“One day. The best of Europe.” The promise made by first-class tech encounter The Europas, organized in association with TechCrunch, set the standard pretty high (after being privileged witnesses and performers ourselves, we can confirm that they were true to every single word!). For one day –and a night–, The Brewery in London was fully booked with an insightful agenda of panel discussions and meaningful networking time, followed by a fun award ceremony and after party honouring the hottest startups in Europe. Not to forget the memorable “pitch roulette” competition for early-stagers (congrats on that one, PsycApps/Equoo)!

Investors, journalists, big-league experts and passionate entrepreneurs. Studio Banana’s co-founder Ali Ganjavian joined a winning team of over 60 key selected players and shakers from exciting ventures like Mangrove Partners, Accel, Seedcamp, Qualcomm or Octopus. The discussions filled the air with a special something, like an open invitation to be grasped and transformed into the next big – and doable– idea, showing the real power of Europe’s interconnected tech scene.

These days, a dazzling startup in search of funding may be compared to a hip rider waving an immense sea of possibilities. From venture capital to crowdfunding to ICOs –any cryptocurrency experts in the room?–, we joined a discussion panel focused on exciting funding options for startups, where we shared OSTRICHPILLOW’s precious love affair with Kickstarter.

“Crowdfunding was an amazing door opener for Studio Banana. It is an instrument to raise capital, and also validate your idea. It is a way of having a voice and a conversation to deepen the connection with your users”, Ali insisted. Funding can be faced as a mere formality, a stony process that can, however, be a much more rewarding experience for every party. That is why building a deeper connection with users through crowdfunding can make the whole journey more pleasant, fun… And paying. Like the next spinoff adventure of Studio Banana, a promising tech project that will bet on a mixed model of both crowdfunding and private investment (stay tuned!).

Once again, The Europas has shown that perhaps the Old Continent is not so old anymore.

To feed your curiosity, follow us on Linkedin