- Wolves Summit, one of the largest tech conferences in the CEE region, took place on 19-21st October 2021 virtually and in-person in Wrocław, Poland
- Winners of the Great Pitch Contest were Pleasy Play, Kinderpedia, EmailTree.ai, and Panda Training
- The jury was composed of Angelo Burgarello (AI Startup Incubator), Wiktoria Przybylska (Microsoft), Bobbi Bidochka (TandemLaunch), and Adrian Kondrat (PLUGin Foundation)
- Michael Chaffe, the CEO of Wolves Summit, introduced how the event will grow and expand in 2022
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - The 14th edition of Wolves Summit took place on October 19-21st virtually on Hopin and in-person in Wrocław, Poland. Over 2000 people and more than 1000 startups from 60 countries attended the event, including the AI Startup Incubator (AISI) team. The judges narrowed the finalists down to nine startups that got a pitch spot in front of a jury in the Great Pitch Contest. After the event, Wolves Summit introduced major changes for their return in 2022.
Wrapping up another successful edition, we were proud and excited to become Wolves Summit’s partners again. This year gathered over 1000 startups, dozens of speakers, investors, and business speakers from Europe and globally.
Let's look at the Great Pitch Contest highlights.
The winner of the Great Pitch Contest was an intimate wellness app, Pleasy Play. Startup Kinderpedia, an education management platform, won 2nd place and EmailTree.ai, a hyper-automation tool for email replies, placed 3rd. Our special prize, a €50.000 pitching opportunity, won Pandatron, a chatbot coaching that improves organizations' change management.
The jury seats of Wolves Summit 14th edition were taken by:
- Angelo Burgarello, a Director of Business Development at AI Startup Incubator;
- Wiktoria Przybylska, a former Startup Program Manager at Microsoft;
- Bobbi Bidochka, a Venture Associate at TandemLaunch;
- and Adrian Kondrat, a Head of Pitch to London at PLUGin Foundation
While selecting the winners wasn't easy, it was an enriching experience for the jurors as well as the startups. "It's super important to have like-minded judges on board, and this time I can say we were a great match," notes Wiktoria Przybylska, a former Startup Program Manager at Microsoft.
"It is fantastic to be able to watch and ask questions about startups directly to founders and learn more about their ideas and plans. As a person who has co-founded a startup before and aims to do that again, it is also a great opportunity for me to learn good practices about presenting and selling your vision."
Adrian Kondrat, a Head of Pitch to London at PLUGin Foundation
Adrian comments, "I really love that the winner was chosen not simply on points or any artificial metric but with a discussion between the jury members, as our various experiences shed light on different aspects of a particular startup."
"I am always surprised to see how effective the scouting process is. In this edition, we were able to connect with great founders ending up with collaboration and investment," says Angelo Burgarello, a Director of Business Development at AI Startup Incubator.
The competition evolves and improves every year, and so do the startups.
"There was some kind of fresh air in the form of solutions that I've never seen before during any similar competition."
Wiktoria Przybylska
According to Wiktoria, the latest Wolves Summit was a "perfect combination of two worlds: online outreach enhanced with a great database, and an offline intimacy full of face-to-face interaction."
"Over the last few years, Wolves Summit grew tremendously and became one of the most important startup and innovation conferences in the CEE region, and I find it very exciting to see how it will look in future editions," adds Adrian.
"It was a great event that ended with a lot of great connections, constructive talks, and many collaborations."
Angelo Burgarello
Wolves Summit is coming back in 2022. And there is more.
Michael Chaffe, the CEO of Wolves Summit, is planning to bring back the event bigger and more international than ever before in 2022. The year's first summit will take place on April 7-8th in Warsaw, Poland.
"There are two major changes in 2022 that are very exciting for our business. First, introducing a new event concept Alpha Wolves in April and second, expanding our traditional Wolves Summit event by focusing on Corporate Innovation, HR & Recruitment, and ESG, amongst others," highlights Michael.
Moreover, Michael adds, "any fund managers attending our Alpha Wolves edition can solicit investment from Family offices, Fund of funds, Public or Corporate pension funds, Sovereign wealth funds, University and non-profit endowments, or Ultra high-net-worth individuals."
And what's happening to the Wolves Summit as we know it? The hybrid event transforms into a 5-day week at the beginning of June 2022, bringing even more innovative solutions, startups, investments, networking, and opportunities.
"We feel that thanks to our network and brand position in the region, we're perfectly positioned to connect all relevant stakeholders in the region; cooperation over competition."
Michael Chaffe
Other readings
Win €50 funding in October 2020 - a talk to Angelo Burgarello (AISI)
Another interview with your mentor CEO of 7Security and information security expert Pavel Kaminsky
