Each year, How to Web Conference creates a rare opportunity for Eastern European entrepreneurs: a concentrated window where the region's capital hosts more than 250 investors alongside founders, potential customers, product leaders and emerging company builders. Running October 6–8 in Bucharest, the event structures multiple pathways for founders to extract maximum value—from one-on-one investor meetings and direct feedback sessions to observing what competing teams are building and engaging in conversations that spill across the city after the main stages wrap up.
The sheer density of investor capital is itself a draw. This year's attendees include Atomico, Creandum, Eurazeo, Notion Capital, Credo Ventures, Cherry Ventures, OTB Ventures, 20VC, Dawn Capital, LAUNCHub and Inovo VC, among numerous others. For a founder who would normally need to cross Europe multiple times to meet funds at different stages, having this range of capital sources in a single city fundamentally changes what a week can accomplish.
Start scheduling meetings before you arrive
The conference's event app lets attendees identify relevant contacts and request one-to-one meetings in advance. Founders should approach this strategically: identify which funds operate at their stage, which companies could evolve into customers or partners, and which experienced operators have tackled problems the team is currently facing. The conference provides dedicated meeting spaces, while the Expo Area, business spaces and evening events offer room for longer conversations.
Early-stage companies have a more formal track. Dealflow pairs approved startups with conference investors, including founders preparing for future fundraising rounds. Startups with approved tickets can qualify for matchmaking and two focused programs: Accelerate Fundraising and Accelerate Sales, each offering targeted feedback on either a capital raise or sales strategy. Since participation in these programs is competitive, founders considering them should review the startup application before finalizing their schedule.
The Investors Summit opens October 6, bringing together limited partners, venture fund managers and angel investors to discuss capital flows and deal activity in Eastern Europe. This private session is restricted to LP, Angel Investor, Investor and Executive ticket holders. For founders, the summit signals what's ahead: many of the region's key investment decision-makers will already be in Bucharest before the main conference kicks off. The Founders Networking Event on day zero is a recommended entry point to immerse yourself in the experience.
Observe investor priorities and market thinking
October 7 and 8 feature programming across the Build & Grow, Startup and Focus stages, mixing workshops, roundtables and working sessions with keynote content. The Startup Stage is especially valuable for founders wanting to hear how investors and operators assess defensibility, international expansion and the evolving landscape for building from Central and Eastern Europe.
The Spotlight program offers additional insight. Twenty early-stage startups have been selected to pitch, receive mentorship, meet investors and occupy exhibition space. Watching these pitches reveals which companies are emerging across the region and how founders articulate their markets, products and vision to investors.
The broader agenda serves as preparation for investor conversations. Ondrej Bartoš of Credo Ventures and Gosia Majczak of General Catalyst will explore AI's acceleration into 2027. Startup Stage sessions dig into new sources of competitive advantage in an AI-driven world, strategies for building global AI companies from CEE, and whether AI can automate parts of traditional go-to-market efforts. These are live questions founders must answer when deciding where to focus and how to explain their company's durability.
Invest time in your product and strategy
A founder could fill the entire conference with investor meetings, but How to Web's breadth is part of its strength. The program spans product, engineering, marketing, sales, AI and team leadership—giving the person delivering the pitch time to work on the decisions that pitch rests on.
Nesrine Changuel, formerly a product leader at Google and Spotify, will discuss building products that create lasting user attachment. Sander Nagtegaal of Unless will address the discipline of prioritizing what to build. Michał Kramarz of Google Cloud will examine business returns from enterprise AI, while sessions with Teodora Mușatoiu of OpenAI and Sara Maldon of Make bring these concepts closer to real implementation. For startup teams, this mix offers a chance to test their assumptions against the experience of practitioners operating at vastly different scales, all in one place.
Founders hunting for customers have reasons to spend time beyond the startup program. The conference brings executives, technology teams and business development leaders under one roof, with a Demo Area and Startup Showcase designed to showcase products to potential buyers and partners. Approved startups can book a dedicated demo booth, and Spotlight semifinalists receive exhibition space through their program.
Don't miss the city-wide side events
How to Web Conference extends throughout Bucharest. The side-event calendar includes founder breakfasts, investor meetings, specialist sessions and evening gatherings across the city. Current listings include a founders' breakfast hosted by Underline, 3VC and Inovo, a session on how enterprises assess AI startups, and investor speed meetings. Some events require separate registration or have limited capacity, so checking each listing before adding it to your calendar is essential.
This is what makes the three days feel whole. A founder can arrive in Bucharest with a fundraising goal and depart with a clearer picture of the market, product decisions worth revisiting, potential customers to pursue and new peers across the region.
How to Web Conference 2026 runs October 6–8 in Bucharest. Participants can explore the full agenda and apply for a 10% discounted ticket through the conference website.
Source: The Recursive — Events tag
