softlanding

Gediminas Dilertas

Country: Lithuania

Organisation: Vilnius Tech Park

MY MISSION

Soft-Landing programme lets you to feel the flavour of the foreign startup ecosystem, connect with similar-minded people from different countries and bring the experience to your local communities. Definitely recommend.

Ieva

Ieva

Country: Lithuania

Organisation: Vilnius Tech Park

MY MISSION

Missions like this are really needed - they are eye-opening experiences, which help participants learn from one another. At the same time, they encourage us to look at our own ecosystem from a different angle and understand that we actually are better than we think we are. I am very thankful to have gotten a possibility to participate in this Mission in Berlin and hope to be able to take part in some further Missions. Last but not least, I am looking forward to help arrange and host the Mission in Lithuania. Thank you!

Naama Zalzman Dror

Country: Israel

Organisation: Vertex Ventures

MY MISSION

The first batch of Soft-Landing EU was a great experience! It's always interesting to see how much knowledge can only be gained through this kind of experience, and the program is the best example of that.

Ignacio Garcia Vega

Ignacio Garcia Vega

Country: Spain

Organisation: Soros Gabinete

MY MISSION

Soft-Landing gave me the unique opportunity to get to know the huge potential of the Berlin ecosystem for start-ups and also to make close connection with other ecosystems around Europe. It gave me the opportunity to work together to support all our start-ups scale up, a great initiative.

Vaida Morkūnaitė

Country: Lithuania

Organisation: KTU Startup Space

MY MISSION

Face to face meetings with the experts from all over the world gave me an ability to get know better other countries ecosystems and also helped me understand with what kind of challenges these ecosystems deal. GTEC was a perfect place to represent the ecosystem of start-ups of Germany, because the enviroment there was filled with "the spirit of entrepreneurship". The organizers of the event perfectly had handled the work and fulfilled my expectations 100 percent.

Stef Prinsen

Netherlands

Stef Prinsen

Country: Netherlands

Organisation: InnovationQuarter

MY MISSION

Thank you GTEC for hosting this first edition of the Soft-Landing program. I now have a better understanding of Berlin and some of the other ecosystems. The whole trip has been a great experience and as a SL alumnus I will definitely recommend it to peers.

Donatas Smailys

Aurelija Petrauskyte Latakė

Donatas Smailys

Country: Lithuania

Organisation: Association Lithuanian Startups

MY MISSION

It was a great experience. Connecting like-minded people works. The program was good. Professional and cultural. Thanks for putting in a huge amount of work. I enjoyed the variety of speakers, as it's necessary as you are trying to hit needs of different people.

Iris Arbel-Ganz

Israel

Iris Arbel-Ganz

Country: Israel

Organisation: HAC - herzliya Accelerator Center

MY MISSION

I was so lucky to be part of the first delegation of Soft-Landing, who aim to bring together various communities' managers from all over Europe to promote interactions & collaboration. Thanks to all GTEC - German Tech Entrepreneurship Center crew, who made it work with great professionality.

Daria Demchenko

Cyprus

Daria Demchenko

Country: Cyprus

Organisation: CardPay

MY MISSION

Thanks! Really great job has been done. My feedback was provided during the wrap up session in the Hague. Wish we could have free hours during the day time to deal with some ongoing work processes. Also would be great to meet Booking.com next time. Besides of the introductory session would be great to receive participants' details beforehand.

Bertalan Rusz

Hungary

Renaud Martin Martinière

France

Renaud Martin Martinière

Country: France

Organisation: WILCO

MY MISSION

This program is the first step towards the european digital market. I met startup ecosystem leaders from all over Europe and discovered that the Netherlands have a great and dynamic ecosystem where is good to scale #Soft-LandingEU #StartupEurope

Lena Carlson

Germany / Australia

Lena Carlson

Country: Germany / Australia

Organisation: Freelance

MY MISSION

The Soft-Landing Mission was an insightful 3 days and a great introduction to life & business in the Netherlands. Connecting with so many knowledgeable & motivated leaders in Europe's startup ecosystem was incredibly valuable!

