On April 24-25, 2025, the EU-Startups Summit returns to Malta, bringing collectively 2,300 founders, buyers, and innovation leaders for 2 packed days of networking, inspiration, and knowledge-sharing.
For startups searching for funding, the choice between making use of for public grants or elevating enterprise capital could be a make-or-break second. Each choices have distinctive benefits, dangers, and expectations. To assist founders navigate this resolution, our panel “Public Grants vs. VC Funding” will discover the important thing variations, strategic concerns, and long-term implications of every funding route.
To dive into this important subject, we’ve assembled a panel of seasoned consultants from each the private and non-private funding worlds:
David Seoane – FundingBox
David is the Head of Digital Enterprise Growth at FundingBox, a platform connecting startups with public funding alternatives throughout Europe. With intensive expertise in digital innovation ecosystems, David helps entrepreneurs in figuring out and making use of for EU-funded programmes, with a deal with deep tech and digital transformation initiatives. He additionally contributes to shaping funding methods that bridge the hole between public cash and startup wants.
Dimitar Vassilev – EIC & SMEs Government Company
Dimitar is a Board Member on the EIC & SMEs Government Company, one of many important arms of the European Fee answerable for managing EU programmes supporting innovation, analysis, and entrepreneurship. With a robust background in European public funding, coverage implementation, and financial improvement, he brings a wealth of information on how public grants can catalyse startup development and the way founders can navigate the complexities of EU help mechanisms.
Marie Latour – Euro-Funding
As European Affairs Director at Euro-Funding, Marie helps startups and organisations entry and handle public funding. She has over 20 years of expertise in EU grant methods and lobbying, supporting shoppers all through the lifecycle of their funding journey. Her insights on aligning challenge objectives with funding programmes make her a useful useful resource for startups aiming to capitalise on European grant alternatives.
Viktorija Trimbel – Coinvest Capital
Viktorija is the Managing Director of Coinvest Capital, a public-private enterprise capital fund primarily based in Lithuania. With intensive expertise in funding administration, company governance, and startup advisory, she works on the intersection of public help and personal capital. At Coinvest, she helps early-stage startups entry fairness funding, typically alongside government-backed co-investments, making her uniquely positioned to debate the advantages and limitations of VC funding.
This panel is a must-attend for early-stage founders, policymakers, and buyers keen to raised perceive Europe’s funding panorama. Safe your ticket at this time and keep tuned for thrilling updates on our occasion web page—you may also take a look at the complete agenda right here to maintain observe of all of the audio system and panels.
OUR HEADLINE SPONSOR
Malta Enterprise is Malta’s financial improvement company, facilitating financial development, funding, and innovation, by providing a variety of help providers for native and international enterprises organising a productive presence in Malta. As a key participant in Malta’s financial panorama, it contributes to the nation’s prosperity by attracting investments, supporting companies, and driving innovation, thereby reinforcing Malta’s place as a sexy vacation spot for entrepreneurs and buyers alike. Malta Enterprise actively cultivates a vibrant startup ecosystem, taking part in a pivotal function in fostering a conducive setting for startups and providing tailor-made help and incentives to empower rising companies.
OUR SPONSORS
Scytale helps startups get compliant and keep compliant with frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, NIS 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS and extra, with out breaking a sweat.
Airwallex is a number one world monetary platform for contemporary companies, providing trusted options to handle all the things from funds, treasury, and spend administration to embedded finance. With their proprietary infrastructure, Airwallex takes the friction out of worldwide funds and monetary operations, empowering companies of all sizes to unlock new alternatives and develop past borders. Proudly based in Melbourne, Airwallex helps over 100,000 companies globally and is trusted by manufacturers equivalent to Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and lots of extra.
EUROCROWD is an impartial community organisation aiming to help and promote crowdfunding in its place funding mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises and revolutionary initiatives. EUROCROWD promotes and helps the event of Crowdfunding mechanisms as a viable funding supply to European entrepreneurs and funders.
M. Demajo Group is a number one enterprise participant in Malta, with a profitable historical past spanning 115 years. The Group’s development and diversification have resulted in a large protection of enterprise sectors by a dedication to long-term outcomes. M. Demajo Group’s workforce is 500 sturdy and their numerous actions have been developed by natural development, acquisitions, partnerships, and startups. Its sturdy monetary scenario and moral requirements, its enterprise popularity, and its famend observe document as a enterprise companion are all key components in its continued growth.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) is a flagship initiative of the European Fee to show disruptive European science into groundbreaking industrial propositions and speed up the scale-up of “game-changing” improvements. It’s a key constructing bloc of a strengthened European ecosystem and the New European Innovation Agenda, filling the hole between R&D help, non-public buyers, and the market. With a price range of over €10 billion beneath the Horizon Europe Programme (2021-2027) it seeks to place Europe as a worldwide chief within the present wave of deep tech innovation.
