investor-matchmaking
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TECHARENA sells the meeting after the pitch
Eight people watched its first cinema final. Today, TECHARENA fills a football arena by putting founders, investors and potential customers within talking distance.
Tech Nordic Advocates sells the introduction you can’t Google
A Nordic and Baltic startup network turns introductions into a service: mentors, investor access and help entering foreign markets. Its most revealing detail is the price it puts on opening doors.
Copenhagen Fintech puts a bank within talking distance
A Danish nonprofit has built a business around getting founders, financiers and researchers into the same conversation. Ten years in, the interesting part is what happens after the introduction.
Step
Step is a new-media and events company that runs one of the largest technology festivals in the Middle East and North Africa. Founded by Ray Dargham in 2011, it stages the annual Step Conference in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, publishes tech newsletters and social platforms like StepFeed, and connects founders, investors and builders. From a first edition of roughly 100 people, it has grown to draw more than 8,000 attendees, with startups featured on its stages collectively raising billions in funding. In 2026 the company extended its model to San Francisco with an AI-focused edition.