Our Events

As part of The ScaleupFest 2026 event series, Founders & Stories – Summer Edition brings together founders, scaleup leaders and investors for a relaxed summer evening of honest founder stories, practical lessons and meaningful conversations on scaling, deals, international expansion and adapting in today’s market.

The Bratislava edition of The ScaleupFest 2026 event series brought together CEE founders, investors and tech ecosystem leaders to explore AI-enabled scaling through the ElevenLabs growth story and the latest trends shaping tech deals, valuations and exits in the region.

The first event of the 2026 The ScaleupFest series brought together CEE tech founders, investors and M&A experts to explore what drives premium valuations in tech exits and how founders can prepare for successful strategic transactions.

A key milestone event in the scaling journey for CEE+SEE regions’ most promising companies. Read about what was the 2025 edition about.

Read our event summary from the latest Absolvo × HVCA event, Equity Thursday in May 2025.

Our event provides first-hand insights into VC, private equity, M&A, and company sales in a rapidly changing market in 2023.

Shared experiences, insights and lessons learned with examples related to their transactions or post-exit journeys for all preparing for a deal.

This Equity Breakfast edition focused on company valuation, exploring how investors assess what a company is truly worth and how valuation translates into the final purchase price. Through practical insights and real-life transaction examples, the discussion examined early-stage and mature company valuation methods, as well as differences between CEE and international investor approaches.

Investor appetite and company valuation: what should business owners expect? Online roundtable discussion – first-hand insights

We proudly hosted Enis Hulli, one of the partners responsible for the CEE investments from e2vc early stage fund that invests in globally minded founders. He shared his first-hand experience based on CEE / SEE companies entering the global market and gave valuable insights.

We hosted Private equity investors, focusing on more mature companies and typically looking for deals worth billion euros.

Series B/C rounds, debt financing to support international scaling An in-depth insight about the later stage opportunities provided mainly by international investors, Series B/C rounds and other investment approaches such as debt financing to raise capital to further support international scaling.

Angel investing plays a critical role in identifying and shaping early-stage startups, turning “hidden gems” into successful scaleups through early backing, hands-on support and long-term strategic guidance.

How did Starschema and Gloster do it, and what did the international VC investor say? When capital was raised, dynamic growth gained a “new meaning” and an extra strong accelerator. This certainly presented serious challenges at the organizational level as well…

How can CEE startups successfully prepare for a real Series A round with international investors? Join us to explore how German VCs perceive the region, what they truly expect at Series A level, and what founders must do differently to secure a competitive cross-border deal.

Lockdowns, remote work, supply chain issues, projects on-hold, strategy redesign, cost restructuring etc. – pandemic situation affected the majority of business players and startups around the world, regardless which side of the table they sit.

TheScaleupFest is much more than just yet another startup event. It is aimed to create a friendly place to learn, atmosphere and time for all stakeholders in the ecosystem to meet, share, get inspired, network and build their story in the most valuable way for their scaling and growing beyond CEE – together, successfully.

Introduction to the processes, challenges and milestones of M&A transactions via regional / international case studies and best practices to provide practical know-how for selling your business / shares or exit successfully.

Are you building a startup / scaleup and you are aspiring to become a regional or even global key player? Are you fundraising and want to meet international VCs? Or, are you simply interested in the investment and startup world of the CEE region?

This Equity Breakfast edition brought together founders and international M&A experts for a first-hand, coffee-side discussion on how to navigate succession and exit decisions and stand out in an increasingly competitive international company sale market.

Introduction to company valuation methods and key transaction milestones that support effective investor preparation, targeted investor search and a successful company sale and exit, based on practical domestic and international deal experience, presented in an interactive Equity Breakfast format.

Are you building a startup and you are aspiring to become a regional or even global key player? Are you fundraising and want to meet international VCs? Or, are you simply interested in the investment and startup world of the CEE region?

Introduction of processes and key milestones that could support effective preparation, investor search and a successful exit, through practical regional and international examples and experiences.

Starschema's capital raising success story unfolded with the lessons learnt from the transaction.