The best AI events for founders in 2027 are the ones where you can pitch, meet buyers or hire the engineers who build agent and LLM products. These are the ten worth planning your year around, from Cannes and Lausanne to Riyadh and Singapore.
We chose AI events with a real startup programme, a pitch stage or a room full of builders and buyers, with Europe first and the best of the rest of the world. We checked every date on the organiser's own website and mark each one as Confirmed (date on the official site), Announced (announced without a full date) or Expected (based on past editions only). All ten below are Confirmed.
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.
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Top 10 AI Startup Events of 2027 at a Glance
The 10 best AI startup events of 2027
1. World AI Cannes Festival: 10–11 February 2027, Cannes
The first big European AI event of the year, now backed by the events company Informa. Most of the room are corporate buyers, so it is a good place to test whether large companies will pay for what you are building.
2. AI Engineer Europe: 17–19 February 2027, London
The European edition of the AI Engineer conference from San Francisco. Come here to hire, to find a technical co-founder, or to see what the people shipping agents and LLM products are actually using. There is no pitch stage, so go for the people, not the investors.
3. 4YFN: 1–4 March 2027, Barcelona
The startup side of Mobile World Congress. It is built for founders, with the 4YFN Awards, country pavilions and a track on agentic AI. Telecom and corporate buyers from MWC walk the same halls during the week.
4. AMLD Intelligence Summit: 9–11 March 2027, Lausanne
Run at EPFL, one of Europe's top technical universities. The content goes deeper than at most business events, and the Open Stage has startup pitches. A strong choice if your startup is built on research.
5. LEAP and DeepFest: 12–15 April 2027, near Riyadh
LEAP says its 2026 edition had more than 600 startups and 1,900 investors. DeepFest is the AI festival in the same venue, and startups can enter the Rocket Fuel pitch competition. Your way into Gulf investors and government buyers. deepfest.com
6. The AI Summit London: 9–10 June 2027, London
Part of London Tech Week, whose expo runs at Olympia London on 7–9 June. In 2026 the summit had a Start-Up & Investor Stage with a live pitching competition, so expect the same format. Combine it with the rest of the week. londontechweek.com
7. AI for Good Global Summit: 21–24 June 2027, Geneva
Organised by the ITU, the UN agency for digital technology. Startups can pitch in the Innovation Factory competition. The best fit if your AI startup works on health, climate, education or another social problem and you want visibility with governments.
8. RAISE Summit: 6–8 July 2027, Paris
RAISE says 80% of its audience are C-level leaders and founders. Its startup competition, RAISE the STAKES, had more than 1,500 applicants and over €10 million in prizes in 2026, with the top 10 pitching on stage; the 2027 rules and timeline are not out yet. Startup competition
9. SuperAI Singapore: 8–9 September 2027, Singapore
SuperAI expects more than 10,000 founders, investors and enterprise leaders. Its Genesis competition selects 50 AI startups, and 10 reach the final; the NEXT Hackathon brings 200 builders together for 36 hours. SuperAI also runs a London edition on 26–27 May 2027.
10. World Summit AI: 6–7 October 2027, Amsterdam
An AI-only event with a startup accelerator and a startups-and-investors programme. The early rate makes it one of the cheaper ways into a big AI event. A sister event, World Summit AI Montréal, runs on 7–8 April 2027.
Also worth a look
- AI & Big Data Expo Global (TechEx), Olympia London, 3–4 February 2027: a new Founders & Future Stage with startup pitch slots, and a free AI Builders track on day one. ai-expo.net
- NVIDIA GTC, San Jose, 15–18 March 2027: the compute roadmap of the year; AI startups can join NVIDIA's free Inception programme. nvidia.com/gtc
- AI Week, Fiera Milano Rho, Milan, 25–26 May 2027: a large Italian AI conference and expo with a Startup Lounge; the Business Pass is €599 at full price, less with early booking. aiweek.it
- VivaTech, Paris, 16–19 June 2027: Europe's biggest startup show; not AI-only, but one of the best places to meet corporate buyers and investors in one week. vivatech.com
- WeAreDevelopers World Congress, Berlin, 14–16 July 2027: a Startup Pass for €299, useful for hiring AI developers. wearedevelopers.com
- Ai4, The Venetian, Las Vegas, 2–5 August 2027: a startup stage, a startup expo and a reduced AI Startup Pass (by application). ai4.com
- HumanX Amsterdam, RAI Amsterdam, 20–22 September 2027: senior enterprise AI buyers; HumanX Las Vegas runs on 7–10 March 2027. humanx.co
- Women in AI Global Summit, London, 11–12 November 2027: the AI summit on our list of events for women founders.
