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After the COVID-19 pandemic and its unfortunate lockdowns, most conferences are either canceled or moved to other dates. At the moment, most content online presents outdated information, making it hard to plan ahead.
For this reason, our team did extensive research to bring you up to date with the latest info regarding all upcoming events.
In this article, we list the best startup conferences of 2021, as well as information on their latest dates. After reading this post, you should be able to fill up your calendar with some of the most exciting opportunities to grow your business.
Best Startup Conferences in 2021 - Confirmed & Updated
Before we get started, note that a small number of events have not released an exact date, and we are only aware of the month they occur.
Also, our list is mainly occupied with events happening in the first three quarters of the year. We will be updating the post regularly with additional events as soon as more information is released. Let’s delve in!
Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
Date: January 11-14, 2021
Location: Virtual conference
CES is one of the top startup conferences for tech innovators with a strong focus on consumer electronics. Their latest event in 2019 attracted more than 180.000 visitors from all around the globe.
Women Entrepreneurship Conference (WEC)
Date: January 16, 2021
Location: Dubai, UAE
WEC focuses on the importance of educating women in business-related skills and confident decision-making. It is one of the best startup events for women who are either founders or hold executive positions with influence over larger teams.
sTARTUp Day
Date: August 25-27, 2021
Location: Tartu, Estonia
sTARTUp Day is the best startup conference in the Baltics, bringing together more than 4000 founders, CEO, and tech enthusiasts. The 3-day event consists of keynote speeches, practical workshops, valuable connections, and lots of opportunities to help startups grow and innovate.
Startup Grind Global Conference
Date: February 2021 (the exact date has not been released yet)
Location: Virtual conference
Startup Grind Global Conference brings together the very best of Google’s leaders, partners, and startup founders. Even though the event will be held in a virtual manner, it is a great way to develop one’s network, no matter the size or stage of their startup.
E-commerce Berlin Expo (EBE)
Date: February 18, 2021
Location: Berlin, Germany
EBE is one of the biggest e-commerce conferences in Europe, with nearly 10.000 visitors and 200 exhibitors. While the event is mainly focused on everything related to digital commerce, it is also very useful for B2B startup founders who are looking for fresh ideas to attract and retain customers for their product(s).
MWC Barcelona: Connected Impact (collaboration with 4YFN)
Date: March 1-4, 2021
Location: Barcelona, Spain
MWC collaborates with 4YFN to bring you one of the best startup conferences in 2021. The event brings together innovators, business leaders, and futurists to focus on a common theme, which this year is “Connected Impact”. The choice of the theme relates to modern trends in the workplace and is this a great choice for startup founders who consider working with distributed teams.
ETail Germany
Date: March 9-11, 2021
Location: Berlin, Germany
ETail is one of the best startup conferences for retail startups and e-commerce enthusiasts. The event mainly focuses on customer experience & expectations in 2021 and how business owners can leverage trends to get ahead and grow their companies.
B2B Marketing Exchange
Date: February 22-24, 2021
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
B2B Marketing Exchange is a great choice for B2B startup founders and executives who are looking to better understand the up and coming trends and practices related to marketing and sales.
CS100 Customer Success Summit
Date: February 9-12, 2021
Location: Sundance, Utah
CS100 is a great opportunity for customer success executives, business leaders, and startup founders to enjoy a 4-day retreat, learning about the most impactful practices related to customer success. It is also one of the very few non-virtual events, offering better networking opportunities for the attendees.
Social Media Marketing World
Date: February 28 - March 2, 2021
Location: San Diego, California
Social Media Marketing World is a must for startup founders who are looking to improve their growth and nurturing strategies (including acquisition and retention). There is a heavy focus on the use of Social Media, but the event aims to improve your marketing skills overall.
DX3 Conference
Date: March 2-3, 2021
Location: Toronto, Canada
DX3 is Canada’s biggest retail, marketing, and technology conference. The event consists of numerous international speakers, workshops, and networking opportunities to help founders sharpen their skills and prepare better for upcoming trends in the retail industry.
SWXW Conference
Date: March 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Austin, Texas
SWXW is well-known for its large coverage of many different industries that are expected to grow in the coming years. The conference helps founders enhance their knowledge, connect with business leaders, and join meet-up events that bring like-minded entrepreneurs together.
Adobe Summit
Date: April 13-15, 2021
Location: Virtual Event
Adobe Summit is a virtual event with a heavy focus on practices and strategies that improve the customer experience. Attendees will join business leaders and experts in discussions related to marketing automation, advertising, analytics, and e-commerce, to get a better understanding of the changes we can expect in 2021 and beyond.
