Deep Tech CEE Summit & Challenge

⏰ Final hours: Deep Tech CEE Challenge 2026 closes tonight, 23:59 CET.

If you haven't applied yet, here's everything that's on the table.

🏆 Personal cash prizes for founders:

🥇 €5,000 + a ticket to Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2027
🥈 €3,000 + ticket
🥉 €1,000 + ticket

🎟️ Every selected startup gets a free Startup VIP ticket to Deep Tech Summit (worth €660)

🤝 1:1 meetings with 150+ investors at Investor Day, plus closed-door meetings with corporate partners

💰 Direct entry into New Wave VC's deal flow — a newly launched fund making its first investments from the CEE Challenge pool

🇬🇧 UK Funding Track, built with Capital Kinetics London - up to 6 startups pitch online to UK investors + a 4–6 week investor-readiness program + a UK demo day + a shot at presenting in person in the UK

We will select 75–100 best startups from CEE.

Apply now. Deadline is tonight, 23:59 CET

👉 https://deeptechsummit.eu/cee-challenge-2026/apply/

One week left, deep tech founders

The Deep Tech CEE Challenge 2026 closes July 10.

You may win:

💶 Personal cash prizes for founders: €5,000 / €3,000 / €1,000 for best 3

📈 A spot in New Wave VC's deal flow - a new fund picking its first investments from the 2023–2026 pool

💼 Direct sourcing by angel Marian Popinigis (MANAWA, N50)

🇬🇧 Acceleration with Capital Kinetics London, with pitches to UK investors

🎟️ A free Startup VIP ticket to Deep Tech Summit, worth €660 (Warsaw, October 26–27)

🤝 1:1 meetings with 150+ VCs, CVCs, family offices & angels ready to invest, and 150+ CXOs ready to pilot

If you're building deep tech, apply now: https://deeptechsummit.eu/cee-challenge-2026/apply/

Beat competitors. Acquire innovation. Reduce costs.

That's what happens when you compress 6-12 months of technology scouting into 2 days

Why? Because Deep Tech Summit curates the pipeline for you: 75-100 startups, pre-selected from thousands of applications through CEE Challenge. Get access to advanced and validated technologies ready to pilot - from all key sectors of modern economy.

1000+ attendees from 30+ countries. 150+ investors, executives and business leaders - already booking 1:1 meetings through our matchmaking app.

Past editions brought together: PZU, Synthos S.A., Infineon Technologies, Orange Polska, Grupa Azoty, Respect Energy, Wawel S.A., Qemetica, Huawei Polska, Maspex, Lufthansa.

🗓️ October 26-27, Warsaw, Poland

📍 Venue: Kinogram, Fabryka Norblina. Warsaw's former metalworks factory, rebuilt into the city's premium event space.

Learn more about 5th edition: deeptechsummit.eu

📅 We've decided to extend the deadline for Deep Tech CEE Challenge 2026 to July 10th!

Apply → https://deeptechsummit.eu/cee-challenge-2026/

If you haven't applied yet, here's the full case for why it's worth it:

🎯 Get selected for Investor Day, meet investors 1:1, and compete for €5,000, €3,000, or €1,000 in cash prizes.

🤝 Meet corporates, CXOs, and industry leaders looking for deep tech solutions they can pilot or buy.

📣 Present your startup to investors, partners, media, and the CEE deep tech ecosystem.

🌍 Connect with startups, accelerators, research institutions, and innovation networks across CEE and Europe — including direct relationships with Poland's deep tech ecosystem and corporates.

🔍 Talk to experts on-site and pressure-test how you read your own market.

Every selected startup gets a Startup PREMIUM ticket to Deep Tech CEE Summit (worth €660).

Two paths to the pitching sessions:

1. Deep Tech CEE Rising Stars:

Up to 15 pre-selected startups pitch on the Startup Stage.

1st place: €5,000 + a ticket to Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2027
2nd: €3,000 + ticket
3rd: €1,000 + ticket.

2. 🇬🇧 UK Funding Track, built with Capital Kinetics Limited:

Up to 6 startups pitch online to UK investors. meet them in person. A 4–6 week program on investor readiness, financial models, and pitch - closing with a UK demo day in front of curated angels, VCs, and strategic partners.

Up to 3 top startups pitch in person in London.

Apply → https://deeptechsummit.eu/cee-challenge-2026/

You see 1,000+ decks a year. Maybe 10 are worth a second meeting.

Sourcing is the real cost of venture. Hundreds of cold inbound decks. Conferences where day one disappears into finding the right people. And the best CEE deep tech stays invisible from London or Berlin until someone else has already led the round.

