Zurich-based Chipmind secures €2.3M in AI chip design funding from Founderful to launch design-aware agents that save semiconductor engineers 40% of their time.

Tallinn-based Yaga secures €4M in sustainable fashion funding led by Specialist VC and H&M Group to expand its second-hand marketplace across emerging markets.

UK-based HotGreen Solutions secures €1.4M in industrial heat pump funding led by Empirical Ventures to decarbonise process heat with ultra-efficient technology.

Insurance fraud in France jumped 30% in a single year, climbing from €695 million in 2023 to €902 million in 2024, according to the French Insurance Fraud Prevention Agency. The culprit isn’t traditional fraud tactics—it’s generative AI tools that anyone can now access. While insurers scramble to adapt, a Toulouse-based trusttech startup, Certificall, raises seed funding of €1 million to block fraud at its source. Certificall, founded in 2022 by insurtech specialists Guillaume Laurent and Nicolas Chabauty, just closed a seed round led by TomCat, Groupama, and InsurAngels. Certificall raises seed funding because the company provides certified visual evidence solutions for insurers, brokers, and large industrial clients, addressing a problem that’s only accelerating. The fraud problem that AI made worse France estimates that insurance fraud accounts for roughly 5% of property and casualty premiums. That’s a significant chunk of the insurance ecosystem being lost to fraudulent claims. What changed dramatically over the past few years is how accessible fraud tools have become, showing why Certificall raises seed funding to innovate against these issues. “The increase in fraud in 2021-2022 was just the beginning,” explained Guillaume Laurent, Certificall’s president and co-founder. “Over the past two years, generative AI has become increasingly sophisticated and accessible to everyone. Certificall raises seed funding intending to block fraud at the source.” Laurent isn’t exaggerating. Anyone with a smartphone can now generate convincing fake damage photos, manipulate timestamps, or fabricate evidence that would have required significant technical skill just three years ago. Traditional verification methods simply can’t keep pace with AI-generated fraud. Certification architecture that actually holds up in court Certificall’s approach tackles the evidence integrity problem through a technological architecture designed around four complementary pillars: geolocation verification, tamper-proof certificates, qualified time stamping, and the eIDAS signature seal. That last element is particularly significant for anyone operating across European borders. The company has certified more than 3 million photos to date, with each report taking roughly 90 seconds on average. That speed matters when you’re dealing with claims adjusters who need to process dozens of cases daily while maintaining evidential standards. The platform guarantees the probative value of each piece of evidence from the moment it’s captured, which is exactly what insurers need when disputed claims end up in court. Digital evidence that can’t be verified is useless evidence, regardless of how quickly it was collected. European expansion at the right regulatory moment Certificall’s positioning as a trusted third party fully compliant with eIDAS—the European regulation for electronic identification and trust services—gives the company a structural advantage as Europe pushes toward its digital identity goals. The EU targets 80% adoption of a digital identity wallet by 2030, and Certificall sits at the intersection of that initiative and the insurance sector’s fraud prevention needs. eIDAS compliance ensures that every digital proof issued by Certificall is legally valid across the entire EU. For companies in document-sensitive sectors, this creates a reliable and compliant way to guarantee the integrity of digital evidence without navigating 27 different national frameworks. The €1 million in new funding will support further technology development and accelerate commercial expansion across Europe. With investors like Groupama—one of France’s largest insurance groups—backing the company, Certificall raises seed funding to obtain both capital and strategic partnerships to scale its solution. What this signals about European insurtech Certificall’s raise reflects a broader trend I’ve watched develop across European insurance technology: the shift from efficiency tools to integrity infrastructure. Early insurtech focused on making insurance faster and cheaper, but now we see how Certificall raises seed funding to address fundamental trust problems that technology itself created. The company is betting that as AI-generated fraud becomes more sophisticated, the market for certified, legally defensible evidence will expand beyond insurance into any sector handling high-value claims or disputes. Construction, logistics, and property management all face similar verification challenges. For now, though, Certificall is laser-focused on the insurance market, where the fraud problem is quantified, urgent, and growing. That focus—combined with strong timing around Europe’s digital identity push—positions the company to capture significant market share before competitors can build comparable eIDAS-compliant solutions. The fraud arms race isn’t slowing down. Certificall is betting that certified evidence infrastructure will become as essential to insurance operations as claims management software. Given the trajectory of AI-generated fraud, that’s looking like a solid bet.

