Frequently Asked Questions
1. General
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PIRATE Summit is Europe’s unique conference for early-stage startups, active investors, corporate execs and ecosystem builders (“movers & shakers”). Besides the well-selected mix of approx. 1.000 participants, we feature 60+ pitches, participants from 70+ countries, and more than 50 masterclasses, roundtables & workshops.
Ultimately, PIRATE Summit’s mission is to create meaningful connections and to celebrate authentic entrepreneurship.
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This year’s PIRATE Summit will take place in Cologne from Junes 27th to 29th.
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If you arrive by plane: from Cologne-Bonn airport take the train to Hansaring train station, then take the bus number 127 to Köln-Nippes (34 min).
If you arrive by train: from Cologne Central station take the train to Köln-Nippes train station (11 min). -
Early-stage tech-related startups, investors, corporate executives, service providers and “movers & shakers” of digital ecosystems.
To ensure the high quality of participants, we check every purchase and reserve the right to refund tickets. You can buy your ticket here.
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The event’s official language is English and all sessions + activities are in English.
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You should arrange and organize your travel and accommodation yourself. Here is a list of potential hotels/hostels: Click here.
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Food and drinks are included with your PIRATE Summit ticket. All you can eat, all you can drink, all day long.
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The Call for Content is open! This means we are looking for fascinating speakers to build up our agenda for this year. Would you like to contribute?
As soon as we have all the speakers we will publish the agenda. -
On June 27th and 28th the party will start just after the official program. The party will take place in Odonien as well (where PIRATE Summit takes place) and you don’t need an additional ticket. You just need to get some drinks and enjoy. There is no dress code, just come as you ARRRe.
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Whatever you like! It will probably be quite warm, so most wear relaxed summer clothes. Because of that you will probably feel a bit overdressed if you come in a Suit, but you do you. These Pirates don’t juge. Here you can find some PIRATE swag.
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You want to suggest a session for this year’s Summit or know someone else who should definitely become a Spaker? Follow this link. We will contact you in case your application is successful.
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CxO’s & Senior Executives from corporations with >100 employees are considered Corporates.
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Institutional Investors like VCs, Family Offices, Corporate Venture Capital Fonds or similar should buy the “VC” ticket.
“Business Angel” tickets are just for individuals investing their own resources. -
Someone whose main activities is to invest in startups. E.g. someone from Google Ventures will be an investor while someone from Google will be a corporate.
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Executives from accounting & law-firms, consultancies, recruiting agencies, other agency models, freelancers and other service providers (incl. those who don’t fall under the startup, corporate & investor category).
2. Tickets
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To ensure the quality of participants that PIRATE Summit is known for, we check every participant’s application. We reserve the right to refund tickets from ticket holders that don’t fit the chosen category. A ticket refund will include a refund fee.
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Here you can get your ticket.
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Check the ticket prices here.
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Payment methods for this year’s Pirate Summit include: Debit or Credit Card, Paypal, Google Pay, Sepa Direct Debit and Sofortüberweisung. The Payment is processed through Eventbrite. Terms and conditions of Eventbrite apply.
If any problems occur, or the shown payment methods are not available in your country or company, you always have the chance to reach out to us, and we’ll find a way for you. -
Tickets need to have a name, but name changes within the same company can be done later.
If you have any changes please contact participate@piratesummit.com
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No. Since the buyer will “consume” our service in Germany, we have to add the tax to the invoice according to the tax legislation in Germany.
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Please send your full name, nationality, passport number, passport place of issue and expiry dates, as well as the date of birth to participate@piratesummit.com, so we can provide you with the invitation letter. Prior to this we have to check if you’re eligible for a ticket.
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Please bring your ticket in printed form or digital form. We will scan your ticket at the entrance and then give you the badge immediately.
3. Startups
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PIRATE Summit strives to connect early-stage founders and investors to create meaningful connections. All participants are handpicked from thousands of applications or personally invited to offer networking on the highest possible level of influence and quality. As a startup, you have the possibility to pitch in front of a great number of VCs or get to know them via our different networking opportunities. You will meet like-minded people and celebrate entrepreneurship with your next potential business partner, investor, or friend.
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Application for the Walk the Plank pitch competition 2023 will start in March.
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The Walk the Plank pitch competition is taking place on PIRATE Summits’s second day. If accepted, you will be informed about your exact time and place by email a couple of weeks before PIRATE Summit.
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You will receive an email from our team as soon as a decision is made.
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Each startup has three minutes to pitch and two minutes to answer questions from the judges.
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Will be announced soon. In previous years it was a VC-tour with pre-scheduled investor meetings to London or Berlin.
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The Out of the Box award is a Pitch competition for Startups from the NRW Region from Germany. It is organized by the Ministry of Economics in NRW. The Finale takes place at PIRATE Summit. You can find more information on the Out of the Box.NRW website.
Do you still have unanswered questions? Contact us at participate@piratesummit.com.