Doist. Sofascore. Infinum. Mews. FOREO. Outfit7. Orqa. FlowX.AI. Wonderful AI.
That’s just the start of the list of companies whose founders, operators, and architects are coming to Podim 2026.
Add to that former leaders from Microsoft, Atlassian, Roblox, MongoDB, Google, Meta, Accenture, IBM, Rakuten Viber, and Culture Amp — plus policy shapers from the European Commission, UnternehmerTUM, and the European Innovation Council — and you start to see why Podim’s stage carries a different kind of weight.
This isn’t a conference lineup padded with conference speakers. These are the people who built the products, closed the deals, scaled the teams, and wrote the playbooks the rest of the industry is trying to learn from.
To help you cut through the 80+ speaker list, we’ve handpicked 25 game-changing names across five themes that matter most right now:
Global founders who built products used by millions
Corporate innovation & ecosystem shapers defining Europe’s next decade
Growth & GTM operators scaling smarter, not harder
Applied AI leaders turning hype into real business
Deep tech pioneers commercializing breakthrough scienceWhether you’re a founder, investor, corporate innovation lead, ecosystem builder, or deep tech operator — there’s a section here with your name on it.
Global founders who built products the world usesWho it’s for: Founders and startup teams with global ambitions — from pre-seed dreamers to growth-stage operators.
Why you should care: You’re about to hear from people who actually did it — built products used by tens of millions of people from small European markets. Their lessons aren’t theoretical. They’re the real playbooks behind some of the region’s biggest success stories.
Amir Salihefendić, founder & CEO of Doist, will share how Todoist became a productivity app used by 50 million+ people, generating tens of millions in ARR — bootstrapped and fully remote since 2007, long before remote was a trend.
Ivan Bešlić, co-founder & CSO of Sofascore, will reveal how a simple insight turned into a global sports platform with 30M+ monthly users and a team of 300 across four continents — and how growth channels evolve as you scale from 1M to 100M users.
Tomislav Car, founder & CEO of Productive and founder of Infinum, will break down the real job of a SaaS CEO — what actually drives growth. His ventures, including Porsche Digital Croatia, CircuitMess, and Rentlio, together employ 600+ people.
Luka Berger, founder & CEO of Flexkeeping, will walk through how strategic market repositioning paved the way to the company’s acquisition by hospitality unicorn Mews. Flexkeeping now powers operations for 1,000+ hotels globally.
Maximilian Fleitmann, founding partner at Wizard Ventures, will share lessons from designing, building, and selling multiple B2B products. Max has raised $5M+, supported fundraising of $100M+, invested in 25+ startups, and exited multiple companies including VCStack and BaseTemplates.
Corporate innovation & ecosystem shapersWho it’s for: Established companies, corporate innovation leaders, policymakers, and ecosystem builders shaping what happens next.
Why you should care: The rules for European tech are being rewritten right now — from EU-INC, European Innovation Council, European Commission and EUESPA. These are the people writing them. If you’re building, investing, or operating in Europe, you need to know where this is heading.
Stefan Drüssler, MD & COO of UnternehmerTUM — Europe’s largest innovation center — will share how Europe builds its next generation of deep tech champions. Since 2025, Stefan also sits on the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board, advising the European Commission on Europe’s leading deep-tech investment initiative.
Stjepan Orešković, founder of Bosqar Invest and the Future 500 initiative, brings a rare perspective from building a publicly listed company builder in 23+ countries with 18,000+ employees, CAGR above 60%, and market cap grown 11x. Future 500 is his mission to close Europe’s scale-up gap.
Anna Krzyzanowska, Adviser at the European Commission, works within the Taskforce on Startups & Scaleups — shaping EU policies at the intersection of innovation, scaleup growth, and financing, with deep experience across institutions like the EIB and EBRD.
Grace Francisco, co-founder of EMG Worldwide and co-author of three patents, will share what corporates are getting wrong about AI. 20+ years leading developer initiatives at Microsoft, Atlassian, Roblox, MongoDB, and Cisco give her a rare vantage point on where legacy orgs underestimate AI.
Robin Wauters, COO at the European Startup Network and co-driver of the EU-INC initiative. Founder of Tech.eu, former European Editor of The Next Web, and senior editor at TechCrunch — Robin connects policy, capital, and founder reality like few others.
Growth & GTM operators scaling smarter and fasterWho it’s for: Tech companies in growth mode — anyone responsible for user acquisition, revenue, go-to-market, or scaling teams across markets.
Why you should care: Generic growth advice won’t move the needle. These are operators who’ve scaled real products through real markets — and they’ll show you the frameworks they actually use, not the ones they read about on LinkedIn.
Vedran Bajer, GM Adriatic at Wonderful AI ($280M+ raised), will break down how to build a high-ownership team and scale it across 8+ markets. Previously Country Manager for Microsoft Croatia and a decade-long leader at Google.
Mateo Starcevic Filipovic, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of PromptWise, will show how community becomes the ultimate growth engine — 300 paying users per day. PromptWise hit 1.35M ARR in under 6 months. Mateo also created the International Freelancer Certification with Freelancer.com (80M+ users).
Perica Levatić, COO & co-founder of 57hours — a global adventure booking platform — will share the 5 uncomfortable changes that took the company from runway panic to profitability. An honest look at rewiring a startup when the clock is ticking.