For startup founders, events offer a spectrum of opportunities. On one end, you have the mega-conferences, bustling hubs of innovation that bring together tens of thousands of people. They’re fantastic for broad visibility and getting a pulse on the entire industry. On the other end, you have a different, equally powerful tool: hyper-focused, niche events. These are conferences dedicated to one specific technology, industry or discipline — the International Exhibition for Track Technology, or MCP Dev Summit, an event dedicated to the Model Context Protocol standardization, for example. The value proposition here is simple: if you’re in the industry, you need to be there. If you’re not, you don’t. For a founder with specific goals — generating highly qualified leads, getting deep product feedback, or becoming a recognized expert — such singular focus isn’t a limitation; it’s a superpower. Small events filter out the noise, guaranteeing that nearly every conversation you’ll have is with someone who understands what you do.  This article will explore why niche events should be a core part of any startup’s strategic playbook, and how they can offer a unique and powerful return on investment: Small, niche events offer a set of advantages that you simply won’t find at a massive, general-interest conference.  A room full of your people (and best leads) The biggest reason to attend a niche event is the audience: everyone there is a pre-qualified lead. You don’t have to waste time explaining the basics of your industry; just dive straight into meaningful conversations. This results in incredibly efficient networking because smaller settings naturally enable deeper, more memorable discussions. And as you might know, high-quality audiences translate directly to high-quality leads. A case study by enterprise SaaS firm Zendog Labs found that nearly “80% of leads and 90% of revenue were generated from niche trade shows and events.”  When you’re talking to people who already understand and care about the problem you’re solving, the path to conversion gets a lot shorter. But does that mean such niche events are more expensive? Not at all. In our experience, they’re usually on par with the market, even for much bigger events.   Build your brand and encourage thought leadership Huge conferences make it almost impossible for startups to stand out, while smaller events let you have your 15 minutes. Also since you’re only talking to a specific audience, it’s easier to tailor your communication and branding. Find what people in your industry will find cool, and build on that. For example, we know that geeky jokes and dev-oriented merch are always a hit at technical events.  Exhibiting your product, giving a talk, participating in panels, or even just asking insightful questions in workshops can quickly establish your credibility and position you as a thought leader. This is much easier to achieve when you’re not competing with the marketing budgets of corporations worth hundreds of billions of dollars.  How do we know if this works? Well, we’ve seen some small events like apidays benefit from high fidelity on the part of exhibitors who keep rebooking each year, even for different locations.  Get direct, honest and invaluable feedback The closer, intimate nature of smaller events tends to attract a knowledgeable group of people who are more inclined to share incredibly valuable and direct feedback. These people aren’t passive listeners; they are experts who can quickly spot flaws, validate your assumptions, or suggest improvements you hadn’t considered for your product, pitch or roadmap. Want to know if your new feature makes sense? Talk to 10 people in the hallway track. If no one gets excited, you’ve just received a priceless signal to pivot early rather than build in silence. This is the fastest way to validate your ideas and ensure you’re building something the market actually wants. It’s the ultimate crash course Niche events make for intense learning opportunities. Forget trying to piece together the latest trends from blog posts and webinars. At a focused conference, you’ll be served a concentrated dose of cutting-edge information, best practices, and expert insights over just a few days.  You’ll hear from people building in the trenches, solving the same problems you are, and there’s knowledge to be gained by listening to their mistakes and successes.  Fertile ground for partnerships and integrations What do you call a room full of companies working in the same space? A goldmine of potential partners.  Integrating with complementary services can be a massive growth lever for startups. At a hyper-focused event, you’re more likely to be surrounded by potential partners who understand your tech stack or serve the same customer base. Such events easily foster collaborations that can lead to powerful new ventures and career-defining moments. A goldmine of content Events are a fantastic opportunity to create a ton of relevant content for your marketing channels. Off the top of my head, you can: This content is likely to be highly relevant to your target audience because it is generated directly from the conversations happening at the heart of your industry. A quick word of warning Not all niche events are created equal. Before you commit, do your due diligence. Talk to people who have attended in the past, and check the reputation of the organizers. A poorly run event with low turnout can be a huge waste of time and money. Also, be careful of echo chambers. While it’s great to get validation from experts in your niche, make sure you’re also getting feedback from the broader market to avoid building a product that only serves a tiny, insular community. Go small to win big Choosing the right event is a strategic decision for startups, not an all-encompassing answer. While large conferences offer incredible scale and brand exposure, hyper-focused events provide a different kind of value: precision, relevance and a direct line of communication to a highly qualified community. Niche events will let you generate high-quality leads, accelerate your learning, validate your ideas with true experts, and build a powerful network within your industry. It’s […]