Aristea Sapera

Portugal

Aristea Sapera

Country: Portugal

Organisation: Beta-i

MY MISSION

Soft-LandingEU was a condensed and complete experience that combined two things: the interaction of interesting startups with a bunch of European ecosystem players and the familiarisation with the Dutch FinTech companies and ecosystem. Fast, efficient and fun!

Leitha Matz

Ireland, Hungary and Finland

Leitha Matz

Country: Germany

Organisation: Zuper, GmbH

MY MISSION

In just three days, the Soft-Landing program provides the introductions and access to key ecosystem contacts that you would otherwise spend weeks or months gathering on your own. This fast-track to understanding French innovation was an invaluable education and a great use of time.

Bert Farrell

Bert Farrell

Country: Ireland, Hungary and Finland

Organisation: Zoosh Ventures

MY MISSION

Very good initiative for bringing together different members of the European Startup ecosystem. The more integrated initiatives like this - the better it will be for European entrepreneurship & innovation.

Stefan Bodi

Romania

Stefan Bodi

Country: Romania

Organisation: Technical University of Cluj-Napoca

MY MISSION

I congratulate the organizers for putting together such a complex event, selecting high quality speakers and participants, bringing them all together in a creative environment for facilitating innovation and idea exchange and, finally, making sure that everyone is satisfied with all the operational aspects. I personally find that this mission greatly exceeded my expectations, but also helped me grow professionally, as well. In essence, it was a successful program and I will gladly recommend it to my peers and I am happy that I was selected to take part in it.

Rapolas Rucinskas

Rapolas Rucinskas

Country: Lithuania

Organisation: Be&Do

MY MISSION

The Soft-Landing project has shown me the other side of Paris. Three intense days of meetings with VCs, established entrepreneurs and ecosystem leaders has given me an in-depth insight into one of the most exciting startup scenes in Europe.

Egle Ciuoderiene

Tristan William Lawrence Guy

Egle Ciuoderiene

Country: Lithuania

Organisation: SneakyBox

MY MISSION

Soft-Landing project – fantastic opportunity for everyone, who works with the startups. Highly valuable experience not only for the startups itself, but also for the startup ecosystem builders, investors, mentors and researchers, who are looking for the opportunities to grow and scale their businesses, to find future collaboration partners and to learn from the best practices all around the globe. I have been lucky to be selected as the startup ecosystem builder in the Soft-Landing mission in #Paris. It was such an inspiring experience. Amazing fellow colleagues from #Netherlands, #France, #Israel, #Romania, #Germany, #Lithuania, #Italy, #UK and the #US, top-level investors, researchers, business leaders with whom we had a pleasure to talk to and, of course, a given opportunity to attend the mind blowing Viva Technology conference in Paris. For the Lithuanian startups, I highly recommend to keep an eye on Incubateur IMT Starter, Station F and Genopole Réussir en biotechnologies’s startup acceleration and incubation programs. These programs might help to take your businesses into completely new level. Special thanks to the amazing Soft-Landing team and especially to Andra and Augustin, who brought this enlightening program to life! #Soft-Landing #Paris #Startups #StartupEcosystem #H2020 #SneakyBox #LTStartupEcosystem #VivaTech2018 http://soft-landing.eu

Rusu Diana

Romania

Rusu Diana

Country: Romania

Organisation: Spherik Accelerator

MY MISSION

Soft-Landing Paris Mission was a reference point in understanding how public private partnerships can foster innovation, thus an immersive experience in the French approach to this domain, as it speeds up and asserts its own model along other better known and until now referred to as the standard.

Rahel Demant

Ireland

Rahel Demant

Country: Ireland

Organisation: VR First

MY MISSION

EU Soft-Landing is a great program to get to know other ecosystem builders, connect with global startups and investors. For VR First, EU Soft-Landing Paris has been a major step to advance and connect to a French network of companies and global incubators/accelerators.

Mauro Croce

Italy

Mauro Croce

Country: Italy

Organisation: PoliHub Servizi S.r.l.

MY MISSION

The Mission has been wonderful, I've met a lot of interesting people and I had the possibility to deep dive into the french startup ecosystem with real policy makers. This has been, maybe, the most important value added by the mission. Not counting the fact that I had also the possibility to match with other ambassadors in order to foster future cooperations (that are already on the march).