Zarena Kancheva, co-founder of Two-Plus.ai and former Sr. Director of Global Growth at Rakuten Viber, will break down the perfect cocktail for hypergrowth: mindset, team, and AI tools. 15+ years scaling across EMEA, APAC, and the US.
Faris Sehovic, Sales Director Europe at Crunchr, will reveal how events became a growth channel powerful enough to land Netflix as a client. Previously led enterprise sales at Culture Amp after his startup Orgnostic was acquired by them.
Applied AI that’s changing the gameWho it’s for: Tech companies building AI products, banks and insurers modernizing infrastructure, and marketing/sales teams integrating AI into everyday workflows.
Why you should care: Everyone’s talking about AI. Very few are shipping it at scale. These speakers are actually deploying AI-native systems that move billions of dollars, serve millions of customers, and outperform legacy tech by 90%.
Ioan Iacob, founder & CEO of FlowX.AI ($44M+ raised), will show how AI-native systems are finally transforming banking and insurance — cutting development costs by up to 90%. Previously co-founder of QUALITANCE, serving Fortune 500s including IBM, Virgin, and IKEA.
Mary Hurd, co-founder of Haavn and former leader at Google and Meta, will strip away the AI hype and return to fundamentals — the “startup pirate mode” mindset that makes AI transformation actually stick.
John Velissarios, founder of Otranto and former Global Director at Accenture, will dive into how AI is reshaping digital finance — including the rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). 30+ years advising central banks and the world’s leading financial institutions.
Hajdi Cenan, CEO & co-founder of airt — acquired by San Francisco-based Synthpop AI in 2025 — will share 5 lessons from merging with a hyper sales-oriented US company. Top 100 most influential businesswomen in Croatia and VP of the Croatian AI Association.
Deividas Kovger, CEO & co-founder of Holo AI, will break down how to move from ads that “explode” to scalable AI-driven growth systems. Holo AI automatically transforms websites into ads, emails, and social content. Also co-founder of monkeflow.
Deep tech transforming industriesWho it’s for: Deep tech founders, researchers commercializing science, corporate R&D leaders, and investors backing the next frontier of European innovation.
Why you should care: Deep tech doesn’t fail because of technology — it fails because it never reaches the market. The people on this list have crossed that gap: from aerospace and biotech to rare-earth recovery and drone systems that compete globally.
Vlatko Matijević, CTO of Orqa — Europe’s leading drone technology company — will share how a Croatian team built and scaled advanced FPV and unmanned aerial systems globally, proving world-class deep tech hardware can be built far from Silicon Valley.
Christian Kumar, founder & CEO of Capital Kinetics and CEO of Med Tech Makers Lab, brings 30+ years across corporate finance, investment banking, and wealth management — with specialized expertise in MedTech, energy, and technology. Portfolio spans six companies and 22+ investments.
Luis Valente, CEO & co-founder of iLoF and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, will share how AI and photonics are building a cloud library of disease biomarkers — accelerating drug discovery. iLoF is recognized by CB Insights and the Financial Times.
Anastasia Maria Moschovi, CEO of Dyscovery Magnetics and recipient of the EU Woman in Energy Award (EUSEW 2023), leads the recovery of rare earths from secondary sources — turning cutting-edge science into industrial application and market-oriented growth.
Jasmin Güngör, General Partner at Onsight Ventures, will break down quantum computing — from hype to investable opportunity. Previously led the family office of Hermann Hauser, combining VC, deep tech, and impact investing experience focused on the DACH region.
Great stages make headlines — but what makes Podim worth flying in for is everything that happens between the talks. In three days, Podim compresses an entire year’s worth of dealmaking, learning, and serious fun into one of Europe’s best-kept startup secrets.
200 most promising startups — handpicked from across the region, featured in the Podim Startup Catalogue, with direct access to investors through Demo Day and the Deal Room.
60+ VC funds — from regional leaders to European heavyweights l
Super-efficient Deal Room platform — pre-arranged, curated 1:1 meetings with investors, corporates, and mentors. Over 1,300 meetings happen in just two days. 
Podim Pitching Competition — semi-finals on pre-conference day, five finalists on the main stage. 
Investors Academy — an exclusive program built for VCs, angels, and family offices. Firesides, insider talks on AI and quantum, curated roundtables, and a wine pairing reception.
Demo Studios & DeepDive workshops — practical, hands-on sessions with partners like Infineon, Exoscale, EUSPA/CASSINI, Equaleyes, and the European Patent Office.
Poker Tournament — a Podim tradition. Founders, investors, and operators around the same table. Bluffs welcome.
Podim Party powered by Heineken — music, cold beer, and the kind of conversations that turn into partnerships.
Podim Terrace — outdoor networking between sessions, without the networking-hall pressure.
Marketplace — booth space for startups and partners across all three days, right in the middle of the action. 40+ years of tradition — one of Europe’s longest-running startup & innovation events, set in the heart of Maribor, at the crossroads of the Alps-Adriatic and Western Balkans.From global product builders and corporate innovation leaders to growth operators, AI pioneers, and deep tech founders — these are 25 of the voices shaping what European tech looks like next.
All of them will be on stage at Podim 2026. Many of them will be accessible 1:1 after their talks through the Podim Deal Room, the Builders Stage format, and the informal networking that Podim has been known for across its 40+ year history.
You can read their stories online. Or you can meet them in Maribor, May 11–13.
