Conference programme

Further details to follow.

“There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.” - Brene Brown
Fear of failure can stifle creativity and hold back great ideas, even for lawyers working with startups. By embracing failure as a learning tool, we can foster psychological safety, encouraging calculated risks and collaboration, crucial for innovative legal strategies. This keynote will guide participants in adopting a “yes-and” mindset to transform failure into growth opportunities, build trust, and boost innovation within legal teams and their startup clients.

We will kickstart the day with a fire side chat on the current state of the venture capital market. The panellists will discuss the global environment for venture capital transactions, both from an investment and fundraising perspective, looking at trends, sector focus, the current state of play and outlook for 2025.

How are funds structured and how do they operate? 
How are they making investment decisions? 
How are funds regulated and why are some funds unable to take board seats in certain jurisdictions? 
Domestic fund structures vs. nearshoring vs. offshoring? 
The role of (external) fund administrators.

This panel of industry experts will delve into the intriguing and continuously evolving landscape of venture capital investments and will explore alternatives to equity investments, such as venture lending. Can they meaningfully contribute to the diversification of investors’ portfolio and risk mitigation, while providing companies with flexible financing options to fuel growth?

We will learn about strategies and best practices that law firms can adopt to build a sustainable and profitable practice in the dynamic and challenging startup and venture capital space. Renowned practitioners in the market will explore key drivers for success such as the development of standardised documents to streamline legal processes, the effective use of technology to enhance efficiency and client service, and the importance of adhering to a strong ethical code to maintain trust and integrity in this rapidly evolving sector.

Let the lawyers have their say! This interactive session will focus on current trends in the market and their impact on deal terms in venture capital transaction documents.

Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to two interactive round table sessions of half an hour each on the hottest tech topics such as AI, fintech, insurtech, cleantech, defence tech, legal tech. Lawyers from different jurisdictions and industries and VC experts will share their experience and knowledge on the last market and deal trends in relation to such hot tech topics.

There are many different colours of exit strategies for venture capital-backed companies in Europe, some successful, some less successful. The panel will explore advantages and disadvantages of various exit routes, including listing on the stock markets, executing a trade sale, or even flipping the business to the United States to maximise valuations and increase exit options.

This session will look at what it takes to grow a business in today’s fast-moving environment from a mere idea to penetrating a global market. We will hear for a panel of C-suite executives who will give us their top tips and insights into what it takes to successfully grow a business from an operational perspective and what are the key aspects to focus on in the early days of growing a business.