AI is reshaping how people discover information. Search traffic, once the lifeblood of websites, is plummeting as AI tools provide answers and context immediately, eliminating the need to browse to websites for answers at all.  Understandably, companies are responding by going down avenues they can control: newsletters, podcasts, memberships and events. This reality is true for startups as well. You simply can’t rely on Google traffic or algorithms to build trust anymore. You need direct channels, and there are few ways to build trust more powerful than  meeting people face-to-face. Welcome to the ‘post-click’ era Startups have long played by the ever-changing rules set by Google and social media platforms, which are more often than not prone to changing their algorithms and leaving everyone scrambling to adapt overnight.  AI is not only accelerating this instability, it’s almost making Google referral traffic obsolete. Companies need to adapt to this new reality with strategies that let them talk directly to their prospective customers. The media industry, one of the most vulnerable to the changes, is proving to be one of the quickest to adapt. Morning Brew, for example, blends its newsletters franchises with events. In a recent interview, Sam Jacobs, TIME’s editor-in-chief, highlighted how the company went from organizing two to three events per year, to holding the same number of events monthly. Even digital-first players are embracing events. Podcasts like Acquired and All-In now host live events to bring their listeners together. Finimize has built grassroots meetups around its newsletter. The new defense tech media title, Resilience Media, born on Substack, is planning events to connect experts in its niche. Alex Konrad’s new Upstarts ecosystem includes live interviews, an upcoming podcast and curated events. These aren’t just extensions of the content; they’re ways to nurture communities. Startups should copy this strategy. They must consider where their credibility and relationships will be built in this new landscape, especially as visibility is no longer about simply appearing on top of search results or burning money with ads; it’s about building lasting trust in the spaces that matter. Events are singularly effective at doing that. Lessons from after the pandemic If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that being present online is insufficient. Platforms like Hopin promised a future of global, scalable, online events. Even experiments in VR conferences were the subject of occasional hype.  All of that fell short, however. What founders, investors and marketers learned was simple: There is no substitute for shaking someone’s hand, catching their eye, and sharing time in the same space. When the pandemic ended, events came back with a bang. Companies large and small continue to invest in gatherings. Events still carry symbolic weight: just look at Apple’s meticulously choreographed product launches, or how scaleups like Helsing showcase new technologies.  For startups, events can also serve as tools for strengthening internal communications and bonds with their employees and their community. Here’s a great example: Italian travel scaleup WeRoad holds an annual, two-day global gathering of its travel coordinators and staff that strengthens culture and commitment in ways a Zoom call never could. Why startups need to show up Startups live and die on the strength of their relationships. Securing investors, signing first customers, and finding the right partners are all processes that depend completely on trust. These early relationships are crucial. In an AI-driven world where digital discovery is fragmented, saturated and noisy, events cut through the noise. They offer something AI and algorithms never will: human presence. Startups should think of events as essential investments in visibility and credibility. Whether it’s speaking on stage, hosting a breakfast or simply showing up to the right conference — being in the room matters. It’s OK to be selective. It’s OK to pass on events when priorities point elsewhere. And don’t take this to mean the digital realm and AI should be ignored. But in this era where we’re putting AI on a pedestal, founders should not underestimate the power of a physical meeting for establishing contact with investors, talent, or any other important stakeholder.

After a successful first edition, JEC Investor Day 2026 is now returning for its second year with expanded ambitions.

TechCrunch Disrupt? Overrated. Web Summit? A $4,700 mistake I’ll never make again. I’ve burned $18K learning which startup events actually matter for B2B SaaS founders trying to close deals—not just collect business cards. Here’s what nobody tells you: the biggest events aren’t where B2B deals happen. Why “Best Startup Event” Lists Are Useless for B2B Founders Every January, tech blogs publish the same recycled garbage: “50 Must-Attend Startup Events!” They rank by size and buzz. What they don’t rank by: where your buyers actually show up with budgets. I learned this after exhibiting at a 70,000-person mega-conference. Spent $4,700 on booth space, flights, and hotel. Had exactly zero conversations with our target market. The attendees? Mostly consumer startups and the press are looking for the next Uber. According to Cvent, 81% of trade show attendees have buying authority—but only at industry-specific events. Generic “startup” conferences are networking theater. If you’re serious about finding the right startup event strategy, you need to think differently. The 5 Best Startup Events Where I’ve Actually Closed B2B Deals SaaStr Annual – Where SaaS Deals Actually Happen 13,000 SaaS professionals in San Mateo every March. APIDays – The Technical Depth You Need If