Florian Maier

Country: Germany

Organisation: Accenture

MY MISSION

The Vilnius Soft-Landing Blockchain mission has been an amazing experience. It was very impressive to see what efforts Lithuania is undertaking to support local and international startups. I was able to make very interesting contacts among both the participants and presenters. I am looking forward to similar events in the future.

Oana Bouraoui

Country: Romania

Organisation: European Young Innovators Forum

MY MISSION

The tour was very well thought out and highly valuable. By connecting to GTEC and their partners we really can say we got connected to the most relevant ecosystems here in Berlin. I really appreciated how open the team was to get us in touch with different contacts we needed. I definitely recommend it and I think it's a must if you want to get to know the Berlin startup scene.

Michal Kabatznik

Country: Israel

Organisation: The Good Group

MY MISSION

The Soft-Landing delegation introduced me to the Berlin startup scene and to many different European entrepreneurs. It was fascinating to learn about the incredible developments that are happening in Europe and to view it as a viable alternative to the valley. I also truly enjoyed meeting the participants from across the world, the conversations we had expanded my horizons, made me think and caused me to examine things through a new lens. The Berlin-based team was professional, helpful and warm. They truly helped use see the city through their eyes and made the entire experience interesting, relevant and fun!

Claudia Suhov

Romania & Netherlands

Claudia Suhov

Country: Romania & Netherlands

Organisation: Kidster

MY MISSION

It was amazing to discover the Lithuanian leadership in regulation and support for blockchain startups. The great selection of participants and speakers gave us all an excellent learning and networking experience!

Lena Bödeker

Lena Bödeker

Country: Germany

Organisation: GTEC

MY MISSION

The Soft-Landing mission to Vilnius gave me the opportunity to understand and connect to it's most important ecosystem players. On top of that I got to build lasting relationships with startups and representatives from a variety of European countries.

Paul Stefanut

France

Paul Stefanut

Country: France

Organisation: Opticsvalley

MY MISSION

The Vilnius Blockchain Soft-Landing mission was a great opportunity to discover the current advancements in the field of blockchain & cryptocurrencies as well as the position and the initiatives of the Lithuanian ecosystem. The Vilnius blockchain ecosystem is very dynamic and has full support from both the government and institutions such as the Bank of Lithuania who are actively involved in creating favorable conditions and assisting the start-up to thrive and grasp the emerging opportunities related to blockchain & crypto technologies. The Lithuanian entrepreneurs and start-up are highly motivated; the recent ICO and fundraising success stories position Lithuania as one of the key international players in the Blockchain landscape and certainly one of future leading European ecosystems in the field. The program of the Soft-Landing mission covered a broad range of dimensions and allowed the participants to discover the local ecosystem, establish connections with regional and European ecosystem builders, meet the start-up and the support organizations from Vilnius, listen to top-level speakers (start-up founders, BlockChain opinion leaders, investors …) presenting high-tech topics, meet them in person and discuss about their vision, priorities and future collaboration opportunities. The organization was great: the Startup Division team, CIVITTA and their partners (Blockchain Centre Vilnius, Rise Vilnius, Vilnius Tech Park) were very supportive and professional, answering all our questions, making connections and providing guidance. The overall experience was very positive so I highly recommend participating to one of the Soft-Landing missions. Moreover, the Lithuanian ecosystem is very dynamic and welcoming, so if you’re looking for reliable and skilled partners, you should definitely go to Vilnius !

Sally Gregersen

Country: Denmark

Organisation: Lulu Lab

MY MISSION

Thank you for selecting me along with 11 other ecosystem builders and 5 start-ups from around the world to learn more about Berlin’s buzzing start-up ecosystem. Three days of interactive learning with investor panels, start-up pitches, expert roundtables and much more followed by 2 very inspiring days at Tech Open Air. Thank you for being incredible hosts and organizers!

