Every early October, How to Web Conference turns Bucharest into a meeting point for Eastern Europe’s tech and startup community. The 2025 edition, happening on October 1-2, has now revealed its agenda, and it reads like a map of the conversations shaping technology and entrepreneurship today.
This year’s program brings together global product leaders, European venture capital firms, and startup founders to discuss topics ranging from practical uses of AI to product-led growth, investment strategies, and building resilient teams. Alongside the content, the conference continues to provide spaces for hands-on learning and meaningful connections with peers and investors.
Reframing Growth Through Product
One of the recurring themes across the agenda is Product-Led Growth (PLG). It’s a framework that has been gaining ground in Europe, particularly among SaaS and consumer-facing startups.
Sessions on the Build & Grow Stage will take on both the promise and the limitations of PLG. Attendees can expect practical lessons on designing intentional product leadership, avoiding “tool overload,” and turning user experience into a growth driver.
Speakers include Aggelos Mouzakitis (IBM) on product-led growth for products with steep learning curves, Ioana Teleanu (AI-R Design Studio) on building a practical AI tool stack, and Abdul Rahman (Cognigy), who will bring a creative twist with a talk on what comedy can teach product managers.
AI as Strategy
Few themes have moved faster in the past year than artificial intelligence. The agenda reflects this urgency with sessions designed to move beyond the hype and show how AI can be applied in day-to-day business contexts.
Talks will cover frameworks for embedding AI in existing products, lessons on creating value with large language models, and demos of practical tool stacks from Google and AWS experts. Speakers include Arne Kittler (Hey Clarity) on intentional leadership in the AI age, Andrew Mende (Booking.com) on scaling value with LLMs, and Gillian Armstrong (AWS) on building advantage with agentic AI systems.
Panels will feature voices from funds like Northzone, Speedinvest, and Earlybird, unpacking what it takes to integrate AI into products already on the market.
The Realities of Scaling in Europe and Beyond
As Europe continues to produce more high-growth startups, questions around scaling, cross-border challenges, and investor appetite stay central. How to Web Conference positions itself as a space where these conversations take place directly between founders and investors.
The 2025 agenda features panels with experts from IVP, Northzone, Creandum, Inovo.vc, OTB, and B2Ventures. Topics range from the realities of scaling to the U.S., to the strengths and limitations of Europe’s ecosystem, to lessons learned from founders’ first ventures.
The conference will also host the launch of the “Venture in Eastern Europe Report”, with fresh data on how the region’s funding landscape is evolving in 2025.
Fundraising and Sales, with Live Feedback
For founders preparing to raise capital or sharpen their sales approach, the agenda includes two highlights: the Fundraising Bootcamp and the Sales Bootcamp.
In the fundraising track, Nikola Yanev and Gergana Stoichkova (Startup Compass) will walk through building a step-by-step outreach engine, while Gregor Rebolj (Silicon Gardens) will host a live pitch analysis session. Venture debt, an option gaining traction in Europe, will be explored by Orbit Capital.
The sales bootcamp brings hands-on lessons from founder journeys, such as Andrei Danescu (Dexory) reflecting on founder-led sales, alongside investor perspectives on key metrics from Alexandre Dewez (20VC).
The Human Side of Scaling
Behind product strategies and fundraising rounds are the teams that drive them. This year’s program also dedicates time to discussions on building resilient organizations.
Sessions will touch on mental health and sustainable performance, leadership challenges, and preparing AI systems for real-world use. Linn Caldas and Maria Whittaker (Inner Loom) will speak on resilience as a driver of performance, while panels will explore what leadership looks like in the current tech climate.
A Regional Focal Point
For the Eastern European tech community, How to Web Conference has become a place where tech professionals gather for the latest industry insights, founders test their ideas in front of global players, investors scout the next generation of companies, and the region’s place in the wider startup landscape is debated openly.
The 2025 edition is expected to draw over 3,000 participants, from early-stage founders to executives at established tech companies. With AI adoption accelerating, European startups maturing, and investment strategies shifting, this year’s agenda reflects the questions many in the ecosystem are already asking.
This year’s focus on AI and product-led growth shows a natural progression, from helping startups secure funding and visibility, to equipping them with the tools and strategies they’ll need to compete globally.
Early bird tickets are available until September 11. We’ll see you there!
