When Valentin went to his first Pioneers Festival with his co-founder in 2013, he was just a kid with a good idea — an app for teenagers to manage their allowance money. Like other early-stage startup founders in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace that day, the 27-year-old was excited to be among an elite selection of tech startups planning to shape — or already shaping — the future.
He mingled with the excited crowd about to witness some of the most life-changing, forward-looking ideas being presented by some of the most renowned names in technology. Between the presentations, he was meeting with corporate executives, investors and international media — all looking for inspiration and to be a part of The Next. Big. Thing.
Did Valentin know at that moment, he would soon be shaking hands with an angel investor who would offer his early-stage startup crucial funding? Could he have known then that his app idea would soon evolve into a successful FinTech company that’s now poised to shake up Europe’s mainstream banking sector?
Maybe not. But the odds are good that since growing into a business with more than 300,000 users in 17 European countries, $57 million in investment, and 140 employees processing over 1,900 transactions per hour, N26’s co-founders Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal have thought of what might have happened if they hadn’t attended the festival that year — an experience that helped determine the future of their company.
“As a young founder this was the perfect place to meet truly everyone you need to know in the startup scene,” says Stalf. “We connected with other founders, exchanged experiences, met business angels and key influencers. This network is still in place today and has remained important over the years. We have strived to go to the Festival every year since.”
A few minutes of your time is all you need to access to the same chances N26 had back in 2013. Will you match their level of success? You might, but you’re guaranteed to be enriched, energized and enthused at Pioneers Festival 2017! Can you afford not to spend 15 minutes applying for Pioneers500? Make sure your company joins that select group of startups invited to attend Pioneers Festival, for free!
