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OCT 26–27, 2026 · WARSAW · 5TH EDITION

The home ofEuropean deep tech

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Prices rise on 16 October 2026 at 23:59 CEST.
1,000+
Attendees from 30+ countries
250+
Startups & scaleups
150+
VC, CVC & business angels
300+
Scientists, researchers & engineers
Thousands
Pre-scheduled 1:1 meetings

Co-organizers

Minister Nauki i Szkolnictwa WyższegoPolitechnika Krakowska

Partner Region

Samorząd Województwa Mazowieckiego

City of Deep Tech

Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa

Choose your ticket

Startup

€300 – €500

Scale your deep tech business

  • Three Summit stages of deep tech insights
  • Investor 1:1 scheduling via the app
  • Networking parties & Innovators Gala
Get startup ticket

Investor

€490

Access curated CEE deal flow

  • VC Central & Deep Tech Summit
  • Matchmaking with founders & investors
  • Exclusive lounges, cocktails & VIP Afterparty
Get investor ticket

Business

€550 – €750

Scout pilot-ready technologies

  • All Summit stages & AI matchmaking
  • Exclusive lounge with lunch & drinks
  • Innovators Gala & VIP Afterparty
Get business ticket

Day 2 only · Oct 27

Ecosystem

€295 – €550

Summit Day access only

  • Three Summit stages of deep tech insights
  • R&D partner matchmaking via the app
  • Networking parties & Innovators Gala
Get ecosystem ticket
Paweł Ząbek, Deep Tech Summit team

Questions before you buy?

Better Call Paweł!

Paweł ZąbekDeep Tech Summit team

Meet our speakers

Confirmed speakers for Deep Tech Summit 2026.
More names are announced on a rolling basis.

Jaromír Zahrádka

EIC Board Member

Founder of i&i Prague and i&i Biotech Fund, co-founder of Prague.bio, European Innovation Council (EIC)

2026 stage

Jaromír Zahrádka

EIC Board Member

Founder of i&i Prague and i&i Biotech Fund, co-founder of Prague.bio, European Innovation Council (EIC)

Website

Biography

Jaromír Zahrádka is an ecosystem builder, entrepreneur and investor in deep-tech and life sciences with more than 14 years of experience in venture building, fundraising and scaling science-based startups. He founded i&i Prague, a life-science incubator turning public research into companies, and i&i Biotech Fund (€53m), backed by the European Investment Fund and Česká Spořitelna (Erste Group), the first dedicated biotech venture capital fund of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. Through these and related activities, he has supported over 20 startups across Europe and the US, contributing to more than €120 million raised and three successful exits. He is also a co-founder of Prague.bio, a regional life-science innovation platform, and a frequent speaker and university lecturer on innovation strategy, venture creation and technology transfer, with a strong focus on strengthening European innovation ecosystems, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. In his work, he focuses on building bridges between academia, investors and policymakers and on improving access to capital and know-how for founders from emerging innovation regions.

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Maciej Szott

Poland

Co-founder

GoToSmith

2026 stage

Maciej Szott

Co-founder

GoToSmith

Poland
LinkedIn profile

Biography

Maciej Szott is an entrepreneur, investor and strategic GTM advisor. For 18 years he co-built Luxon LED, an industrial lighting and energy-efficiency company going through the full cycle: building sales from zero, scaling the team and marketing, taking on the CEO role, leading the company through a financial restructuring, and eventually exiting to a strategic investor. Under his commercial leadership, Luxon scaled 74x in 7 years. In parallel, Maciej was a non-operational co-founder of ZEME, a digital marketplace for waste management, he opened the door to the company's first major clients and advised on key strategic decisions on how to scale the company. ZEME has since scaled 124x in 7 years and is today valued at around 200M PLN. Across these two companies, Maciej's track record includes landing on the Deloitte Fast 50 CEE, Deloitte Fast 500 and Financial Times 1000 lists. Today Maciej is co-founder of GoToSmith, where he helps B2B technical founders in deep tech, clean tech, energy tech and industrial B2B build a repeatable go-to-market engine, one that doesn't depend on the founder's constant presence. He also acts as a strategic advisor and investor in Miellec (energy storage/BESS), Gekko Photonics (deep tech / photonics) and Linker Cloud (SaaS/logistics). 18 years operating inside B2B and industrial sales: long cycles, multi-person buying committees, CapEx decisions, before turning that experience into a framework for other deep tech founders.

