Agenda
November 29th
Doors Open / Registration Opens
Welcome Remarks by Matthew Panzarino (TechCrunch)
Racing to the Future with Lucas di Grassi (Roborace)
Hear from Roboraces’s new CEO and former F1 driver Lucas di Grassi on how Roborace is merging human driving and artificial intelligence to build a better racing series.
A New Start with Anne Kjaer Riechert (ReDI School of Integration) and Aline Sara (NaTakallam)
The world has been shocked by the plight of refugees from both war zones and natural disasters in the last few years. But the tech world has stepped up to the plate to assist refugees and NGOs, in this case with ReDI School’s hugely successful code school for refugees and NaTakallam’s global platform for refugees to teach languages.
SPONSORED CONTENT – Solving Location Challenges through Machine Learning with Here Technologies
This session provides a technical deep-dive into Machine Learning applied to map making and location services. We take a detailed look at how different data sources, including sensor data from vehicles, get transformed into a semantic understanding of the physical world. Through several examples we illustrate how machine learning and computer vision help today in automating this process, also highlighting open research challenges. We also show how – by the same means – entirely new types of intelligent location-based services become possible.
Regaining Momentum in Europe with Saul Klein (Localglobe)
Saul Klein has long had an outsized imprint on Europe’s tech scene, as an operator, founder and investor, as well the mastermind behind the global meet up concept OpenCoffee and the “YC of Europe,” Seedcamp. We’ll talk with Klein about creating a sustainable ecosystem, as well as how Europe now competes against faster-growing markets, including in China.
Break
How the Startup Battlefield Works with Anthony Ha (TechCrunch)
The hottest startups compete for the Disrupt Cup, $50,000 USD, and eternal glory.
Startup Battlefield: Session 1
The hottest startups compete for the Disrupt Cup, $50,000 USD, and eternal glory.
Q&A Session with Lucas di Grassi (Roborace) and Rod Chong (Roborace)
Ask your questions of Roboraces’s new CEO and former F1 driver Lucas di Grassi and deputy CEO Rod Chong on how Roborace is merging human driving and artificial intelligence.
How Electric Scooters Could Reshape Cities with Caen Contee (Lime)
Lime has been rolling out its electric scooters across Europe. As European cities are slowly evolving to make it easier to use a bike instead of a car, electric scooters foster a whole new set of questions. Should cities adapt to scooters or should scooters adapt to cities?
Break
Grab some refreshments that are available for purchase from one of our food truck vendors located outside to the left of the Main Stage. Make sure to bring cash.
SPONSORED WORKSHOP – Introducing HERE XYZ: Build Dynamic Map Experiences
Build maps faster than you can fold one. Location content is rapidly becoming part of every industry and almost every application. However, working with location data both as a user and even more so as a developer, is still more difficult than it should be and often involves running and operating custom infrastructure. Learn how HERE XYZ enables everyone – especially non-GIS users and developers – to manage and integrate real-time location data. In this session you will be guided step-by-step on how to create dynamic and engaging maps that help developers tell a story with geospatial data.
Startup Battlefield: Session 2
The hottest startups compete for the Disrupt Cup, $50,000 USD, and eternal glory.
SPONSORED WORKSHOP – How to raise money – and make money – from startups sponsored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
This interactive session will bring together players from across the startup spectrum to explore what makes the difference between fortune and failure. We’ll look at the dynamics of different funding rounds and what investors are looking for, how founders can retain control and how they can work with their sponsors to achieve growth. We’ll touch on the often-overlooked legal structures that can make a startup more attractive to funders and discuss how to keep key employees on board. We’ll share insights on how to tackle shifting regulation and look at how to resolve investor disputes if things go wrong. Our panel of founders, investors and advisers have been on the front line of creating businesses that make money – and will explain how you can do it too.
Sharing the Ride-Sharing Industry with Daniel Ramot (Via), and Markus Villig (Taxify)
It’s time to say it: there won’t be a single global leader in the ride-sharing industry. Many companies will survive and compete in dozens of countries with different offerings. But how do you beat Uber at its own game?