Oktane Conference
Date: April 6-9, 2021
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Oktane Conference is a business and technology event that focuses on the importance of identity. In 4 action-packed days, attendees will listen to keynotes of IT experts, industry leaders, and tech innovators. The event has often been referred to as one of the most motivating startup conferences, and we hope you experience the same when visiting in 2021.
RISE Conference
Date: March 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Hong Kong, China
RISE is one of Asia’s best startup conferences in 2021. The tech-focused event brings together business leaders from all over the globe to share stories and experiences, stimulate innovative conversations, and connect motivated founders in order to redefine the future. While the exact dates are not yet public, the event offers a 50% discount to a small number of people who sign up before the end of 2020.
Growth Marketing Stage
Date: April 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Growth Marketing Stage is focusing on different types of marketing strategies (SEO, Paid Ads, email campaigns, affiliate marketing, and more). This is a great opportunity for founders and marketing enthusiasts to explore the latest trends in growth hacking, as well as learn from the experiences of other successful founders.
Dublin Tech Summit (DTS)
Date: April 21-22, 2021
Location: Dublin, Ireland
DTS brings together a diverse list of influential speakers to share knowledge, look into upcoming trends, and network with attendees. The 2-day event is an excellent opportunity for founders that are looking to scale their startup and discover the latest tech opportunities to accelerate growth.
Content Marketing Conference
Date: April 27-29, 2021
Location: Virtual and Live (Boston, Massachusetts)
This 3-day event focuses on the importance of content marketing for startup companies and the different applications and strategies one can employ. The Content Marketing Conference will explore everything from written to audiovisual content hacks and strategies that leading companies are leveraging to remain relevant in 2021.
Rise of AI Summit
Date: May 2021 (Exact date not announced yet)
Location: Berlin, Germany
AI is becoming increasingly important in the world of tech startups, and Rise of AI is the place where innovators and business leaders come to discuss where we’re headed. This is one of the world’s best startup conferences in 2021 for tech-oriented individuals who want to peak into the future by listening to innovative ideas of technology experts.
Arctic15
Date: June 1-2
Location: Helsinki, Finland
The 2020 version of Arctic15 got postponed to November, making dates of 2021 not public as of yet. However, this is a great event to keep on your calendar. The two-day event brings together an international crowd of startup founders and executives to make new connections and listen to some of the most popular names in the industry.
LTV Conference
Date: May 2021 (Exact date not announced yet)
Location: San Fransisco, California
LTV brings together some of the most innovative minds in the SaaS space. The 2-day event delves into a wide array of topics surrounding startup businesses, bringing people together for keynote speeches, long-form discussions, and networking opportunities. The conference’s previous date got pushed towards the end of 2020 but will most likely not occur until 2021.
Thinking digital (TDC)
Date: May 12-13, 2021
Location: Gateshead, UK
TDC is a tech-oriented event that brings together business leaders and innovators from all over the globe. Those who visit the 2-day event will be exposed to a diverse range of interesting topics that aim to support tech-startup founders in 2021 and beyond. Topics include robotics, big data, AI, and future-tech.
Digital Marketing Solutions Summit (DMSS)
Date: May 13, 2021
Location: London, UK
Digital Marketing Solutions Summit is a practical event that is more focused on getting hands-on experience through workshops and seminars. Additionally, attendees are prompted to network to create opportunities for business growth and startup success. In contrast to most events’ “passive” approach, DMSS is action-oriented and thus one of the best startup conferences to attend in 2021.
Call To Action (CTA) Conference
Date: May 18-20, 2021
Location: Vancouver, Canada
CTA Conference is one of the biggest technology conventions in Canada, designed to offer actionable advice to startup founders. There is an emphasis on marketing strategies, and there are many opportunities to learn more (workshops) and meet like-minded people (networking).
TechChill 2021: Point of No Return
Date: May 7-21, 2021
Location: Online as well as in Riga, Latvia
Techchill is a 3-day event that explores the progress, adaptation, and opportunities in HealthTech, EdTech, and Digital Transformation. It’s a great event for founders who want to stay informed on post-COVID trends.
Latitude59
Date: May 27-28, 2021
Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Latitude59 is the most popular startup convention in the world’s first fully digital society - Estonia. The country is proud to be the first-ever country to introduce e-residency, a concept that allows anyone to create a company in Estonia 100% digitally. Thousands of attendees come together every year, to connect with Nordic and Baltic business leaders and create new connections that help their businesses grow.
Running Remote
Date: May 21
Location: Virtual conference
Running Remote is probably one of the most relevant conferences for founders that are looking to adapt their business models after the Covid-19 pandemic. The event is free to attend until 1 month before the event itself, after which ticket prices increase to $49. Topics of conversation include everything related to hybrid models (in-house & remote) as well as fully remote setups.