We built Deep Tech Summit to fix the sourcing problem.

Curated deal flow, ready to review. Through the CEE Challenge, we screen 500+ applications down to 75–100 deep tech startups across energy, semiconductors, quantum, defense, AI & robotics, and medtech. Instead of digging through the pile, you review a pre-filtered shortlist.

Warsaw, October 26–27:
→ 250+ startups & scaleups
→ 150+ VC, CVC & business angels
→ 300+ scientists, researchers & engineers
→ Thousands of pre-scheduled 1:1 meetings via the matchmaking app

Two days of back-to-back meetings with founders you'd otherwise spend months trying to find. CEE talent with Western-level technical depth, at a fraction of the valuations.

Join us: https://deeptechsummit.eu/

Sourcing one pilot-ready technology takes most corporates 6–12 months.

Scanning markets across a dozen CEE countries. Filtering hundreds of companies. Validating which ones are real. All of that before a single conversation that moves anything forward.

We compress that into 2 days.

Deep Tech Summit is not a conference you attend to "stay on top of trends." Think of it as a sourcing engine.

Through the CEE Challenge, we screen 500+ applications down to 75–100 pre-validated startups - across energy, semiconductors, quantum, defense, advanced manufacturing, and medtech. The advanced technologies your R&D roadmap actually needs, not a hall full of booths.

Warsaw, October 26–27:

→ 1000+ attendees from 30+ countries
→ 150+ executives, managers & entrepreneurs
→ 150+ VC, CVC & business angels
→ 250+ startups & scaleups
→ Thousands of pre-scheduled 1:1 meetings

You arrive with a calendar already booked, and leave with a shortlist of 2–3 technologies ready for pilot.

That's the difference between a line item and a pipeline.

See the program → https://deeptechsummit.eu/

Tickets - Deep Tech Summit Secure your tickets for Deep Tech Summit 2024 and join industry leaders and tech innovators to explore the future of advanced technology!

Applications for CEE Challenge 2026 closes June 30.

If you're building deep tech startup in CEE - in areas like energy, semiconductors, quantum, defense, AI, MedTech and more - this is your window to get reviewed early.

What happens after you apply:

We review your application and select 75–100 startups that will receive a free VIP Startup Ticket to Deep Tech Summit 2026. If you make it through, you'll spend 2 days in back-to-back 1:1 meetings with 150+ investors, VCs, CVCs, and corporate decision-makers actively looking for innovations.

Previous Challenge winners went on to partner with AMD, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and the European Space Agency - ESA. One entered the NATO DIANA program. One became the first Polish startup accepted into Octopus Ventures Deep Tech Accelerator.

That started with an application.

Apply now → deeptechsummit.eu/cee-challenge-2026

Deadline: June 30

Marian Popinigis joined CEE Challenge's Jury and he's he's looking to invest!

Co-founder of Blirt S.A. - led through acquisition by QIAGEN, a global life sciences player. Co-founder of Mercor S.A. and Ambient-System.
Awarded Debut Angel Investor of 2026 by Cobin Angels.

Angel investor behind MANAWA Family Foundation and N50, joins this year's CEE Challenge jury.

Investment focus:
🔬 Deep tech
🧬 Biotech & medtech
💳 Fintech
🛰 Spacetech

Pre-seed and seed stage.

The key criterion isn't just the technology, but the team behind it.

If you're building something that fits? Apply to CEE Challenge 2026.

👉 https://deeptechsummit.eu/cee-challenge-2026/apply/

1000+ attendees, 150+ investors, and 30+ countries in one place. 📊

Applications for Deep Tech CEE Challenge 2026 are now open.

The best deep tech startups join the CEE Challenge to secure their spot at the Deep Tech Summit (October 27–28, Warsaw). Selected companies receive free admission and direct access to our investor network.

Through last years our track record proves the scale, gathering at Deep Tech Summit:

🔹 1000+ attendees from 30+ countries
🔹 250+ startups & scaleups
🔹 150+ investors (VC, CVC & Business Angels)
🔹 150+ executives and managers
🔹 300+ scientists and engineers

CEE Challenge is your fast track to this network 🎯

If you’re building tech that matters and looking for business partners, capital, or sourcing from major industry players – this is your platform.

We are not looking for just “ideas”, but projects ready to meet CIOs, corporate partners, and funds that specialize in deep tech. ⚡

🔗 Apply here: https://deeptechsummit.eu/cee-challenge-2026/apply/