Europe builds great startups. It just doesn’t build enough billion-dollar companies.
The talent is here. The research is world-class. The ambition is real. And yet, when you look at the global scoreboard of tech giants, Europe remains dramatically underrepresented. The question isn’t whether Europe can innovate — it clearly can. The question is: why do so many of its best companies stall before reaching global scale?
At Podim’s The Global Tech Race, we’re putting this question to the people who are actively working to change the answer.
You’ll hear from the COO of UnternehmerTUM — Europe’s leading innovation center — who also sits on the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board, advising the European Commission on its flagship deep-tech investment program. From the founder of Bosqar Invest, a publicly listed company builder operating across 23 countries with 18,000+ employees and a market cap that has grown 11x. From a Managing General Partner deploying €300M+ in venture capital across Europe. From the CTO of Orqa, Europe’s leading drone technology company. And from advisers at the European Commission, EUSPA, and the European Startup Network who are shaping the policies and frameworks that will define Europe’s next decade.
The program features 2 high-level panels — one focused on building billion-dollar companies, the other on creating a stronger pan-European startup framework. This is where strategy meets action.
Why This Matters
This isn’t an abstract policy discussion. This is about the structural gaps that determine whether Europe’s best founders build regional success stories — or global champions.
Capital fragmentation. Regulatory complexity. Talent retention. Cross-border scaling. These aren’t new problems — but the solutions being built right now are.
Initiatives like EU-INC, Future 500, and the CASSINI programme are actively reshaping how European startups access capital, talent, and markets. If you’re building, investing, or enabling tech companies in Europe — you need to understand what’s coming.
This track is designed for:
- Startup founders with cross-border or global ambitions
- Investors navigating the evolving European VC and policy landscape
- Ecosystem builders and accelerators connecting innovation across markets
- Policymakers and institutional leaders shaping the rules of the game
- Corporate leaders exploring partnerships and co-investment across Europe
What You’ll Walk Away With
- Why Europe keeps producing strong startups but not enough global champions — and what’s changing
- How initiatives like EU-INC and Future 500 are building new pathways for cross-border scaling
- What the European Innovation Council is prioritizing — straight from a Board Member
- How to leverage EU space technologies and programmes like CASSINI for market advantage
- The real bottlenecks in European venture capital — and where the capital is flowing next
- What a stronger pan-European startup framework actually looks like in practice
On Stage
🌍 Panel 1: Missing Giants — How to Create Billion-Dollar Companies
Europe produces more engineering graduates than the US. It leads in sustainability research, deep tech, and industrial innovation. Yet it has a fraction of the tech giants. This panel digs into why — and more importantly, what it takes to change it.
Stefan Drüssler — Managing Director & COO, UnternehmerTUM (Germany)
Leading Europe’s largest innovation center. Founding member of Rise Europe. Since 2025, Board Member of the European Innovation Council (EIC), advising the European Commission on its flagship deep-tech investment program.
Jure Mikuž — Managing General Partner, South Central Ventures (Slovenia)
Managing €300M+ in assets across one of the region’s most active early-stage VC funds. Portfolio includes Celtra, Cognism, Leanpay, and Insightful.
Stjepan Orešković — Founder, Bosqar Invest & Future 500 (Croatia)
Publicly listed company builder operating in 23+ countries with 18,000+ employees. CAGR of 60%+, market cap grown 11x. Founder of Future 500, connecting entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers to build globally competitive European companies.
Vlatko Matijević — CTO, Orqa (Croatia)
Leading the technical vision at Orqa, Europe’s top drone technology company, designing advanced FPV and unmanned aerial systems for professional and industrial use.
Moderated by Kristiana Kuneva — Chief Business Development Officer, The Recursive (Bulgaria)
Connecting startups, investors, and ecosystem players across CEE, helping breakthrough ideas gain global visibility. MSc from the London School of Economics.
🇪🇺 Panel 2: Europe’s Next Leap — Building a Stronger Pan-European Startup Framework
The rules of the game are being rewritten. From EU-INC to new cross-border frameworks, from space-powered innovation to institutional capital — this panel brings together the people who are actively building the infrastructure that Europe’s next generation of tech companies will run on.
Robin Wauters — COO & Board Member, European Startup Network (Belgium)
Co-driver of the EU-INC initiative. Founding member of angel fund Syndicate One, co-founder of BeCentral, and founder of Tech.eu. Former European Editor of The Next Web and senior editor at TechCrunch.
Stefan Schneider — Space Downstream Entrepreneurship Officer, EUSPA (Czech Republic)
Supporting startups in leveraging space-based technologies through the CASSINI initiative. 15+ years in EU policy, innovation ecosystems, and digital transformation.
Bettina Scheibe — Co-Founder, United Founders (Germany)
Deep-tech investor with 15+ years across industrial tech, enterprise software, and VC. Former Pre-Seed Investment Lead at UnternehmerTUM, leading 20+ deep-tech investments. Career spans Europe, China, and the US.
Anna Krzyzanowska — Adviser, European Commission (Belgium)
Shaping EU policies at the intersection of innovation, scaleup growth, and financing within the Taskforce on Startups & Scaleups.
Moderated by Daniel Cronin — Co-Founder, AustrianStartups (Austria)
“The Pitch Professor” — one of Europe’s leading pitching experts. Founding member of Startup300. Has hosted 250+ startup and innovation events.
Beyond The Global Tech Race
The Global Tech Race is just one part of the Podim experience. When you join, you step into a much bigger ecosystem:
- 80+ speakers — from founders of global tech companies to investors backing unicorns
- 60+ VC funds actively looking for the next opportunities
- 150+ selected startups carefully curated from across the region
- Curated networking, side events, and real deal-making opportunities
Partners
Powered by: Future 500
About Future 500
The Global Tech Race at Podim is powered by the Future 500 Initiative — a European platform built to close the scale-up gap that holds the continent back. Future 500 tackles Europe’s structural weaknesses head-on: boosting late-stage funding, retaining top talent, and helping high-growth startups become global champions. By addressing capital fragmentation, innovation bottlenecks, and market silos, the initiative is working to ensure that the next generation of leading companies is not just born in Europe — but built and scaled here. If The Global Tech Race is the conversation, Future 500 is the movement behind it.
Europe Doesn’t Have a Talent Problem. It Has a Scale Problem. Let’s Fix It.
The conversations that shape Europe’s tech future don’t happen in policy papers. They happen in rooms where founders, investors, and decision-makers sit at the same table.
At Podim, that table is set.
If you’re building, investing, or shaping the European tech ecosystem — this is where the next chapter starts.
