11 March 2021. The START Summit x Hack 2021 will play host to influential personalities from the start-up ecosystem; besides many others, they include Michael Seibel, Managing Director of Y Combinator, Verena Pausder of ada, Chairman of the Boards of Management of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz Ola Källenius and mRNA pioneer Ingmar Hoerr. The biggest student-organised conference for technology and entrepreneurship in Europe, which was set up by a team of 70 students of the University of St.Gallen, will take place completely online this year. This was decided by the team early on in order to safeguard the realisation of the conference in March 2021.
The challenge of an online platform
Julian Shergill, head of the online event management of the START Summit x Hack, and his team developed an interactive online platform that allows for a new kind of conference experience within a short period of time. Format such as Pitching Competition, START Summiteer, Investor Speeddating and Keynotes will provide participants with even more online than offline. And at virtual booths, visitors will be able to contact start-ups and partners in an uncomplicated way – just a few clicks will start a video call with the relevant people. Thus the spontaneous and personal interaction which characterised the START Summit x Hack in the past can also take place in the virtual space.
Seasoned personalities pass on their experience
The corona crisis and the online format of this year’s conference do not detract from people’s enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and innovation. Numerous seasoned exponents from business and the start-up ecosystem have confirmed their participation. Personalities such as Michael Seibel, Managing Director of Y Combinator and founder of the streaming platform Twitch, Verena Pausder, founder of ada and author of Das Neue Land, Ola Källenius, HSG alumnus and Chairman of the Boards of Management of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, and Ingmar Hoerr, mRNA pioneer and CureVac founder, will provide insights into their wealth of experience; they will help to shape a new generation of entrepreneurs. The perspectives of academia and politics will also be represented. Guests will include Prof. Dr. Lars Feld, former Chair of the German Council of Economic Experts, and economics professor Prof. Dr. Dr. Ann-Kristin Achleitner.
Founding spirit extends network
Every START Summit x Hack extends the network of the START Global initiative: firms from the US-American Silicon Valley are as equally represented as companies from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Israel and China. START Global is also positioned internationally as a student initiative: it is represented with nine branch offices in Europe, for instance in Lausanne, Helsinki, Munich, Berlin, Warsaw and since last year also in Stuttgart. START Global was established by HSG students 25 years ago. Today, START Global is Europe’s leading student initiative for entrepreneurship and technology with its headquarters at the University of St.Gallen. Since 1996, its has interlinked start-ups, investors, firms and entrepreneurial talents in order to create the next generation of founders.
Close cooperation with the HSG Learning Center
The START Summit x Hack has always had close ties to the University of St.Gallen. The first edition of 1996 and many others took place on the HSG campus. For reasons of space, the ever-growing event had to be moved to the Olma Halls. Now, in 2021, START Summit x Hack is returning to the campus of the University of St.Gallen. “When the idea was mooted to run the START Summit in the shell of the Learning Center now under construction, our enthusiasm was kindled at once. Running a prototypical conference in the ‘start-up’ of our alma mater is incredibly appropriate,” says Dan Meier, project leader of the START Summit x Hack. He is looking forward to staging the “pioneering online conference” in the HSG Learning Center in March 2021.
To improve the compatibility of the conference with professional activities, thus using one of the strongest points of the online format, the 2021 conference will mainly take place in the afternoons and evenings.
The detailed conference programme, including lectures, panel discussions and all further formats, can be found through the following link: www.startsummit.ch/program-2021 und www.starthack.eu/program