you’re building APIs, this is your room. 2,000-3,000 API architects who can actually read your docs. Paris is the flagship, but they run 10+ cities globally. What makes APIDays different: it’s deeply technical. No marketing fluff. €3,000 gets you in, and European buyers are way less saturated than US markets. Big Data & AI Paris – Enterprise Buyers With Actual Budgets 15,000 enterprise CTOs and data engineers. I closed two partnerships here worth €400K combined—with French banks and telecom companies that had active Q4 budgets. The French government subsidizes AI adoption, so budgets are real. But your networking tactics need to adapt. Less aggressive, more relationship-focused. €800 for a pass and 3,200€ to exhibit as a startup, totally worth it if you’re targeting European enterprises. Track it on Sesamers so you don’t miss early bird pricing. MicroConf – Where Bootstrapped Founders Share Real Numbers 200-300 attendees max. Everyone’s profitable or trying to be. Zero VC hypergrowth bullshit. I’ve learned more in hallway conversations here than at conferences 50x the size. The attendees are other founders who share actual numbers—not vanity metrics. Churn rates, CAC, payback periods. This is how you measure real ROI from events. Worth every cent if you’re bootstrapped. Industry-Specific Trade Shows – The Secret Weapon Here’s the move nobody talks about: skip tech conferences entirely. Go where your buyers congregate. Healthcare SaaS? Hit HIMSS. Fintech? Money20/20. HR tech? HR Tech Conference. I watched a founder close a $400K deal at a healthcare event while competitors were posting selfies at Web Summit. These cost $3,000 avg, but attendee quality is 100x better. According to Statista, B2B trade shows hit $15.78B in 2024. This strategy works because you’re fishing where the fish actually are. The 3-Filter System I Use to Pick Events Filter 1: Who’s actually attending? Can you name 20 people who match your ICP? If not, wrong event. Use Sesamers to check historical attendee data before buying tickets. Filter 2: What’s your actual goal? Raising money? Go to investor-heavy events. Closing customers? Industry trade shows. Different goals need different event selection criteria. Filter 3: What’s the all-in cost? Ticket + flights + hotel + meals. If it’s over $3K, you need $30K in pipeline to break even. Most events don’t hit that unless you’re strategic. Events I Skip (And Why You Should Too) Web Summit: 70,000 people is networking hell. Consumer-focused despite the B2B claims. Pass unless you need Series A+ PR. CES: Consumer electronics show. Your B2B SaaS buyers aren’t here. I see founders at CES every year wondering why they’re not closing deals. Now you know. TechCrunch Disrupt: Great for press and VCs. Terrible for enterprise buyers. Worth it for launch PR, not pipeline. How I Track Everything Without Losing My Mind I track every event in a spreadsheet: cost, conversations, pipeline generated, deals closed. After three years of data, the pattern is crystal clear. Niche beats broad. Quality beats quantity—industry-specific crushes general tech. The best startup events for B2B SaaS are never on TechCrunch’s homepage. For API companies: APIDays and API World are superior to generic conferences. For AI/ML: Big Data & AI Paris provides European enterprise access that’s nearly impossible to achieve otherwise. Geography matters—European buyers at European events are way less saturated than US markets. Stop Wasting Money on the Wrong Events You have limited time and budget. Most founders can hit 3-5 events per year max. Choose wrong and you’ve burned $15K and 15 days for zero ROI. Choose right and one event generates $500K+ in pipeline. Use Sesamers to find events filtered by your industry and target attendees. See which ones similar founders recommend. Track ROI data. Set reminders for early bird pricing. Never waste another $4K on an event where your buyers don’t show up. Because the smartest way to pick events is learning from founders who’ve already tested them—and can tell you which ones actually matter. Ready to find your next high-ROI event? Start tracking on Sesamers and build your calendar based on data, not FOMO.

At SaaStr 2023, I had a 12-minute conversation with a VP of Partnerships at a Series C company. No pitch. No business cards. Just asked him about his biggest challenge with international expansion. Three months later, that conversation turned into a $2M partnership deal. That’s what good startup event networking looks like—and it has nothing to do with collecting LinkedIn connections. Here are the 7 tactics that turned me from “business card guy” into someone people actually want to talk to. Tactic #1: Research 20 People Before You Arrive (Not 200) Most founders show up at a startup event hoping to “meet people.” That’s code for wandering around awkwardly. Here’s what works: Before the event, identify exactly 20 people you want to meet. Not 200. Twenty. Pull the attendee list (most B2B events share this 4-6 weeks before). Use Sesamers to see who’s attending events you’re registered for. Then research each target: LinkedIn profile, recent posts, their company’s latest news, what they’re working on. I spend 5 minutes per person. That’s 100 minutes of prep that separates you from the 80% of attendees who show up cold. When you walk up and say “Hey Sarah, saw your post about expanding into EMEA—we just cracked that market, happy to share what worked,” you’re already 10x more memorable than “Hi, I’m a founder, what do you do?” Pro tip: DM all 20 people on LinkedIn two weeks before the event. “Hey [Name], seeing you’re going to [Event]. Would love to grab coffee and hear about [specific thing they’re working on]. Tuesday 8am work?” Pre-booking even 3-5 meetings means you’ve already won the event before you land. Here’s how I pick which events are worth this prep work. Tactic #2: Ask Questions That Make People Think (Not Talk) The worst networkers ask “What does your company do?” Everyone gets that