Following the big success of The London AI Startup Conference 2025, Startup Network Europe is honoured to announce a 2026 version for Thursday, 3rd of September.

Hosted at Google London, this is an exclusive event that will bring together 120 pre-approved AI Startup CTOs, Founders, Investors, and Ecosystem Leaders, selected from 2,000+ applications.

This Conference is hosted by Startup Network Europe, and supported by Google Cloud.

A Unique Format

Attendance is capped at 120 hand-picked participants, including:

  • 60 AI Startup Founders (UK-based, early-stage, selected from thousands of applications)

  • 30 AI Startup CTOs & Tech Leaders

  • 20 Venture Capital Investors

  • 10 Ecosystem Stakeholders (Accelerators, Incubators, Government, Innovation & Research Centres, News Organisations, etc)

Unlike typical startup events, this conference is carefully curated to foster meaningful connections among the UK’s leading AI players. The four-hour programme balances two hours of dynamic content sessions with two hours of structured networking, supported by a dedicated networking app.

Agenda

9:00am-9:15am: Registration (note: entry is strictly limited to 9.45am at the latest, due to security precautions)

9:15am-9:20am: Google Intro

9:20am-9:30am: Opening Keynote

  • Juhani Mykkänen, Co-Founder of Wolt (Unicorn)Topic: What’s the signal around noise in AI right now?

9:30am-10:15am: Panel Discussion, for 120 in-person attendees and 1,000+ online attendees.

Topic: Moats in the AI Age: Building Real IP in a World of Foundation Models

  • This session tackles the existential shift from "GPT-wrappers" to defensible Architecture. Founders can discuss how to build technical defensibility & IP in a tech stack that Big Tech cannot easily replicate. Angel Investors and VCs can bring their perspective on what this means for long term enterprise value.

Panellists:

  • Meryem Arik, Co-Founder & CEO of Doubleword

  • Brian Kinane, Founding Partner at Sure Valley Ventures

  • Sara El-Hanfy, Director of Artificial Intelligence and Digital at Innovate UK

  • Panellist TBC

  • Panellist TBC

10:15am-11:15am: Roundtable Talks

  • “Growth” Roundtables, moderated by Scaleup Founders- Joel Perlman, Co-Founder of Oaknorth Bank (Unicorn)

  • Roy Tuvey, Co-Founder of Vertice (named by Sifted as UK’s fastest-growing startup of 2025)

  • Roundtable Moderator TBC

  • Roundtable Moderator TBC

  • Roundtable Moderator TBC

  • “Funding” Roundtables, moderated by Venture Capital Investors- Paul Davidson, Partner at Octopus Ventures

  • Roundtable Moderator TBC

  • Roundtable Moderator TBC

  • Roundtable Moderator TBC

  • Roundtable Moderator TBC

11:15am-1:00pm: Networking, with pre-arranged meetings facilitated by a networking app

About Startup Network Europe

Startup Network Europe is an Irish Company that has hosted 280 AI and Startup Conferences across 50 European Cities since 2021. Our most notable events include:

  • The London AI Startup Conference 2025

  • The European AI Conference 2024 (full-day event in Google’s European HQ)

  • The European Startup Conference 2022 (online event with speakers including Steve Wozniak)

Our hundreds of previous speakers include:

  • Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder of Apple

  • Sabeer Bhatia, Co-Founder of Hotmail

  • Joel Perlman, Co-Founder of OakNorth Bank

  • Nathalie Roos, CEO of Lipton Teas and Infusions

  • Spenser Skates, Co-Founder & CEO of Amplitude

  • Katya Denike, Chief Product Officer at Holland & Barrett

  • James Eddison, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer at Octopus Energy

  • Lucile Cornet, Partner at Eight Roads

  • Edward Keelan, Partner at Octopus Ventures

  • Razvan Ranca, Co-Founder & CTO of Tractable

  • Emma Burrows, Co-Founder & CTO of Portia AI

  • Barry Downes, Managing Partner at Sure Valley Ventures

For more information on SNE, please visit our website:

https://startupnetwork.eu/

For any questions on this event, please reach out to:[email protected]

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