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Tomasz Ćwik

Poland

Co-founder & CEO

Finqubit

2026 stage

Tomasz Ćwik

Co-founder & CEO

Finqubit

Poland
LinkedIn profile

Biography

Passionate technologist and experienced financial industry executive who loves to shift the borders of what is possible with strong track record of successful innovations merging cutting-edge technologies with practical financial industry challenges. Leader of the first Quantum team in the financial sector in CEE. Recognized as one of the Worldwide Quantum Strategists by Quantum Insider.

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Christian Kumar

United Kingdom

Founder & CEO

MedTech Makers Lab

MedTech Makers Lab logo
MedTech Makers Lab logo

2026 stage

Christian Kumar

Founder & CEO

MedTech Makers Lab

United Kingdom
LinkedIn profileWebsite

Biography

More than 30 years in corporate finance, investment banking, and wealth management. Runs MedTech Makers Lab, a venture builder for medical technology with programmes in the UK and Europe, including Poland, and Capital Kinetics, a corporate finance and private equity firm.

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Sven Zagała

Poland

CEO

ResQuant

2026 stage

Sven Zagała

CEO

ResQuant

Poland
LinkedIn profile

Biography

Sven Zagała is the CEO of ResQuant, a serial entrepreneur, business developer, and business angel with nearly thirty years of experience building technology companies. At ResQuant he leads the development of European hardware chips that implement NIST-compliant post-quantum cryptography for IoT and edge computing devices. He is also a partner at Invento.VC and a mentor to ICT, deep tech, blockchain, and AI projects.

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Agnieszka Chłąd

Communications Adviser

EIC & SMEs Executive Agency, European Commission, European Innovation Council (EIC)

2026 stage

Agnieszka Chłąd

Communications Adviser

EIC & SMEs Executive Agency, European Commission, European Innovation Council (EIC)

Website

Biography

Agnieszka Chłąd is a communications professional at the European Innovation Council (EIC), where she works at the intersection of deep tech innovation, investment and European policy. She leads communication activities that showcase Europe’s breakthrough innovations and support the growth of European deep tech start-ups and scale-ups. Her work brings her into close contact with entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders, with a particular focus on how Europe can help its most promising technologies reach the market and scale globally.

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Tomasz Misiak

Poland

Founder

Mizyak Investment Fund

Mizyak Investment Fund logo
Mizyak Investment Fund logo

2026 stage

Tomasz Misiak

Founder

Mizyak Investment Fund

Poland
LinkedIn profileWebsite

Biography

Tomasz Misiak is a graduate of the Wrocław University of Economics and Business and IESE Business School (a graduate school for managers attached to the University of Navarra). He also completed the Global Leadership Seminar and Global CEO Program at Georgetown University. From 2022 to 2024, he participated in the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School in Boston. He is the founder of Work Service S.A. (established in 1999) – the first and largest Polish temporary employment agency. Over 20 years of activity, he led the company, which started as a student project, to the status of a market leader in HR services in Central and Eastern Europe, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. From 1999 to 2007, he served as Vice President of the Management Board, and subsequently as a member of its Supervisory Board. From 2012 to 2021, he served as Vice President of Employers of Poland, and is currently a Member of its Council. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Polish Business Roundtable. He is also a member of Corporate Connections. As an initiator and shareholder, he actively focuses on the development of Mizyak Investment Fund LTD. He is also a founding investor in the bValue fund. He began his socio-political experience with student organizations and the Wrocław City Council, where he served as Chairman of the Economic Initiatives Committee. In the years 2005–2011, he served as a Senator of the Republic of Poland, simultaneously acting as Head of the National Economy Committee and participating in the works of the European Union Affairs Committee. Currently, he sits on the supervisory boards of Antal Sp. z o.o. and Personnel Service S.A. In the past, he also served on the supervisory bodies of many other companies, including: Exact Systems Sp. z o.o., IT Kontrakt Sp. z o.o., Finance Care Sp. z o.o., Telakces Com Sp. z o.o., MM Conferences S.A. (listed on NewConnect), Hawe S.A., and IDM S.A. Furthermore, he served as President of the World of Ideas Foundation (Fundacja Świat Idei), publisher of the Polish edition of Project Syndicate. He is a laureate of numerous business awards, including Teraz Polska, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Entrepreneurship Leader, Market Leader, and Manager of the Year. He is passionate about literature and modern technologies. Every day, he shares his acquired knowledge through analyses of new trends, global changes, and the impact of new technologies and AI on our lives and future.