Angel Investing with Sophia Bendz (Atomico)
VCs are often criticised for their lack of Diversity. Atomico has decided to address the issue in an innovative new way. In this session, you’ll get the drop on just how they did it.
Bootstrapping Your Way to the Top with Denys Zhadanov (Readdle)
Readdle, a startup out of Ukraine, has racked up 100 million downloads of its popular PDF app, and is now making a bold move into other productivity tools, all without a single dime of funding. It can be done! Hear Denys Zhadanov tell his startup’s story.
Fireside Chat with Stina Ehrensvärd (Yubico)
It’s time to move beyond thinking a strong password is enough to keep hackers at bay. Yubico CEO Stina Ehrensvärd joins us for a conversation on how we’ll move toward a safer security paradigm that leaves passwords in the past.
SPONSORED WORKSHOP – Empowering European Innovation with the European Innovation Council
At this workshop, we’ll highlight the recently announced new Work Programme covering the budgetary years 2018-2020 that has been earmarked with €2.7 billion for the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot to support market-creating innovation. We’ll exchange ideas and discover new funding possibilities for founders that have ideas or innovations which are radically different from existing products, services or technologies and are highly risky and need additional investment to get to market.
Break
Pioneering Crypto with Jamie Burke (Outlier Ventures) and Vinay Gupta (Mattereum)
Investing in Crypto and Blockchain startups has never been hotter. We’ll hear from these key pioneers in the field who are feeling their way in this brand new arena.
Making Everyone a Secondary VC with Kaidi Ruusalepp (Funderbeam)
As startups stay private longer and more people want to gamble on them, CEO Kaidi Ruusalepp will discuss the risks and rewards of would-be investors turning to Funderbeam’s secondary market.
Startup Battlefield: Session 3
The hottest startups compete for the Disrupt Cup, $50,000 USD, and eternal glory.
Q&A Session with Jamie Burke (Outlier Ventures) and Kaidi Ruusalepp (Funderbeam)
Investing in Crypto and Blockchain startups has never been hotter. Get your questions answered by key pioneers in the field who are feeling their way in this brand new arena.
TC Disrupt Berlin Official After Party
All Disrupt Berlin attendees are invited to the TC Disrupt Berlin official After Party at Watergate to network and dance the night away. Make sure to bring your Disrupt Berlin badge with you for entry.
November 30th
Doors Open / Registration Opens
Opening Remarks with Matthew Panzarino (TechCrunch)
Virtual World, Real Business with Niko Bonatsos (General Catalyst) and Matt Miesnieks (6d.ai)
Crowdsourcing a 3D virtual map of the real world isn’t just ambitious, it’s good business. 6D.ai founder Matt Miesnieks and General Catalyst’s Niko Bonatsos discuss the emerging broader, smarter AR/VR industry.
Going Global with Brynne Kennedy (Topia)
Topia’s Brynne Kennedy will discuss building the tools that enable companies to manage the 21st century mobile workforce.
The European Fintech Fever with Ricky Knox (Tandem) and Valentin Stalf (N26)
Thanks to a unified market, fintech startups have boomed in Europe. And yet, with so many megarounds and startups doing the same thing, are we experiencing a fintech fever?
SPONSORED WORKSHOP: Implementing Location Services into Your Web Applications with Here Technologies
Nic Raboy, Developer Evangelist, HERE Technologies What if you could build an App or API that connected your users to the context of where they are? That’s the promise of geospatial aware applications that make the end-user experience of any application better. In this session, developers will get some hands-on training with the HERE Freemium Plan to use services such as geocoding, routing, and positioning to build location-aware features.
Learning Languages and Building a Startup with Julie Hansen and Markus Witte (Babbel)
Babbel is now managing the top-grossing language learning app in the world. It’s a European success story. The company is now facing a new challenge: conquering the U.S.
Social Authenticity with Robby Stein (Instagram)
How has Instagram impacted how people around the world see themselves? Instagram’s director of product management Robby Stein will talk to us about how the app is evolving to promote authentic self-expression, discuss how its delivering that philosophy as part of the Facebook family, and give us a look at its next big feature.