question 47 times. It triggers autopilot mode: rehearsed elevator pitch, eyes glazing over, polite nod, move on. Zero connection. According to Harvard Business Review research, people remember conversations where they had to think, not just recite. Ask questions that don’t have scripted answers. My go-to questions: “What’s the hardest problem you’re trying to solve right now?” or “What’s working surprisingly well in your business that you didn’t expect?” or “If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about [their industry], what would it be?” These questions do three things: show you’re interested in them (not pitching), surface actual problems you might solve, and make you memorable because most people at networking events don’t ask interesting questions. They just wait for their turn to pitch. Tactic #3: The 10-Minute Rule (Then Move On) I used to have 45-minute conversations with one person at events, thinking I was “building rapport.” Wrong. That’s hogging. Startup event networking is about starting conversations, not finishing them. Research from Cvent shows that 72% of attendees are more likely to do business with people they meet at events—but only if you follow up properly. Set a timer. Ten minutes max per conversation. If it’s going great, say “This is super valuable—I’ve got to run to another meeting but let’s schedule 30 minutes next week to dive deeper. Are you free Tuesday?” Then book it right there. Exchange numbers or grab a calendar link. The goal isn’t to close deals on the event floor. It’s to identify who’s worth a real conversation later. Ten minutes is enough to know if there’s fit. Everything else happens in follow-up. Exception: If you’re mid-negotiation on something big, obviously don’t bail after 10 minutes. But for initial networking? Move fast, meet more people, book follow-ups with the right ones. Here’s my full pre-event checklist for maximizing these conversations. Tactic #4: Kill the Business Card Theater Business cards in 2025 are cosplay. They’re what people who don’t know how to network think networking looks like. I watched a founder collect 83 business cards at Web Summit. Know how many he followed up with? Zero. Because he didn’t actually connect with anyone. Here’s what I do instead: After a good conversation, I text myself their name and one specific thing we discussed. “Alex Chen – struggling with European compliance, mentioned needing help with GDPR.” Takes 10 seconds. No card to lose, no app to forget to check, just a note I’ll actually use. Or skip the middle step entirely: “Hey, let me get your number so we can schedule that follow-up call.” Boom, you’re in their phone. Text them before you leave the event: “Great meeting you. Tuesday 2pm work for that call?” Now you’re a person with a scheduled meeting, not a business card in a pile. The best networking at startup events happens when you think less about “making connections” and more about “starting relationships.” Cards don’t build relationships. Scheduled follow-up calls do. Tactic #5: Organize Your Own Dinner (This Is the Cheat Code) Want to know the real secret of startup event networking? The conference itself is just bait. The real networking happens at dinners, breakfasts, and after-parties you organize yourself. I started doing this at every event: Book a table at a restaurant near the venue for 6-8 people. Invite 3-4 people I want to meet from my target list, tell them each to bring one interesting person. Done. Now I’m having a real conversation over dinner instead of shouting over techno music at the official after-party. Cost: $150-300 for dinner. Value: Way higher than the actual conference ticket. Last dinner I organized at a fintech conference led to three partnerships and one customer that’s now $400K ARR. The conference sessions? Taught me nothing I didn’t already know from YouTube. Pro tip: Track events where multiple people from your target list are attending using Sesamers’ attendee tracking, then organize dinners strategically around those events. Here are the B2B events where this tactic works best. Tactic #6: The 24-Hour Follow-Up (Not “Next Week”) According to Salesforce data, leads contacted within 24 hours are 7x more likely to convert than those […]

Last year I spent 11 hours scrolling through Eventbrite, LinkedIn Events, and random newsletters trying to find startup events worth attending. Found 47 “amazing opportunities.” Went to 8. Got ROI from 2. Here’s the problem: there are over 32,000 startup events globally every year according to UFI Global, and 90% of them are a waste of your calendar and cash. I needed a system. Here’s how I now find high-ROI events in 20 minutes instead of 11 hours. Why Most Founders Suck at Finding the Right Events You know what kills me? Founders who Google “best startup events 2025,” click the first TechCrunch listicle, and drop $3K on a ticket because Web Summit looks cool on LinkedIn. Then they complain events don’t work. The issue isn’t that good startup events don’t exist. It’s that you’re using consumer discovery methods for B2B decisions. Eventbrite is built for yoga classes and birthday parties, not finding where enterprise buyers congregate. LinkedIn Events is 80% webinar spam. Google? Shows you the events with the biggest ad budgets, not the best attendees. According to Cvent research, 67% of trade show attendees represent completely new business prospects. But only if you’re at the RIGHT show. Wrong event selection is the #1 reason founders think “events don’t work.” The events work fine. You’re just showing up to the wrong rooms. Here’s the system I use to find events where actual deals happen. Source #1: Reverse Engineer Where Your Buyers Already Go Stop asking “what startup events should I attend?” Start asking “where do my target customers already hang out?” Different question, different answer. If you sell API infrastructure to DevOps teams, you want KubeCon, not Collision. If you sell HR software to mid-market companies, you