We want to take this opportunity to wish you Happy Holidays and to share with you our most memorable moments from 2018.
We had the great fortune to work alongside amazing high-level investors, partners and hosts. Through our collaboration we have helped more entrepreneurs than ever to raise capital for their endeavours. Here is an overview of some of our highly valued partners in 2018.
Impact data
European companies are taking steps towards following the US lead when it comes to utilising, supporting and funding tech innovation. We are tremendously proud to see growth within our members’ respective sectors. 763 tech companies that have presented at Tech Tour events from 2011-2018 have collectively done strategic deals amounting to €14.3 billion! Read more about the impact you have contributed to in the 2018 Tech Tour impact data.
Success stories
We also want to highlight three Tech Tour success stories from 2018: New Motion, Medopad and Collibra. All three evidences of what great success you can achieve by not only working hard on a new innovation – but also by meeting the right partners.
The Dutch cleantech company New Motion. Founded in 2009 and today powering the E-mobility movement with over 116,500 e-vehicle charge cards registered for use at 80,000 different charge points in 28 countries. New Motion was featured as a success story at the November Cleantech Summit Energy Transition following its acquisition by Shell.
The British Healthtech start-up Medopad‘s AI tool for connecting patients to the healthcare system through the mobile network earned them the Tech Tour 2018 Digital Health Award in June. They have been named a "$1 billion unicorn in the making" by KPMG.
The digital tech company Collibra which did their first presentation at a Tech Tour event in 2007, are part of the 2018 Tech Tour Growth 50 and raised another significant funding round in 2018. Their tools for data governance and catalogue solutions enable their customers to find, understand, and trust their data.
Other examples of success can be found in the grand line-up of finalists and winners for the 2018 European Venture Contest. It is humbling to follow the hard work of all these great innovative idea makers who are eager to make a change. We thank you all for contributing to their success.
What was new in 2018
In 2018 we have familiarized ourselves with new exciting streams such as Energy Transition and Immersive Tech (XR, VR, AR). We have dipped into the venture scene of China, an experience that we want to explore further. Tech Tour was selected to arrange the European Union Council Presidency event on financial instruments in Bulgaria and has been trusted with the task of large EC projects. We have arranged 35 events of which 11 were ePitching sessions. These events provided all together a face-to-face meeting and networking platform for 750 entrepreneurs selected by the over 500 attending investors. We have renewed the Council of the International Venture Club (IVC) and are proud to have Dr. Bernhard Mohr, Managing Director at Evonik Venture Capital, as this investor network’s new chairman managed and supported by Tech Tour.
Thank you
Year by year the stream of pioneering tech ideas grows in width, depth and speed. Identifying good long term and sustainable inventions becomes increasingly challenging. We are proud to say that our expert groups, judges and selection committees have done a tremendous job in taking the entrepreneur selection process to another level. We are grateful to all that have contributed to the raise in impact for our participants and our investors.
“We are what we share” was the motto of Diogo Vasconcelos (1968-2011), one of the founding members of the IVC. Without having high level entrepreneurs sharing their story on our networking platform we would not have be able to contribute to their success. Only by sharing with others can we succeed.
We wish you and your family Happy Holidays and we look forward to work with you again in the new year!
