Tech Growth Summit, Berlin: A Unique Platform for CEOs Changing the World

GENEVA and BERLIN, September 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

• Tech Growth Summit hosts rising star CEOs and Corporates on September 23-24, 2013
• 2013 European Entrepreneur of the Year Award to be held in conjunction with Tech Growth Summit

At the Tech Growth Summit in Berlin, Germany, on September 23-24, European market leaders in ICT & digital technology will meet the rising stars of the industry to share knowledge and best practices. Presented by Tech Tour and the International Venture Club this is the first event of its kind that brings Europe's CEOs, the future leaders of the industry, and the international investment community together in a networking environment.

As part of Tech Tour's continuous effort to promote world class entrepreneurship, the annual European Entrepreneur of the Year Award will be held in conjunction with the Tech Growth Summit in Berlin on September 24. This event celebrates Europe's most dynamic high technology companies.

CEOs will meet privately on September 23 to exchange views via round table discussions and to share best practices. The meeting will be moderated by Dave Darsch, CEO Collaborative Forum, who has more than 30 years of experience as a technology entrepreneur and CEO. An invitation only meeting will be held on September 24 for a select group of corporate leaders to meet industry rising stars and winners of the European Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

CEOs confirmed to participate include:

Sherry Coutu, iii
Gianluca D'Agostino, Neomobile
Errol Damelin, Wonga                                                  
Mans Hultman, Qliktech
Stan Laurent, Photobox                                              
Mike Lynch, former CEO of Autonomy
Cem Sertoglu, Earlybird                                                
Sebastien Siemiatkowski, Klarna
Hjalmar Winbladh, Rebtel

Joerg Sievert, SAP Ventures, President of the summit said, "The Tech Growth Summit focuses on the top 25 growth stage ICT companies in Europe. It brings together a unique group of CEOs who will change the world with CEOs who have changed the world. The event uniquely caters to CEOs who will have the opportunity to meet key participants in this ecosystem, from key corporates to investment banks and M&A specialists to thought leaders."

Alex McCracken, Silicon Valley Bank, leads the Selection Committee as Vice President and said, "The exacting selection criteria guarantees a high degree of excellence will be exhibited at the Summit."

The 25 companies chosen by the Selection Committee have a minimum investor valuation of EUR 100M and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• EUR 10-30 M revenue >100% YOY growth
• EUR 30-100 M revenue and growth >50% YOY growth
• Companies with more than EUR 100 M revenue, pre-IPO candidates

Joerg Sperling, WHEB Partners,is the VP of Partnerships said, "As the selection committee has chosen the best and most promising late stage companies, the Tech Growth Summit is a key event providing insight into the growth of the tech eco-system; providing participants a view into what the future holds for investors and entrepreneurs in Europe."

The 2013 selection committee members include:

Ifty Ahmed, Oak investment Partners 
Philippe Botteri, Accel Partners
Scott Collins, Summit Partners                                                    
Laurence Garrett, Highland Capital
Thorsten Jelinek, World Economic Forum                                  
Bodo Kräter, Skillnet
Jonathan Meeks, TA Associates                                                
Inessa Obenhuber, Seraph Group
Benjamin Robertson, Jefferies & Company    
Per Roman, GP Bullhound Ltd
John Rosenberg, Technology Crossover Ventures    
Hansjoerg Sage, Gimv
Lars Singbartl, Warburg Pincus    
Pietro Strada, Torch Partners
Giuseppe Zocco, Index Partners

The Tech Tour's previous ICT Summits have presented such companies as: SoundCloud, Just Eat, Klarna, Kobojo, Aepona, Amplidata, CloudSigma, Amiando, Dailymotion, and Madvertise.

About Tech Tour

The Tech Tour was founded in Geneva in 1998 in response to the growing interest in emerging technology companies in Europe. The Tech Tour is an organization composed of key contributors to the high technology industry. The organization recognizes that continued prosperity in Europe lies in

its ability to transform today's innovative projects into tomorrow's global technology leaders.

http://www.techtour.com

About the InternationalVentureClub

The International Venture Club was founded in 2011 as the collaborative platform of leading venture investors promoting successful international investments. Its objectives are to 1) share better practices, 2) build co-investor trust and relations, 3) foster new funding and investment opportunities through joint actions and PR, 4) grow promising companies with corporate partners and co-investors and 5) keep a smart window and support to emerging innovative companies.

http://www.iventureclub.com

Mediacontacts: Jaimie Guerra Tech Tour
+41-22-544-60-62
jaimie@techtour.com

David Schimm
BondPR Worldwide
+49-(0)179-59-447-45
David.Schimm@bondpremea.com