Agenda

Opeining Word - EU Comisser, Ekaterina Zaharieva

9 minutes

■

10:05

Duration: 9 minutes

Aquarium

Hype or Horizon? Stories and Motivations Behind AI Funding

Balogh Petya

■

CEO at STRT

Enis Hulli

■

General Partner at e2vc

45 minutes

■

10:15

AI is everywhere—but is it investable? In this high-stakes panel, top investors and AI founders unpack the reality behind the hype. From OpenAI’s business model to the flood of VC money chasing the next breakthrough, we’ll explore:

What makes an AI startup fundable
Why some models scale—and others stall
How regulation, geopolitics, and infrastructure shape the future of AI investing

Whether you're building in AI or betting on it, this session will challenge your assumptions and sharpen your strategy.

Duration: 45 minutes

Aquarium

Investing in the Unproven: Deep Tech Challenges from Lab to Market in CEE

Karol Szubstarski

■

Partner at OTB Ventures

Juraj Zamecnik

■

Co-Founder at 3IPK

Istvan Petak

■

Founder and CSO at Genomate Health

Ivan Gyuracz

■

Partner at Absolvo Consulting

50 minutes

■

11:00

Discover how deep tech deals really get done in CEE — from blockchain powered aerospace logistics (3IPK) through AI driven precision oncology (Genomate Health) to OTB Venture’s tens of millions plus deep tech fund strategy.

Expect candid discussion of capital structuring, multi year OEM and clinical validation cycles, investor due diligence on technical IP, and the realistic exit paths for science heavy startups in this region.

Duration: 50 minutes

Aquarium

From founder-led sales to scale: challenges, processes, RevOps, hiring & compensation. How you automate it and implent AI tools

Sara Archer

■

CRO at ChartMogul

Viktor Szekeres

■

Founder at Gloster Digital Group

50 minutes

■

11:50

ChartMogul's CRO shares her experience - having built international go-to-market teams, scaling high-performing departments, driving territory expansions, and advancing GTM strategies for cutting-edge SaaS products for 10+ years. Joined by a founder telling us exact tips and tools how they automated B2B sales for the W-EU/UK markets.

Duration: 50 minutes

Aquarium

Buy first, build faster: how to hack hyper-growth with acquisitions

Jan Pörschmann

■

Partner at atares

Zsolt Mihály

■

Partner at Portfolion

Gábor Bürchner

■

Managing Director at GB & Partners Investment Management

50 minutes

■

12:40

Yes, you want to grow, open new offices, hire talents, get more customers. But what if you could do that in ONE step? Let's turn the classic M&A playbook on its head: we tell you why ambitious scale-ups should buy mature companies instead of battling for every new customer from scratch.

Capitalizing on real German succession cases and the “vine-grafting” analogy, you’ll discover how injecting breakthrough tech into a proven organizational rootstock can unlock instant sales channels, international footprints, and seasoned talent.

Also, Private Equity LOVE buy and build, happy to finance it, if you have a story.

Duration: 50 minutes

Aquarium

Two CEE Unicorns on Stage: Inside the Growth Engines of Prezi & ElevenLabs

Gergely Bihary

■

Growth Engineer at ElevenLabs

Zoltán Prekopcsák

■

SVP Strategy & Analytics at Prezi

1 hour

■

14:40

In this rare masterclass, Prezi—the CEE pioneer reimagining its product with AI—and ElevenLabs—one of the region’s fastest-growing unicorns—join forces to share how they engineer growth at scale. From product-led growth to programmatic SEO, from launch amplification to growth experiments, this session is packed with real tactics, tools, and lessons from the trenches.

Duration: 1 hour

Aquarium

Mergers, Acquisitions: when CEE champions do the roll-up game. Two stories with the lessons learned

Péter Berta

■

Group CEO at WHC

Kirill Perepelica

■

Co-founder at Munch

Lenard Horgos

■

Partner at Absolvo Consulting

1 hour

■

15:40

Big fish eats small fish. Or many thinks that. Why should M&A be the privilege of large enterprises? We showcase 2 great CEE teams with different background, how they merged / acquired other players regionally, so they are the ones consolidating the market and becoming the CEE champion, not their competitors. Munch co-founder tells their story of acquiring / merging with a Czech and Romanian peer, what was their intention, when would they recommend this route to others and personal implications of the deal. WHC Group's CEO will tell you their story how they started as a small team being now present in multiple countries with 35 offices and 600+ people, partially via JVs and acquisitions. First-hand lessons learned.

Duration: 1 hour

Aquarium

LIVE ON STAGE: Roasting startup growth plan!

Markus Lang

■

General Partner at Speedinvest

György Simó

■

Co-founder, Managing Partner at DayOne Capital

Vladimir Vassilevski

■

COO and Founder at RedTrack Inc.

1 hour 15 minutes

■

17:10

One brave startup. One ambitious growth plan. And a panel of VCs who’ve seen it all—and aren’t afraid to say what they think.

In this fun-but-fierce session, a CEO will pitch their scale-up strategy live, only to face a panel of sharp-tongued investors ready to poke holes, ask the uncomfortable questions, and serve up some spicy feedback. But it’s not just about the roast—these VCs will also share real-world advice and help reshape the plan into - hopefully - something fundable.

It’s part pitch, part pressure test, and 100% learning opportunity for anyone serious about scaling smart. Bring popcorn.

Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes

Aquarium