SaaStr Europa 2021
Date: June 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Paris, France
While there is not an exact date yet, SaaStr Europa should definitely be on your list with the best SaaS conferences to attend. The event is focused on founders and growth hackers that build business software, and delves into practices that lead to scalability. Note that this event is different from SaaStr Annual, which will be hosted in February 2021.
Tech Open Air
Date: June 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Berlin, Germany
OTA is one of Europe’s leading tech conferences in 2021. The event attracts founders, tech enthusiasts from different disciples to discuss innovative ideas about the future of technology and its applications to work. TOA is the first crowdsourced event in Europe and will host its event for the 9th time in 2021.
Webit.Festival
Date: (Most likely) June 2021
Location: Valencia, Spain
Webit.Festival is one of the largest and most diverse startup conferences in 2021. Their summits include more than 20 parallel industries with a common goal of tech improvement across all fields. The event is great for tech-founders who wish to learn from innovative thinkers and business leaders across a range of different fields. Note that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ticket sales have temporarily stopped and an exact date has not yet been announced.
Viva Technology
Date: June 17-19, 2021
Location: Paris, France
Viva Technology is one of the biggest startup conferences in Europe. The event brings together startup founders, VCs, and corporates to host a 3-day deep-dive on everything related to digital innovation. According to participants, the conference is one of the best ways to meet business leaders and like-minded thinkers.
Collision
Date: June 21-24, 2021
Location: Toronto, Canada
Collision returns in 2021 stronger than ever, with an impressive lineup that includes Arianna Huffington, Parag Agrawal, Shaquille O’Neal, as well as the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. Being labeled as one of the biggest tech conferences in the world (Bloomberg), the event attracts thousands of startup founders from all around the world.
SaaS Growth
Date: July 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: London, UK
SaaS Growth is a UK-based event that brings together SaaS founders from all over the world to learn more about Sales practices and how these are applicable in the modern business world. The event is heavily B2B oriented and is thus more interesting for startups that operate in a business-to-business fashion.
StartupFest 10X
Date: July 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Montreal, Canada
StartupFest is one of the most rewarding startup conferences 2021. Due to their acceleration project, the event host competitions to reward promising projects with more than $1 million in prizes and rewards. The event is a must for founders who are looking for education and networking opportunities, but who also enjoy a festival-type vibe.
Digital Summit Seattle
Date: July 2021 (sign up to the DSS newsletter to stay up to date)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Digital Summit is a central hub for some of the world’s best startup founders, innovators, and tech experts. The agenda and dates for the upcoming are not yet live, but the event is well known amongst tech-circles and often considered to be one of the top startup conferences in 2021.
MozCon
Date: July 11-14, 2021
Location: Seattle, Washington
MozCon is the go-to conference for anyone in SEO and marketing in general. While not specifically oriented towards startup founders, the event is an eye-opener for those looking to learn more about growth hacking, inbound marketing, and SEO-related information.
Annual International Conference on SMEs, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation
Date: July 26-29, 2021
Location: Athens, Greece
The Annual International Conference on SME's, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation is an excellent opportunity for European startup founders to learn more about digital marketing, HR, and tech innovation from well-known academics and researchers. Furthermore, it is considered to be one of the best startup conferences in Greece, and the only one on this list.
Traction Conference
Date: August 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Traction is one of the top tech startup conferences globally. The event hosts an impressive lineup from speakers for fast-growing companies to discuss everything related to growth hacking, best marketing tips for 2021, and technology-related trends.
SHIFT Conference
Date: August 2020 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Turku, Finland
SHIFT is a somewhat new start up conference that focuses on innovative tech and business sustainability. Like most startup events, attendees will benefit from two days of keynotes, mentorship sessions with business leaders, interactive workshops, networking opportunities, and co-creation.
SaaStock LatAm
Date: Summer 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
SaaStock hosts multiple conferences around the globe, but LatAm is the only subsidiary with a confirmed event in 2021. Focused on Latin American B2B startups, the event aims to help founders meet investors, expand their reach, and learn from successful SaaS leaders.
B2B Rocks by Axeleo
Date: September 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Paris, France
B2B Rocks is one of the top startup events for SaaS and B2B startups. The conference focuses on giving useful advice in short action-packed keynotes from popular founders and industry leaders. As one of the largest tech conferences in Europe, it is also an ideal opportunity to grow your network.
Growth Hackers Conference
Date: September 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: San Fransisco, California
Growth Hackers hosts one of the biggest tech conferences in San Fransisco, aimed towards growth hacking tactics and innovative marketing strategies. This event is a must for tech-startup founders who want to connect with like-minded people and explore the next big things in their industry.