Roisin Lyons

Country: Ireland

Organisation: Dublin City University

MY MISSION

I really enjoyed the Soft-Landing ecosystem builders event in Berlin. It was an amazing opportunity to connect with start-ups, investors and community leaders to share insight and discuss collective challenges. The event gave us a vast knowledge of the start-up climate in Berlin, and the wider national situation. There were also plenty of opportunities for more informal and fun networking events which was a great mix.

Mario Steinbuch

Mario Steinbuch

Country: Germany

Organisation: BlockMob

MY MISSION

This was by far the most valuable blockchain delegation I have been part of, hands down. Great organisation, inspiring people and business opportunities developing from it. Well done, I'm officially a fan ;)

Augustin Radu

Country: France

Organisation: IMT Starter

MY MISSION

Zoetermeer: A very interesting experience that shows how dynamic a small country can be. Berlin:I congratulate the organizers for putting together this great event, selecting high quality speakers and participants, bringing them all together in a creative environment for facilitating innovation between start-ups and corporates.

Andra Bagdonaitė

Andra Bagdonaitė

Country: Lithuania

Organisation: Startup Division

MY MISSION

Berlin: This Ecosystem Discovery Mission allowed me to understand how versatile, dynamic and full of energy the Berlin startup ecosystem is. The good practices learned here will help me to solve the challenges of the Lithuanian startup ecosystem. Valuable knowledge, good connections and inspiration is what makes this Mission great. Zoetermeer: Soft-Landing builds bridges between markets and allows you to connect with everyone you need to know in just 3 days. Paris: Soft-Landing was an amazing opportunity to get to know the Paris startup ecosystem inside-out, meet incredible ecosystem builders and spend some time at mind-blowing VivaTechnology conference.

MY MISSION

"Great experience, great organisers, we found out everything we need to know in one week. Thank you for the opportunity. (Justinas Kodzius) Well organized event, informative and on point trips and meetings, super insights from experienced market players. (Andrius Liukaitis)"

Kryptowatt Investments

MY MISSION

"Soft-Landing programme in Zoetermeer was a game changer, a paradigma shift for us. Even after the 2nd mentoring sessison, we altered our business plan for a leaner, better and faster startup. Quality of the participants were exceptional. We are glad that we took our part in this successful landing."

CopPay

Belarus

MY MISSION

"Before coming to Zoetermeer, we did not know anything specific about the Netherlands ecosystem in regards to startups. During our visit, we receive a lot of information from different sources and realized all the possibility for bringing our business to the Netherlands. It was also such a great experience meeting local people and other startups!"

Mistertango

MY MISSION

"You guys are doing great work. I came to NL a little bit skeptic, but after one week program I really started to think how to expand business to NL."

ionic AI

MY MISSION

"It's an experience that all startups should do. It's like a "Erasmus" for startups."

Autuno

United Kingdom

MY MISSION

"Soft-Landing Paris was great! I particularly cherished my meeting with business mentors and seeing Mark Zuckerberg at Vivatech. I also had the chance to visit Genopole, which was very relevant to my business. "

Serfy

MY MISSION

"Very intense program to find out everything to know about local startup environment. Perfectly answers all the questions regarding the export to chosen market. Best market research I've done."

TourVR

Israel

MY MISSION

"The Soft-Landing IMT-Starter program was extremely helpful for TourVR. I learned a lot, met many potential partners and funding sources, and had a great time with the IMT-Starter team and the chosen startups and ecosystem builders."

eCapture3D

MY MISSION

"We are very satisfied with the program."

Mobile Academy

Romania

MY MISSION

"Thanks to the Soft-Landing project I was able to understand the french startup ecosystem and how we can enter (or not) the market. It helped me to re-think my strategy."

ForgeFiction

Armenia

MY MISSION

"The experience, professional network and knowledge gained from Soft-Landing Vilnius was enormous. Thanks to all organizers for the amazing event."

AmberScript

The Netherlands

MY MISSION

"Great to experience the Berlin ecosystem first hand!"

VeriVersion

Israel

MY MISSION

"An opportunity for startups to meet with relevant people in Berlin. (Ken Fox) I think it's a great opportunity for startups, to explore the german market and the startup scene. (Ilan Katsir)"

PitagorinesGroup