The excitement of hearing a great pitch while drinking lukewarm coffee from a paper cup; the rush of being on a panel hungover from rowdy networking drinks; the dread when you’re still hungover and realise you’re sitting next to a garrulous VC on the red-eye home: just some of the many emotions you’ll feel on the rollercoaster that is a tech conference.
Sifted journalists attend many each year and are constantly asked which ones are worth the trip.
So we’ve put together our pick of the bunch (completely unbiased) of Europe’s tech conferences. We looked at annual conferences with more than 1,000 attendees.
Europe’s tech conferences 2022/23 — the events you need to attend
SaaStock
Credit: SaaStock
SaaStock is Europe’s largest SaaS (software-as-a-service) conference, and the goss is that it’s one of the few events that manages to convince usually tight VCs to open their wallets to be there. You can fill your boots with sessions on everything from sales to fundraising, but the real draw of the event is Nightstock — the legendary after-hours parties and pub crawls.
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Next dates: October 17-19, 2022
Attendees: 5,000
Coffee rating: Highly caffeinated
Speakers: The who’s who of SaaS
Chat: ARR, ARPU, CAC, CLV, GTM, etc, etc.
Latitude59
Latitude59 describes itself as a “lovely yacht without the crowds” as opposed to big “cruise ship” conferences, but it’s still the flagship tech conference for one of Europe’s biggest tech hubs, Estonia. Latitude59 surfaces the magic of very early-stage startups — there are pitch events that are all about sharing ideas and less about competition, talks catered to the first few years in business and stands with fun tech to play with. It’s easy to stay well hydrated and fed at Latitude59 — the courtyard is full of food stands from local providers. It feels like one of the least wasteful conferences around with all food packaging being reusable.
Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Last dates: May 19-20, 2022
Attendees: 2,500
Coffee rating: ☆☆☆☆
Speakers: VCs investing in the region, and operators and founders building from Estonia.
Chat: How to build a unicorn from Estonia
4YFN
The startup event for Mobile World Congress, which means it’s huge. Tonnes of booths and content. And since it’s paired with the bigger event, you’ll often get international media flying in to cover, which can be great for startups looking to get exposure beyond the European ecosystem.
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Next dates: February 27-Mar 2, 2023
Attendees: 20k
Coffee rating: Some canned drink you got at a booth from a cool startup
Speakers: </…….