want SHRM Annual Conference, not Web Summit. This seems obvious but I see B2B SaaS founders at consumer tech conferences all the time wondering why they’re not closing enterprise deals. Here’s my process: Pull your top 10 customers. Google “[company name] + speaking” and “[company name] + sponsoring.” See which conferences they present at or sponsor. That’s where their peers are. That’s your target event list. Takes 15 minutes, beats 11 hours of blind searching. For finding these industry-specific events, I use trade association directories. Every vertical has one: SBA.gov has a comprehensive list, or search “[your industry] + trade association” and check their events calendar. These are where buyers go, not tourists. Source #2: Follow the Money (Where VCs and Partners Speak) Want to find quality startup events? Track where the money shows up. Check Crunchbase for your target investors and see where they’re listed as speakers. Use LinkedIn to follow VCs and watch what events they post about attending. I have a simple spreadsheet: 20 investors I want to meet, their LinkedIn profiles bookmarked, notifications on. When they post “Looking forward to speaking at [Event],” that event goes on my shortlist. If three investors I want to meet are all going to the same conference, that’s not coincidence. That’s signal. Pro tip: Most VCs announce speaking gigs 4-6 weeks before the event. Set Google Alerts for “[Investor Name] + speaking” to catch these early. Registration is cheaper and you can book meetings with them before their calendars fill up. Here’s how I turn those meetings into actual conversations. Source #3: Use a Real B2B Event Discovery Platform After burning months on consumer event platforms, I switched to Sesamers for B2B event discovery. It’s built specifically for founders looking for business events, not birthday party planners looking for venues. The difference? You can filter by industry (API/SaaS, fintech, healthcare tech, etc.), attendee profile (VCs, enterprise buyers, distribution partners), and event size. You can see who actually attended past editions before buying a $2K ticket. You can track which events your network is going to. Game changer. I have filters saved for “B2B SaaS events in North America with 500-2000 attendees” and “fintech conferences with VC attendance.” One click, boom, my quarterly event shortlist. Beats the hell out of scrolling Eventbrite for three hours. Here’s my full system for tracking events without losing my mind. Source #4: Mine Your Network (The 80/20 of Event Discovery) The fastest way to find startup events worth attending? Ask founders who are two years ahead of you what they go to. Not “what events do you recommend” (they’ll just name drop). Ask “what’s the ONE event where you closed your biggest deal last year?” I send this exact message to 5-10 founders in my industry every quarter: “Hey [Name], building my 2025 event calendar. What’s the ONE conference that drove the most revenue for [their company] last year? And which one was overhyped?” Two-question email, 90% response rate, pure gold. Set up a simple Notion database or Airtable with: Event name, Recommended by, Why they liked it, Approximate ROI. After 6 months you’ll have a curated list of events that actually work for your specific business model. Worth more than any “Top 50 Startup Events” listicle. Another hack: Join Slack communities for your industry (SaaStr has great ones for SaaS founders). Search the channels for “conference” or “event” and read what people actually say, not what sponsors promote. Real founders complaining or praising = real signal. Source #5: Check the Attendee List Before You Buy This is my non-negotiable filter. Before I buy any ticket over $500, I demand to see the attendee list or at least historical attendance data. If the organizer won’t share it? Red flag. They’re hiding something. Some events publish attendee lists 6-8 weeks before (especially B2B trade shows). Others have “matchmaking platforms” where you can browse who’s registered. If the event has neither, email the organizers directly and ask for: average attendee seniority, percentage of attendees by role (founder/investor/corporate), and top companies that attended last year. I track this in Sesamers because they aggregate historical data on major B2B events—attendance numbers, speaker quality ratings, and which types of companies typically show up. Saves me from buying tickets to events that […]

I dropped $4,700 on my first startup event trip to London. Flight, hotel, conference pass. Know what I got? Three business cards from people who never replied to my emails and a hangover from the afterparty. That was 2014. Fast forward to today, I’ve attended 200+ events, signed dozen partnership deals, and learned which conferences are worth your burn rate and which ones are Instagram traps for wannapreneurs. Here’s what nobody tells you about startup events before you waste your first $5K. Why Most Founders Pick the Wrong Events The problem isn’t that you’re attending events. It’s that you’re attending the wrong events. According to research from Cvent, 81% of event attendees have buying authority, but only if you’re in a room with your actual buyers. I see B2B SaaS founders burning money at consumer tech conferences wondering why they’re not closing deals. Wrong audience. The best startup event for your company isn’t the one with the biggest brand name. It’s the one where your ideal customers, partners, or investors actually show up. Period. Most founders pick events based on FOMO or where TechCrunch says to go. That’s how you end up at an event with thousands of people and zero qualified conversations. Here’s how to think about this differently. The 3 Types of Startup Events (and Which One You Need Right Now) Type 1: The Mega Conference – Web Summit, SXSW, Collision. Good for: brand awareness, recruiting, media attention. Bad for: closing deals, deep partnerships. Cost: $2K-$8K all-in. My take: Skip these until