this startup competition.
• In the scope of the SWCS, the regional finals of Visegrád Group takes place. The winning startup of the V4 finals will get the European finals entry as well as the entry to the global grand finale taking place in Silicon Valley in May.
• The first confirmed keynote speaker is James Quarles, the CEO of Strava – a globally successful unicorn startup – and the former Instagram vice-president.
• The main topic of the summit is „What’s Next, Europe?“. The aim of the event is creating a European startup network on a long-term basis.

Next spring, Prague will be hosting one of the most important events of both the European and the global startup scenes. Startup World Cup & Summit (SWCSummit) will offer, apart from keynote speakers from all over the world and networking, the European finals of Startup World Cup 2019, with the winning European startup getting half a million USD and the title of the European Startup Champion. The winner will also get an entry to the global grand finale to be held in Silicon Valley in May; the global grand finale’s winner will get one million USD.  The organizers’ goal is to get European businessmen inspired by the best of the startup world and show them how startups can represent, sell, attract investors, and expand to other markets. In short, how to get Europe back on the map of the most innovative destinations in the world. The main program of the Summit will take place at the Prague Congress Centre on 10^th April 2019. Startup World Cup & Summit is organized by startup incubator UP21 and investment fund Air Ventures.

“What’s Next, Europe?” is the main topic of the event whose goal is to create a talent network, draw public’s attention to small businesses’ value added, and, most importantly, boost the European startup scene’s confidence. In this sense, there is, according to organizers from UP21 and Air Ventures, still unutilized capacity on the scene, in comparison to aggressive competitors from Silicon Valley and other innovative epicenters.

“Europe has always been a cradle of world-changing ideas. However, our question is, why are we now behind the new technology centers found in the USA west coast or east coast of China? We want to point out that there is a great potential hidden in the old continent – talented developers in the middle of Europe, great designers on both the north and the south, experienced businessmen on the west. In spite of all that, there is a lot missing – American-like confidence, presenting skills or sufficient openness of the inside market, a network of key players, investors and companies. It is our goal to broaden talented businessmen’s horizons. The SWCSummit is not just a summit, but a continual activity leading to support European startup ecosystem and entrepreneurship,” says Václav Pavlečka, the Air Ventures CEO.

“We are happy that we managed to get Startup World Cup & Summit to the next level and became the organizer of the first continental finals. For UP21, the vision of startup networking is important, and thanks to SWCSummit, the network of startups, corporations and investors is being created in the European framework. We are convinced that this is the only way for Europe to once again become the leader of progress and innovation. And Prague will play an important part in that,” explains Vítek Šubert, the startup incubator UP21 CEO.

Thousands of competitors, hundreds of startups and fifty speakers, and Strava CEO

The organizers are expecting the attendance of 350 startups from over fifty countries, who can sign up via the Summit’s page. The event will be divided into several specialized zones for startups, innovators from corporations, investors, and general public. During the SWCSummit, visitors can use mobile app Miva for networking and matchmaking. Over fifty mentors and speakers will present at the Summit, for example James Quarles, the CEO of Strava, the successful app for athletes and a true startup unicorn that is growing by 4 million new users every month. Quarles also made an impact as the vice-president of Instagram, which topped Facebook in popularity, especially among the young generation, during Quarles’ time there.

Another important name is John Rizzo, an investor from Silicon Valley, who used to, among other things, lead the marketing department at Apple during the times when it gained fame with the first Macintosh. Since then, he’d held positions in various technology corporations, and led many of them to a successful exit. Nowadays, he is a lecturer at the famous Stanford University. Another personality appearing at the SWCSummit will be the chief of London accelerator SeedStars, Eamonn Carey, who has years of experience with investing in leading European startups and technology companies. The names on the list will be adding up by dozens of top businessmen and presenters from all over the world. Almost 2,000 people are coming to see their presentations, counting all contestants, investors, and visitors.

Regional finals in the scope of V4 countries

For Czech startups, the way to European finals leads through the regional one, for which 21 best startups of Visegrád four region are nominated. The finals is held on 9^th April, when the 4 best startups will get their chance to pitch their project within the European finals. The winning startup from the regional round is guaranteed the entry to the world finals.

Tickets for Startup World Cup & Summit are now available at www.swcsummit.com.

Learn more about Startup World Cup & Summit

Startup World Cup & Summit (SWCSummit) is a unique marriage between the two most significant startup summits to emerge over the last few years. Startup World Cup is a global startup summit and competition organized by the Silicon Valley venture capital fund Fenox. It was created to support innovations worldwide, interconnect subjects within the startup ecosystem, open doors for talented entrepreneurs  and identify 20 of the best startup projects on the market today. Regional winners will compete at the grand finale in Silicon Valley for $1 million and other cool prizes. SWCSummit is organized by the investment fund Air Ventures and startup incubator UP21. Dating back to 2012, the summit has attracted speakers from leading global corporations and startups, including TechCrunch editors, Startupbootcamp chiefs, Silicon Valley investors and representatives from companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Hyperloop Transport Technologies and Kiwi.com. The summit has also headlined corporate captains like Andre Wehner from Škoda Auto and Tomáš Budník from O2. Learn more at www.swcsummit.com.