SAAS North
Date: September 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Ottawa, Canada
SaaS North is recognized as one of the best entrepreneurship conferences 2021 in Canada. The event aims to help fast-growing startups maximize their scaling efforts by learning from industry experts and gaining hands-on experience through numerous workshops.
Growth Marketing Summit
Date: September 2, 2021
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Growth Marketing Summit is one of Europe’s biggest start up events, with a focus on digital growth and marketing. The conference discusses methods to approach growth from a customer-centric perspective and puts a large emphasis on proper data analysis. The impressive lineup aims to offer new insights to startup founders and growth hackers.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation (E&I)
Date: September 22-25, 2021
Location: Concordia, Argentina
Aimed to support Spanish-speaking startup founders, E&I is one of the best startup conferences in Argentina. Topics that are covered include women in tech, digital growth tactics, strategic management, IOT, MVP development, funding strategies, and tips on scaling companies.
Startup Ole Salamanca
Date: September 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Salamanca, Spain
Looking for an international startup festival that is both education and fun to attend? Then look no further than Startup Ole. This conference is one of the biggest tech-focused events in Europe, and is free to attend by anyone but is especially interesting for startup founders since there are many freebies to claim.
TechCrunch Disrupt
Date: September 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: San Fransisco, California
TechCrunch Disrupt is one of the best technology conferences in San Fransisco. The event is specially oriented towards startup founders and innovation enthusiasts who want to stay ahead of the curve as we are entering times of business uncertainty. This business start up show is a must for bay area residents who want to maximize their networking opportunities.
Techsylvania
Date: September 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Being one of Europe’s most popular startup events in 2021, and the only one in the country of Romania, Techsylvania is the central point between business and tech innovation. The event hosts many global leaders and is visited by thousands of startup founders, CEOs, and other tech enthusiasts.
SuperNova Belgium
Date: Autumn 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
SuperNova is a relatively new conference that is holding its third annual event later in 2021. Having risen in popularity rather quickly, SuperNova is now considered to be one of the best startup conferences in 2021. The event brings together founders, business leaders, and CEOs of popular companies to discuss everything related to innovation, growth, and business success.
Slush Startup Event
Date: November 2021 (exact date not announced yet)
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Slush is more than just a 2-day event. It is a year-round effort to help startup founders and entrepreneurs grow their business and connect with mentors, investors, and industry leaders. Among others, the organization hosts a 3-month accelerator every year and also has a digital platform to help founders connect and discuss.
Top Startup Conferences in November and Beyond
Make sure you keep an eye out on our regular updates by bookmarking this post. Since this article is published in late 2020, there will be many more announcements from some of the best startup conferences regarding their 2021 edition.
Closing remarks
Most industry leaders and top startups (2021) will continue to establish their presence by attending several events and sharing their knowledge. Whether this happens in real life or through a virtual conference is a question we cannot answer at the moment. However, we do have a short Q&A list that should help you plan better around the coming year.
Do any of the top startups in 2021 emerge from such conferences?
Many people often wonder if the cost to attend a startup tech events in 2021 will offer any sort of return on investment. This is a genuine concern for startups, as their budget is tight, tickets are pricey, and most information can be found online for free. However, there is one significant difference - Events are an excellent opportunity to build your network which in turn helps you achieve faster growth. Take Startup events 2021 for example - due to the inability to access a venue and communicate with others in a genuine way, tech startup events are now either extremely cheap to attend (virtually) or free for all.
Should startup conferences be seen as business events in 2021?
2021 is a strange year, as most venues cannot host visitors. By welcoming their audience through online portals, startup conferences are now more passive entertainment than an active event that leads to fruitful relationships. The top business conferences of 2021 are experiencing the same issues. Even though some ambitious conference planners attempt to include startup competitions, virtual networking, and other interactive opportunities, the demand has massively decreased and the difference between the two types of events is smaller.
Are tech startup events followed by afterparties?
Both the best startup events and top business conferences in 2021 are expected to have some form of afterparty to help attendees find common ground and stimulate networking opportunities. Of course, the question that most people think about in situations like the one we are currently going through is: “How will startup networking events happen in 2021?”. We cannot be certain at the moment but, as mentioned above, chances are that virtual solutions will continue to dominate the space at least until the summer of 2021. Therefore, if you are planning to attend any entrepreneur conferences within 2021, make sure you are aware of the limitations that may be present.
Which growth hacking conference (Europe) is the best?
If you are looking to attend a growth hacking conference this year, there are several to chose from. However, the best one, in our opinion, is Techcrunch Disrupt 2021. The event is a staple among its regular visitors and hosts some of the most interesting keynotes and speeches from well-known marketers and innovators. Aside from that, if you are looking for a B2B-focused solution, the best startup marketing conference is B2B Marketing Exchange.