BIOEAST Pitching Events

Are you a startup or SME in the bioeconomy looking for more money or profile to grow your business?

Five National BIOEAST HUBs (Bulgaria, Estonia, Czechia, Slovenia and Hungary) are organising pitching and networking events in 2026 offering start-ups in the bioeconomy from the BIOEAST macro-region the chance to present their unique value proposition to investors and potentially secure new funding.

Join us in boosting the bioeconomy in the BIOEAST macro-region!

What are the BIOEAST Pitching Events?

These pitching events give startup companies the chance to present and defend their business case to local and European investors potentially unlocking new investment deals and give the opportunity to investors to increase their pipeline and discover new investment opportunities. The idea of the matchmaking events is to mobilise private investments and other sources of capital towards BIOEAST stakeholders, thus improving the macro-region and bioeconomy growth potential both at proof of concept (start-up) and growth (scale up) stage.

How does it work?

These pitching and networking events are where startups pitch to investors (who in turn provide feedback), with the option of a breakout session at the end for networking. The pitches are arranged into a number of rounds followed by a questions and answers segment from the investors. Typically a pitchor can expect to complete a five-minute pitch, followed by a two-minute Q&A. At the end of each pitch round, the investors will give their feedback on the startup’s performance, providing them with insight to strengthen their business case and pitch game, which will also benefit the rest of the startups in the room.

Why participate?

Successful applicants will have the opportunity to:

• Pitch their solutions to relevant investors
• The chance to present and defend their business case to local and European investors
• Receive helpful feedback from experienced investors
• Unlock new investment deals
• Engage with like-minded professionals, researchers and organisations
• Expand their personal network
• Receive additional benefits to be confirmed

Criteria for entry

Pitchors must have relevance in a bioeconomy sub-field to participate: (Sustainable agriculture, Aquaculture/Freshwater, Biomass, Forestry, Bioenergy/Biofuels, Wholly or partly biobased chemicals, Biotechnology). The National BIOEAST HUBs will select the applicants which must demonstrate the below elements in their pitch:

• Must have a clear description and clear ambition for the company
• Describe what they have used past investment for
• Describe what their use of capital is for
• Must be investment ready, which includes that the National BIOEAST HUB must be confident that the innovator is able to deliver a strong pitch to the investors.

Please note that eight Open Innovating Challenge Winners will directly qualify for the pitching events.

Who can apply

Nationals and residents of Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia with a bioeconomy related solution are welcome to join the BIOEAST pitching events.
In terms of geographical locations the hosting countries are Bulgaria, Estonia, Czechia, Slovenia and Hungary. The location of the events will be confirmed by the BIOEAST HUBs.
The other participating Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. These countries will be partnered for travel logistics with National Hubs as follows:

Prizes

Win the chance to pitch at the Pitch Perfect Matchmaking and Networking Event in 2026

Winners will be eligible for participation in the Pitch Perfect Matchmaking and Networking Event in 2026. The winners will be selected by the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation and will be permitted to entry by Pitch Perfect with the best and most relevant entries will be considered. The ‘Pitch Perfect and Boost the European Bioeconomy’ event is a two day event of intense cross-border and cross-sectoral pitching, matchmaking and networking, with the aim to link industry to innovative (biobased) technologies, innovators to investors and to create new partnerships for the future and the further development of innovative, cross-border and cross-sectoral industrial value chains in the biobased economy.

This event will afford start-ups/companies the chance to present their innovative solution in front of an exclusive audience of potential partners and investors.