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Katarzyna (Kate) Wszoła

Poland

Founder

PMC DA VINCI

2026 stage

Katarzyna (Kate) Wszoła

Founder

PMC DA VINCI

Poland
LinkedIn profile

Biography

Kate helps large organisations make innovation executable, turning strategy, new technologies and R&D ambition into decisions, processes and projects that actually run inside corporate structures within fast changing environment. She brings 14+ years of hands-on innovation leadership across corporate, start-up and academic ecosystems, including director-level roles at regional and group level, most recently as Director of Innovation at Veolia Energia Polska. Earlier, among others, she headed the R&D Club, connecting more than 60 large corporations and SMEs in Poland around joint innovation initiatives. Today, as an independent consultant, facilitator and trainer, she works with corporate innovation teams, R&D departments and leadership boards on innovation management and corporate readiness within innovation, deep tech commercialization and corporate–start-up collaboration. Kate is a Fellow of the Leadership Academy for Poland and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, with specialised training at the Fraunhofer Institute, Max Planck Institute, TU Dresden, IBM New York and Lund University. She works in Polish, English and French.

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Frane Šesnić

Croatia

CEO

Zagreb Innovation Centre (ZICER)

2026 stage

Frane Šesnić

CEO

Zagreb Innovation Centre (ZICER)

Croatia
LinkedIn profile

Biography

Frane graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in Split and completed his postgraduate specialist studies in Financial Institutions and Markets at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb. He was appointed to the rank of Lecturer by the Rector’s Conference and regularly features as a speaker at numerous tech and entrepreneurship conferences. He is the initiator of several international events, including the Zagreb Connect startup conference and the Startup Europe Regatta—a conference specializing in sustainable greentech and fintech solutions. He established Startup Factory, Croatia’s first acceleration program, initiated Global Growth and Tech Transfer, and launched financial instruments for startup grants and investments. He actively works on connecting stakeholders across society to build a thriving startup ecosystem. Through ZICER, he leads the largest startup hub in the region.

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Róża Szafranek

Poland

Founder & CEO

HR Hints

2026 stage

Róża Szafranek

Founder & CEO

HR Hints

Poland
LinkedIn profile

Biography

Róża Szafranek is the founder and CEO of HR Hints, which works on an interim model, running 30–40 transformations in parallel. She is the author of the Culturivy® method, published in the United States in the book “Culturivy: the Power of Changing a Workplace”. Her firm has already helped more than 300 organizations operationally with people-side change, transformation, implementing processes, optimizing how teams work, and achieving business goals.

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Joanna Makowiecka-Gatza

Poland

President

Employers of Poland

Employers of Poland logo
Employers of Poland logo

2026 stage

Joanna Makowiecka-Gatza

President

Employers of Poland

Poland
LinkedIn profile

Biography

An experienced senior executive with many years of leadership experience in listed companies and corporate groups operating in the industrial, infrastructure and real estate development sectors, she has served as CEO of Karmar S.A. (Bouygues Group) and as a Management Board Member of Polimex Mostostal S.A., with responsibility for developing and implementing growth strategies, improving operational efficiency and leading complex business transformation processes. As President of Employers of Poland (Pracodawcy RP) and a member of the Social Dialogue Council, she actively contributes to shaping economic and regulatory policy in Poland, representing the interests of businesses and the wider employer community.

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Walter Buga

United States

CEO & Founder

Arendai Inc

2026 stage

Walter Buga

CEO & Founder

Arendai Inc

United States
LinkedIn profile

Biography

Dr. Walter Buga is the CEO and founder of Arendai Inc.—a San Diego (U.S.)-based startup with offices in Łódź and Wrocław that automates factories and warehouses, preparing them to work with robots. Previously, he founded and led Arynga Inc. (based in San Diego with an office in Łódź), which was sold to Intel Corporation in 2016, generating more than a 10-fold return on investment for its investors in less than four years. He earned his Ph.D. in engineering from the Wrocław University of Technology and began his professional career at Bell Labs (AT&T/Lucent Technologies), where he developed a plan for AT&T’s successful entry into the Polish and Eastern European markets after 1989. He is an expert in telecommunications and autonomous systems, currently focusing on industrial IoT, robotics, and AI.