you’re Series A+ or have a specific speaking/expo reason. Type 2: The Niche Industry Event – SaaStr for SaaS, FinTech Connect/Money 20/20 for fintech, HIMSS for healthcare tech. Good for: meeting buyers, finding distribution partners, learning vertical trends. Cost: $1K-$3K. My take: This is where B2B deals happen. Here’s my list of the best ones for B2B SaaS founders. Type 3: The Local Meetup – Startup Grind chapters, Techstars Startup Weekend, city accelerator demo days. Good for: building local relationships, testing your pitch, finding co-founders or early hires. Cost: Free-$50. My take: Underrated. The ROI-per-dollar is insane if you’re early stage. Your stage determines which type matters most. Pre-seed? Hit local meetups weekly. Pre-Seed to Seed? Niche industry events quarterly. Series A+? Now you can afford the mega conferences. How to Find Events That Don’t Waste Your Time Stop Googling “best startup events 2025” and finding the same recycled listicles. Start with who you need to meet. Investors? Check where your target VCs are speaking (Crunchbase shows this). Enterprise customers? Find the industry conferences they attend. Distribution partners? Trade shows in your vertical. I use Sesamers to track B2B events by filtering for my industry, geography, and attendee profile. You can see who actually attends before dropping $2K on a ticket. Game changer. Here’s my full system for finding events that don’t suck. Pro tip: Check the speaker lineup and attendee list 90 days before the event. If you don’t recognize at least 30% of the names as relevant to your business, skip it. That’s your filter. Startup Event Networking: Stop Collecting Cards, Start Closing Deals The goal of a startup event isn’t to “network.” It’s to start conversations that turn into revenue, partnerships, or funding. Different objective, different tactics. Research shows that 72% of attendees are more likely to buy from exhibitors they meet at events. But only if you have a follow-up system. I’ve watched founders have brilliant booth conversations and then… nothing. No email, no LinkedIn, no meeting scheduled. Here’s my 3-part framework: Before the event, identify 20 people you want to meet and DM them. During the event, have real conversations (not pitches) and book follow-up calls before they walk away. After the event, email within 24 hours with something specific you discussed. My full networking playbook is here. The founder who schedules 5 solid follow-up meetings beats the founder who collected 50 business cards. Every time. Use this checklist to nail your pre-event prep. What Nobody Tells You About Startup Event ROI My co-founder thought events were vanity spending until I showed him our spreadsheet. Track this: cost per event, meetings booked, deals in pipeline, closed revenue attributed to event leads. That $4,700 SF trip I mentioned? Zero ROI. But a $1,200 trip to SaaStr generated two partnerships worth $400K in ARR. According to Statista, the B2B event market hit $15.78 billion in 2024 because this stuff works when you do it right. The average B2B event delivers 4:1 ROI within 18 months if you follow up properly. But here’s the thing: most founders don’t track any of this. They go to events, feel busy, post on LinkedIn, and call it marketing. That’s not strategy, that’s theater. Here’s how to actually measure if an event was worth your time and money. Mistakes That Kill Your Event Results I’ve made every rookie mistake. Showing up without researching attendees. Pitching drunk at an afterparty (yes, really). Forgetting to follow up for three weeks. Attending events just because they’re free. Each one cost me deals or credibility. The biggest mistake? Treating every startup event the same. A pitch competition requires different prep than a networking happy hour. A trade show booth needs different materials than a speaking slot. I documented all 9 mistakes I made so you don’t have to. Also: stop going to generic “entrepreneur” events. The best startup event for you is specific to your industry, stage, and current business needs. A fintech founder at a general “tech mixer” is wasting time. That same founder at FinovateSpring? Gold mine. Virtual vs In-Person: When Each Actually Works Post-pandemic, everyone’s asking: should I fly there or Zoom in? Wrong question. Ask: what’s my goal? Virtual works for: learning content, early-stage relationship building, staying visible without travel budget. In-person works for: closing big deals, deep partnerships, recruiting senior talent. Here’s my decision framework. I spent $50K on flights in 2023 to figure out that for our API SaaS, virtual demos work better for initial […]

Signing distributors and international partners through specialized B2B events is the fastest, most cost-effective path for startup founders to crack international markets without draining resources. With 81% of trade show attendees holding buying authority and B2B events contributing 33% of annual new business, these face-to-face venues deliver what months of cold emails cannot: direct access to decision-makers actively seeking partnerships. This comprehensive guide shows API SaaS founders exactly how to leverage trade shows and conferences for international expansion—plus how platforms like Sesamers can help you identify, track, and maximize every opportunity. Why B2B Events Are Your Secret Weapon for International Distribution Traditional methods of finding international distributors—cold calling, LinkedIn outreach, online directories—work, but they’re painfully slow. Trade shows and specialized B2B events compress months of relationship building into three intense days. The numbers tell the story better than any sales pitch. According to recent industry research, 72% of attendees are more likely to purchase from exhibitors they meet at trade shows. Moreover, 67% of trade show attendees represent completely new prospects—people your sales team has never reached before. For startup founders targeting international