Pirate Summit 2017: “Europe’s craziest startup-conference”

For the seventh year in a row, “Europe’s craziest startup-conference” will be hosted in Cologne (Germany): the startup-festival called Pirate Summit. Pirate Summit brings together the movers and shakers of the digital world. They are Europe’s largest invitation-only conference for early-stage startups, investors, and corporate executives. The Pirate Summit represents true grassroots entrepreneurship: authentic, crazy & real. And believe me, when I say it is absolutely crazy.

Unique in every way

The summit will be packed with over 1200 participants, 80 top speakers, 70 pitches and 70 different nationalities. It will also take place in one of the most unique locations Cologne has to offer: Odonien. It basically is a scrapyard turned into an outdoor art gallery. If that’s not crazy enough for you there will also be robots and fires, accompanying pirate-cosplaying attendees saying “ARRR” in every single one of their sentences. This amount of piratery will probably only increase during the course of the festival, as startups, corporate executives and investors alike will empty bottles of rum and drink shots together during some “networking”.

Accessible and meaningful

All jokes aside, there will be time for real, meaningful networking, as the informal and fun setting allows for very easy conversations. Networking can be very tense and nerve wracking when the stakes are really high. This ensures networking to be accessible and motivational at the same time. Through dedicated 1-on-1 sessions, speed dating or mentoring sessions for startups, it is the festival’s goal to connect the most bright minds of the startup ecosystem. At the end of the day, attendees can be part of a truly extraordinary event. A wooden statue, based on an old Cologne carnival tradition called “Nubbelverbrennung”, will be lit on fire on the first night right before the infamous party. Summarising, expect to meet a lot of inspirational people, see some awesome art, have motivational talks, end up with a lot of business cards and last but not least lots of alcohol. Arrr.

House rules

To create some order among the chaos of Pirate Summit, the founders established some house rules. First, people will adress each other with first names only. this facilitates the informal atmosphere only further. Second, everyone is a VIP, creating a true sense of how it would be to be part of a free, pirate community. Third, no bullshit. The founders know that they are stating the obvious here, but sometimes this rule is forgotten. Fourth, give before you ask. And last but not least, just arrrrr! We are pirates after all.

All aboard

So all aboard the Jolly Roger (or the Queen Anne’s Revenge if black beards are more of your thing). Pirate Summit will be held on the 6th and 7th of September in Cologne, Germany. If you are a startup and you would like to participate, you can click the link here. You can also get a 20%-discount by being one of the first ten startups to use the discount code SILICONCANALS.