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Ian Firla

United Kingdom

Managing Partner

New Wave VC

New Wave VC logo
New Wave VC logo

2026 stage

Ian Firla

Managing Partner

New Wave VC

United Kingdom
LinkedIn profileWebsite

Biography

Ian Firla is an entrepreneur and investor who co-founded OSTC Group and helped build it into an international business over nearly two decades. During that time, he helped develop and spin out businesses in financial education and foreign exchange, and was a finalist in the European Business Awards. Following the sale of OSTC's operating business in 2024, Ian has focused on advising founders and leadership teams on growth, strategy and execution. At New Wave VC, he brings the perspective of someone who has built businesses, navigated their challenges and taken them through an exit.

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Paola Lo Bue Oddo

Policy Officer

European Innovation Council (EIC)

2026 stage

Paola Lo Bue Oddo

Policy Officer

European Innovation Council (EIC)

Website

Biography

Paola Lo Bue Oddo is a lawyer and policy officer at DG RTD’s European Innovation Council at the European Commission. As an EU official, Paola focuses on innovation, security and defense topics and is working on the expansion of the EIC to defense and dual-use. She has also worked at NATO and its Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre.

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All Speakers

Who is this for?

Corporate Leaders

Finding advanced technologies for a pilot usually takes 6–12 months. We do it in 2 days. Pre-validated solutions across energy, semiconductors, AI, defense, and biotech.

Investors

Stop reviewing cold decks. 75–100 deep tech startups, selected from 500+ applications through CEE Challenge. Your deal flow is curated before you arrive.

Founders & Operators

Making the top 15% of CEE Challenge places you in front of 150+ investors who came specifically to meet you. Your calendar fills before the event starts.

Scientists and Researchers

Science to Business stage and 1:1s with funders and pilot partners — for PhDs, labs, and spinout teams.

Public Sector

Stages, matchmaking, and the CEE deep tech community — founders, labs, and corporates in one place for two days.

Summit tracks
For 2026

Energy & Environment

AI & Semiconductors

Quantum & Security

Defense & Space

Robotics

MedTech & Biotech

Two days
structured for outcomes

VC Central for matchmaking and deal flow.
Summit Day for stages, pitching, and the rooms that close conversations.

MON OCT 26

VC Central

  • Pre-scheduled 1:1 matchmaking
  • Investing in the Future — flash sessions
  • Networking for active deep tech capital
VC Central program
  • Event Hall 4
    • 10:00 to 17:00: Matchmaking & 1:1 Meetings (Day 1)
  • Investment Day
    • 16:00 to 16:15: OFFICIAL OPENING
    • 16:15 to 17:00: Who Will Fund the Next Generation of CEE Deep Tech Champions?
    • 17:00 to 17:45: Bolstering Defences: Can Scale-up Funding Help Build New Defence Capabilities?
    • 17:45 to 18:00: CVC vs VC: The Difference of Perspectives
    • 18:00 to 18:15: Coffee Break
    • 18:15 to 19:00: Business Angel's Role in Advancing Deep Tech
Oct 26 program →

