Co-founder matchmaking event

Whether you're an entrepreneur or researcher with an existing startup (idea) and you’re looking for an ambitious partner with complementary skills to join you, or you’re curious to join someone else with their existing startup (idea) as a co-founder (or even a mix of both), this event is the perfect opportunity to meet your future co-founder(s).

• • Business owner/entrepreneur: You have an existing startup/scaleup and are looking for a late co-founder.
  • Co-founder/ Entrepreneurial mind: You have a business idea and are seeking passionate co-founders with complementary skills to start it with you.
  • Seeker Business Partner: You want to join an existing business as a shareholder/late co-founder.
  • Seeker Co-founder: You aim to build a business from the idea phase with a co-founder. You don’t have an idea yourself.
  • Mixed Profile: You are an entrepreneurial soul, have your own idea, but are also open to joining another founding team or existing venture if the right opportunity arises. 

Note: The event is exclusively for founders that are looking for a co-founder or for entrepreneurial minds looking to join a startup/scaleup as a (late) co-founder.  

To help you connect with the most relevant participants during this event, we’re using a tool called Conversation Starter. 
 
After signing up for the event via this link, you’ll be invited to complete your profile on the Conversation Starter platform. Your profile includes your request(s) and your offer(s), this is where you can briefly explain what kind of people you would like to meet, and what you’re offering in terms of your expertise or startup (idea).  
 
To recommend the most relevant participants, you’ll also be asked to choose the labels that best describe your expertise (e.g. commercial skills, IT/Software development, hardware engineering, financial skills, etc.), as well as why you’re participating in this event (e.g. I have an idea, I have an MVP, I’m looking to join an existing startup, I’m open to ideas, etc.). 
 
One week before the event, we’ll give access to the list of all other participants so you can start browsing through their requests and offers and invite the most relevant participants to meet you in a single click. When an invitation has been accepted, the Conversation Starter platform finds the ideal time slot to meet. 
Additionally, we will also provide you a link with some useful tips, interesting reads and a toolset that can guide you in finding the right co-founder.  
 
During the event, Conversation Starter provides built-in 12-minute video calls (with a 3-minute break between each call) through their intuitive platform, so there’s no need to download or install any additional software. The purpose of this event is to help you set up short interactions with the relevant individuals, which should be enough to know if a follow-up meeting makes sense. 
 
During and after the event, you’ll have access to the overview and the contact details of all participants. You can also take notes and save them in your Conversation Starter profile. 

• 5:00PM – 5:10PM Welcome: practical information about the event

• 5:10PM – 5:30PM Presentation: imec.istart in a nutshell and do's & don'ts of a potential co-founder relationship

• 5:30PM – 8:00PM Connect via 12-min. 1-on-1 video calls on the Conversation Starter platform

The participation fee is 52 euro per person, this includes:

• Access to Conversation Starter Platform
• Ability to set up your personal profile and requests
• Access to profiles of potential co-founders/business partners and ability to set up meetings with these potential co-founders and entrepreneurial minds during the time of the event (*)
• Access to the online event on 24th of April from 5pm to 8pm.
• Access to a folder with tips and tricks on finding and building the right co-founder team.  
• Unlimited access after the event to the profiles of the participants, so you can keep on matching after the event.

(*) In case we are not able to bring together enough founders and seekers to enable potential matches, we will cancel the online event and entirely refund.