Thu, Oct 29 · 6:00 PMFree – $29
Startup Pitch: 5 Founders on Stage
MINI Café Bar · 🇨🇭 Zurich
Five founders, five minutes each, then questions from the room. Tables on topics Zurich voted for, and an open hour after the stage.
OpenRegister
Jul 21, 2026 · 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM CESTNetworkingIn-personPast
Startup Networking Zurich: Founders, Investors & Talent Mixer
Zurich Startup Networking Event: Meet Founders, Investors, and Talent - Build or Scale Your Startup
Location
Date
Jul 21, 20267:00 PM – 10:00 PM CEST
Tickets
Free – $60
Format
In-person
Language
Held in English
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About this event
What to expect
Startup Networking Event in Zurich for founders, investors, and tech talent.
Join a high-signal startup networking event in Zurich where founders, investors, and talent connect to build and scale startups.Meet the right people, unlock real opportunities, and grow within the Zurich startup ecosystem.
Why This Event Is Different
Most networking events end with exchanged LinkedIn profiles.
This one focuses on real conversations and real opportunities.
We bring together founders, investors, engineers, operators and talent in a curated environment designed to create meaningful connections.
Through interactive networking rounds, open conversations and pitch opportunities, participants can share challenges, exchange insights and build relationships that last beyond the event.
What to Expect
Startup Networking in ZurichStructured networking rounds where founders, investors, and talent connect, share challenges, and explore opportunities.
Talent & Hiring ConnectionsMeet engineers, operators, and professionals in the Zurich startup ecosystem.
Startup & Investor ConversationsDiscussions around fundraising, product development, and scaling startups.
Who Should Attend
- Startup founders in Zurich
- VC and angels investors
- Engineers and builders
- Operators and product managers
- Recruiters and HR professionals
- Sales and business development professionals
- Job seekers interested in startups
- Newcomers to the Zurich tech ecosystem
Want to Pitch?
A limited number of founders will have the opportunity to present their startup.
Selected founders will showcase their pitch deck to the audience and attending investors, followed by a short Q&A where participants can ask questions and share feedback.
Apply by sending your pitch
Spots are limited and founders will be selected in advance.
For Investors
We invite local investors, angels and venture capitalists to join the event.
Investor participation is complimentary.
After verification, investors receive access to the Ascent Valley ecosystem, including:
- curated startup introductions
- access to our startup digest
- access to our platform and founder community
Interested investors can request verification
This evening's format
Startup Pitch: 5 Founders on Stage
Five founders, five minutes each, then the room asks. A table on a topic the room voted for, and the hour after the stage, which is the one people remember.
How the evening runs
- 01You arrive, put on a name sticker and take a table on a topic the room voted for. You stay there for the hour instead of doing a lap looking for a gap in someone else's conversation.
- 02Five founders take the stage, five minutes each. No slides read out loud. Then the room asks, and the questions are the good part.
- 03The stage ends and the floor stays open for an hour. Nobody is performing any more; that is the hour people actually remember.
- 04The stage is by application, read by a person. The audience needs only a ticket.
What you leave with
- The question you have been quietly avoiding, asked out loud to somebody else, and a look at how they handled it.
- A link that keeps working after the night: who else came, a chat for this evening and a recap of who you met.
- If you pitched: a profile in our startup directory, read by a person, in front of the funds and angels in the network.
Who it is for
Anyone building something, from the first line of code to Series A, and the people who run a function at a company that is scaling, write the code, do the hiring, or are still deciding whether to start.
Why it is worth itWatching somebody explain their company in five minutes teaches you more about explaining yours than another evening alone with the deck.
Schedule5 items
Event agenda
Times in Europe/Zurich
- 06:45 PMCheck - in
Check in, grab a drink, and start meeting fellow founders, builders, and investors before the program begins.
- 07:20 PMInteractive Networking Session
Selected founders present their startups to the audience and receive feedback from founders, operators, and investors.
- 08:20 PMBreak
Time to recharge, continue conversations, and prepare for the startup pitch session.
- 08:50 PMStartup Pitch Session
Selected founders present their startups to the audience and receive feedback from founders, operators, and investors.
- 09:30 PMChill Networking
Informal conversation to wrap up.
Frequently asked
Before you book
Do I need a startup to attend?
No. The room is built around founders, but investors and operators (product, engineering, marketing, people who have done the job) are who founders come to meet. Each format says who it is for, and the event page repeats it for that evening.
Can I pitch my startup?
At Pitch Nights and Investor Connect evenings, by application. A ticket lets you attend; a separate application, reviewed by a person, puts you on the list to present. Read how pitching works before you apply.
Will investors be there?
Sometimes, and we never promise it for a given night. Investors come to Investor Connect and to some pitch nights; they are approved on application and are not used as bait. Introductions to investors are made by us afterwards, through the Monday digest, and we take no percentage of any deal.
How do I register, and where is my ticket?
Open the event page and use its ticket button. It takes you to the platform that sells that evening, Eventbrite or Luma; your ticket and confirmation come from there, to the email you used. Right after the purchase you also get two emails from us: an invitation to our Luma calendar and an invitation to your city's community. Each evening is sold in one place only, and refunds follow that ticket page's terms.
What happens after the evening?
You are in your city's community from the moment you buy the ticket: the invitation arrives with your purchase, and it opens in Slack, in the browser or in Telegram, three doors to one room. That is where the conversation continues and where the next date is announced. If you pitched, your startup enters our base with the evening and the date on record.
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