TUE OCT 27

Deep Tech Summit

  • Keynotes, panels & fireside chats
  • CEE Challenge pitching competition
  • Pre-scheduled 1:1 matchmaking
  • CEE Innovators Gala & VIP afterparty
Deep Tech Summit program
  • 1:1 meetings
    • 09:00 to 16:30: Matchmaking & 1:1 Meetings (Day 2)
  • Business on Tech
    • 10:30 to 10:45: The Next Wave of Deep Tech Breakthroughs
    • 10:45 to 11:30: Defence Innovation at the Center of European Tech
    • 11:30 to 11:45: Can Corporations Keep Up With Technological Change?
    • 11:45 to 12:30: Deep Tech Alliance Panel: Corporate-Start-up Collaboration in Deep Tech: Open Innovation and Venture Clienting Across Europe
    • 12:30 to 13:15: VIP Lunch break
    • 13:15 to 13:30: Smart Manufacturing: Transformation to Industry 4.0 with AI, Digital Twins and AMRs
    • 13:30 to 13:45: The Race to Build Europe's Semiconductor Capacity
    • 13:45 to 14:00: PRESENTATION: NCBR
    • 14:00 to 14:15: Companies talk about implementations, while teams... simply fail to deliver them
    • 14:15 to 14:30: CEE Deep Tech: Turning Technical Strength into Commercial Value
    • 14:30 to 15:15: HELLO TOMORROW PANEL: Manufacturing Semiconductors in the Industry 4.0 Era
    • 15:15 to 16:00: Rocket Fuel for Startups: Inside the Funding of New Space
    • 16:00 to 19:00: Defence & Security Meet-Up by Polish Chamber of Dual-Use
  • Science to Business
    • 09:30 to 10:00: Official Opening: Europe Needs a Stronger Innovation Engine
    • 10:00 to 10:45: High Level Discussion: How Do You Like the Public Funding of Your Startup? A Conversation of the Roles and Responsibilities for State-funded Companies in Europe
    • 10:45 to 11:30: Revolutionizing Life Sciences
    • 11:30 to 12:15: Silicon & Photonics: The Technologies Shaping the Future of Computing
    • 12:15 to 13:00: Beyond Recycling: Green Hydrogen, Circular Carbon and Deep Tech for Net-Zero Industry
    • 13:00 to 13:15: Kraków University of Technology: Pitching Session
    • 13:15 to 14:00: Medical University of Warsaw Presents: Medicine in the Age of AI
    • 14:00 to 14:45: Building Your Path to the EIC Accelerator
    • 17:15 to 19:00: Quantum Meet-Up
  • Startup Stage
    • 11:30 to 11:40: City of Warsaw - Deep Tech Hub
    • 11:40 to 11:45: Warsaw Booster
    • 11:45 to 12:00: Akces NCBR Presents: Deep Tech Startups in Action
    • 12:00 to 12:15: Partners' Start-ups Pitching Session
    • 12:15 to 12:30: PPNT Fund: Meet our portfolio startups. A conversation with byMYCO and TherapySupport
    • 12:30 to 12:45: PARP: Empowering Deep Tech Innovation Across Poland
    • 12:45 to 15:00: Deep Tech CEE Challenge: CEE Rising Stars - Pitching session
    • 15:00 to 17:00: CEE & UK MedTech Meetup
  • Demo Days Stage
    • 13:00 to 15:00: Cleantech CEE Demo Day for Administration by FPT
    • 15:00 to 17:00: Industry Lab Demo Day by DGA
  • Meet-up Stage
    • 14:00 to 15:00: SpaceTech Meet-Up by STARR
    • 15:00 to 17:00: Food & Industrial Biotech Meetup by BioCatalyst
  • Dom Braci Jabłkowskich
    • 19:30 to 23:30: VIP Afterparty
Oct 27 program →Get a ticket

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What past attendees say

“I've been to many events, but this is the first one truly built around deep tech — creating real value for both startups and investors by bringing together a very specific, high-caliber community.”

Dan LupuVenture Partner, Earlybird (Romania)

Aftermovie 2025

Partners & supporters

The ecosystem behind
Deep Tech Summit

Co-organizers

Partner Region

City of Deep Tech

Honorary patrons

Institutional partners

Business partner

  • Pracodawcy RPPracodawcy RP

International partners

Supportive partners

Ecosystem partners

Become a partner

Put your brand in front of 1,000+ deep tech founders, investors, and corporates — with year-round access to the startup pipeline.

Become a partner

Get the CEE
deep tech report

Market map, deal-flow trends, and the startups that defined the last edition — delivered to your inbox.

FAQ

What you need to know
before you buy

How do 1:1 meetings work?

Meetings are booked on Gridaly, where tickets are sold: after you buy a ticket, you request and accept 1:1 meetings in the Gridaly Event app. Which meetings you can book depends on your ticket; each ticket card lists it.

What do the VIP tickets add?

Startup VIP adds Investor Day, the VIP Dinner and access to 80+ VC funds. Business VIP adds VC Central, the VIP Dinner, the full three-stage program and full matchmaking. Ecosystem Premium adds full two-day access, the VIP Lounge and the Afterparty.

Are group bookings available?

Yes — contact office@deeptechsummit.eu for corporate and fund group rates.