The European Tech Tour is a non-profit organisation that identifies and promotes emerging European technology companies and exposes them to a selective group of high level executives representing large corporations, venture capital firms and corporate advisors.

Founded in 1998 by Sven Lingjaerde, the European Tech Tour Association (the “Tech Tour”) provides a platform for the development of successful start-ups throughout Europe. The Tech Tour organises up to 5 events per year, in which 25 of the most promising start-ups of any country or region are presented to a panel of leading venture firms, corporations or service providers active in the technology sector. In the preparation of the event, typically 300 start-ups are identified by a local team made up of technology investors who then select the most relevant 25.

Over the years, the Tech Tour has gained international recognition, and is often cited among the highest quality events in Europe for receiving exposure to the best projects in specific geographies or industry segments. Over 45 events have been organised, with more than 1,000 projects screened per year by local teams.

The Tech Tour also organises events dedicated to particular industries such as Cloud & ICT, Web and Mobility, Medtech and Cleantech. These events bring together key industry leaders from each sector, providing an invaluable networking platform.

Finally, the Tech Tour coordinates an annual event in conjunction with EVCA and Informilo, the Innovation Exchange as well as the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, held during the Innovation Exchange, which recognises entrepreneurs whose company has had the biggest impact on the largest number of people during the least amount of time (winner 06: Marten Mickos, MySQL, winner 07: Serguei Beloussov, Parallel Systems, winner 08: Lars Björk, Qliktech, winner 09: Klaas Kersting, GameForge).