Break
Selling Fashion in a Post-Web World with Sophie Hill (Threads)
Threads, a startup out of London, has found the perfect way to sell to its target millennial customer: forget the web and focus on messaging apps instead. That bold choice has helped the company land tons of clients and millions in backing from VCs who want in on the action. Hear from founder Sophie Hills about how she got here, and what will come next.
Q&A Session: The European Fintech Fever with Ricky Knox (Tandem)
Thanks to a unified market, fintech startups have boomed in Europe. Ask this leading startup what’s next.
Becoming a "Unicorn Factory" with Philippe Botteri, Sonali De Rycker, Luciana Lixandru and Harry Nelis (Accel)
Accel has built a very strong brand in Europe over the past 18 years, with bets that include Deliveroo and Supercell. Yet staying relevant means continuing to bet on winners. How does Accel think about its heritage and its future, and what does that mean for the startups looking to work with the firm?
Women of Disrupt Lunch
Meet some of the women who are powering the tech industry over a complimentary lunch. Open to all women registered at Disrupt Berlin.
Break
Grab some refreshments that are available for purchase from one of our food truck vendors located outside to the left of the Main Stage. Make sure to bring cash.
Q&A Session: Building Global Unicorns with Niko Bonatsos (General Catalyst) and Phillipe Boteri (Accel)
Building Your Next Car, Today with Laurin Hahn (Sono Motors) and Ole Harms (MOIA)
The car industry has never been so exciting. Everybody is working on the car of the future, which will represent the perfect combination of automation, connectivity, electric motors and mobility services. But who will do it better: Startups or car giants trying to reinvent themselves?
European Space Tech Comes of Age with Mike Collett (Promus Ventures), Rafal Modrzewski (ICEYE), Raycho Raychev (EnduroSat), Frank Salzgeber (European Space Agency)
Space X and Blue Origin are not the only entrepreneurial space games in town! The miniaturization of satellites and the opening up of funding mechanisms for private ventures and investors is going global. We hear from an investor, two entrepreneurs and the EU’s very own space agency on where space technology goes from here.
SPONSORED SESSION – How AI can outperform human teachers and redefine education with Yixue
Joleen Liang will talk about how AI systems such as Squirrel AI uses innovative technologies that combines artificial intelligence with adaptive pedagogy to give every child a super teacher and bring equity to education.
Startup Battlefield Alumni Update
Battlefield startups from the past return to the stage to tell us what they’ve been up to since they competed for the Disrupt Cup.
Startup Battlefield Competition: Final
The hottest startups compete for the Disrupt Cup, $50,000 USD, and eternal glory.
Break
Can Starling Become the Next HSBC with Anne Boden (Starling Bank)
Starling has now convinced hundreds of thousands of people, but it is still far behind the biggest consumer banks. Anne Boden has worked in the banking industry for decades, so she knows what’s missing to jump from a small competitor to a dominant player.
Emerging Market Tech Is About to Explode with Lizzie Chapman (Zestmoney) and Alan Mamedi (Truecaller)
With a $100M warchest, Truecaller has gone from a simple anti-spam service to a payments and chat service for huge new markets like India. Meanwhile, Zest is India’s first completely automated consumer digital lending platform which is giving consumers there new options in financing. We’ll get into how these two pioneers are expanding.
Q&A Session: European Space Tech Comes of Age with Rafal Modrzewski (ICEYE), Raycho Raychev (EnduroSat), Frank Salzgeber (European Space Agency)
The miniaturization of satellites and the opening up of funding mechanisms for private ventures and investors is going global. Come chat with two entrepreneurs and the EU’s space agency on where space technology goes from here.
Building Africa's Technology Ecosystem with Omobola Johnson (TLcom Capital) and Elo Umeh (Terragon Group)
As technology startups begin to flourish in sub-Saharan Africa, what opportunities and obstacles lie ahead?
Startup Battlefield Closing Awards Ceremony
Watch the crowning of the latest winner of Startup Battlefield.
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