markets, this concentration of qualified leads is unmatched. The average cost per lead at trade shows sits around $112, while meeting prospects face-to-face at their office costs over $250 per meeting. More importantly, converting a trade show lead is 38% less expensive than relying solely on sales calls, according to data from Cvent’s 2025 trade show analysis. For API SaaS companies specifically, B2B events provide something invaluable: the ability to demonstrate your technology live while simultaneously vetting potential partners. You can assess a distributor’s technical capabilities, market knowledge, and cultural fit—all before signing any agreements. Choosing the Right B2B Events for International Partner Acquisition Not all trade shows deliver equal results for distributor acquisition. The key is selecting events where international buyers and distribution partners actively congregate. Your strategy should balance broad industry events with niche conferences specific to your technology sector. Industry-Specific Technology Conferences For API SaaS companies, events like SaaStr Annual, Web Summit, and AWS re:Invent attract thousands of international technology partners. These conferences draw attendees specifically looking to expand their portfolio with innovative solutions. SaaStr alone brings together over 13,000 SaaS professionals, many representing international markets. Regional variations matter too. European tech conferences like Web Summit Lisbon and Station F events in Paris connect you with EU distributors, while events in Singapore, Dubai, and São Paulo open doors to Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Latin American markets respectively. Trade Association Events With International Reach Trade associations often host events specifically designed for partner matchmaking. The U.S. Commercial Service runs the International Buyer Program (IBP), which brings qualified international distributors to American trade shows. According to the Department of Commerce, more than 80,000 international buyers attend IBP-certified U.S. trade shows annually, spending billions on partnerships. These government-backed events provide unique advantages: pre-vetted attendees, dedicated meeting spaces for business discussions, and access to export counseling on-site. Programs like Gold Key Service will even identify, vet, and arrange meetings with potential distributors before you arrive. Vertical-Specific Distribution Conferences Distribution-focused events exist in virtually every vertical. Research conferences specific to your API’s use case—whether that’s fintech, healthcare technology, IoT, or enterprise software. These specialized events attract distributors already serving your target customers. Tools like Sesamers’ event discovery platform allow you to filter B2B conferences by industry, location, and attendee profile, helping you identify where your ideal distribution partners actually spend their time. This targeted approach beats spray-and-pray tactics every time. The Pre-Event Strategy: Setting Yourself Up for Success The biggest mistake founders make is treating trade shows like they treat conferences—showing up and hoping for the best. Successful distributor acquisition requires aggressive pre-event planning that starts 90 days before the show opens. Research and Target List Development Most major trade shows publish attendee lists or offer matchmaking platforms 6-8 weeks before the event. Request this data immediately. Your goal is to identify 20-30 target companies that fit your ideal distributor profile: companies already serving your target market, with complementary (not competing) product lines, and established distribution networks. Review each potential partner’s website, social media, and recent press releases. Understand their current partnerships, geographic coverage, and customer base. This intelligence transforms your booth conversations from generic pitches to tailored value propositions. Schedule Meetings Before You Arrive According to industry data, 78% of attendees know which exhibitors they want to see before arriving at the venue. Don’t leave meetings to chance. Reach out to your target list 4-6 weeks before the event with personalized invitations to meet at your booth or in dedicated meeting spaces. Your outreach should be brief but compelling: acknowledge their distribution strength in specific markets, explain why your API would complement their portfolio, and suggest a specific 30-minute meeting time. Include your booth number and offer flexibility for their schedule. For high-priority targets, consider booking private meeting rooms outside the exhibition hall. Most convention centers offer business centers, and nearby hotels provide quiet spaces. A 30-minute focused discussion beats a 10-minute booth conversation interrupted by other attendees. Prepare Your Materials and Demonstration Distributors evaluate partnerships through a specific lens: “Can I sell this, and will it make me money?” Your materials must answer both questions immediately. Create distributor-specific collateral that includes margin structures, market opportunity data, competitive positioning, and case studies from similar partnerships. For API SaaS companies, prepare a 10-minute demo that showcases integration simplicity, scalability, and clear ROI metrics. Distributors want to see how quickly they can get customers live and generating recurring revenue. Technical specs matter less than business outcomes. During the Event: Strategies That Convert Conversations to Partnerships You’ve invested in booth space, travel, and materials. Now comes the critical execution phase where preparation meets opportunity. The founders who sign the best distribution deals follow a systematic approach to every conversation. The First 60 Seconds: Qualifying Potential Partners Not everyone who stops at your booth deserves a full pitch. Time is your scarcest resource at trade shows, and you must qualify quickly. […]