Dates not announced yet
- Slush, Helsinki: the 2026 edition is on 18–19 November; 2027 dates are not out. Expected in November 2027.
- Web Summit, Lisbon: 9–12 November 2026; 2027 dates are not out yet.
- GITEX AI Europe, Berlin: the 2026 edition ran on 30 June – 1 July; 2027 dates are not confirmed on the official site.
- Rise of AI, Berlin: a curated conference for about 300 guests, announced for May 2027 without an exact day.
- NeurIPS 2027: the research conference will be in Europe in 2027, but the city and dates are not announced.
Why these events matter: AI funding in numbers
- Venture funding to AI reached $211 billion in 2025, up 85% from $114 billion in 2024, and roughly half of all global venture funding went to AI companies, according to Crunchbase News.
- In Europe, 31% of all funding raised in 2025 went to AI or machine learning companies, according to Atomico's State of European Tech report, as reported by Euronews.
- Startups with at least one female founder raised a record $73.6 billion in the US in 2025, and two-thirds of that money went into AI, according to PitchBook data reported by Fortune.
Building with AI on a small budget? See our list of AI agents for startup founders.
How to choose the right AI event
- Decide what you need this year. Investors and prizes: RAISE, SuperAI and LEAP. Enterprise customers: WAICF, The AI Summit London and World Summit AI. Engineers and co-founders: AI Engineer Europe and AMLD.
- Apply for the pitch stages early. RAISE the STAKES, SuperAI Genesis, LEAP's Rocket Fuel and the AI for Good Innovation Factory all select their startups months ahead.
- Book early. World Summit AI and AI Week sell their cheapest tickets far in advance, and LEAP's general pass is free.
- Pick one big general event too. VivaTech, Slush and Web Summit have more investors than most AI-only events.
- Follow up. Write to the people you meet within 48 hours; the event is only the start. See more startup competitions.
List your event
Do you organise an AI event for founders, a pitch competition or a hackathon? Send us the name, dates, city and official link, and we'll check whether it fits this list.
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.
🔗 Add an awesome event
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FAQ
What are the best AI startup events in 2027?
Our top picks are RAISE Summit in Paris, World Summit AI in Amsterdam, the World AI Cannes Festival, The AI Summit London, AMLD in Lausanne, SuperAI Singapore and LEAP with DeepFest near Riyadh.
Which AI events have pitch competitions for startups?
RAISE Summit (RAISE the STAKES), SuperAI Singapore (Genesis), LEAP (Rocket Fuel), the AI for Good Global Summit (Innovation Factory), The AI Summit London and AMLD's Open Stage all give startups a pitch slot.
Which AI-only events in Europe should founders know in 2027?
RAISE Summit in Paris (6–8 July), World Summit AI in Amsterdam (6–7 October), the World AI Cannes Festival (10–11 February), AMLD in Lausanne (9–11 March) and The AI Summit London (9–10 June). VivaTech in Paris (16–19 June) is bigger, but not AI-only.
Are there cheap or free AI events for founders?
LEAP's general pass is listed as free, the AI Builders track at TechEx Global in London is free on day one, and World Summit AI has an early rate of €349 + VAT.
When is the first big AI event of 2027?
The World AI Cannes Festival on 10–11 February 2027, followed by AI Engineer Europe in London on 17–19 February.
How much venture money went to AI in 2025?
About $211 billion worldwide, roughly half of all venture funding, according to Crunchbase News; in Europe, 31% of funding went to AI or machine learning companies, according to Atomico.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
