An open source company grows through its community, and the community meets in person a few times a year. These are the ten best open source events of 2027 for founders, from Brussels, London, Berlin, Barcelona and Glasgow to Bangkok, Washington, Vancouver and Raleigh.
We picked events where open source founders find contributors, users, foundation partners and enterprise buyers, with free or cheap tickets where we could, and Europe first when quality is equal. We checked every date on the organiser's own website and mark each one as Confirmed (date on the official site), Announced (reliable second source only) or Expected (based on past editions only). All ten below are Confirmed for 2027. Start the year in Brussels: FOSDEM, the EU Open Source Policy Summit, the European Open Source Awards and Config Management Camp all fall between 28 January and 3 February.
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
Top 10 Open Source Startup Events of 2027 at a Glance
The 10 best open source events of 2027
1. FOSDEM: 30–31 January 2027, Brussels
FOSDEM brings more than 8,000 developers to a university campus every year, with hundreds of talks in devrooms and project stands. Entry is free, so it is the cheapest way for an open source founder to meet contributors and see how the community talks about your project. See our list of startup events in Brussels.
2. State of Open Con: 9–10 February 2027, London
OpenUK's State of Open Con is the UK's main meeting point for people who do business with open source. It is useful for founders who sell to British companies or government. See our list of startup events in London.
3. FOSS Backstage: 2–3 March 2027, Berlin
FOSS Backstage is the one European conference about the non-code side of open source: governance, sustainability and funding, legal and compliance, diversity and inclusion. Those are the core problems of an open source company, so it is a good fit for founders. See our list of startup events in Berlin.
4. FOSSASIA Summit: 7–9 March 2027, Bangkok
FOSSASIA is the largest open source gathering in Asia and one of the cheapest. The business ticket adds a networking event on 8 March and a business lounge, and the call for speakers and projects lets you show your project to the region's developers and employers.
5. KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe: 15–18 March 2027, Barcelona
KubeCon is the biggest European audience for open source infrastructure, from Kubernetes maintainers to enterprise buyers. The 15 March co-located days include Open Source SecurityCon and Open Sovereign AI + Cloud Day. There is no start-up ticket, but a Start-up sponsor tier is the cheapest way to a booth. See our list of Top 10 Startup Events on Cloud Computing in 2027.
6. GW OSCON: 31 March–1 April 2027, Washington, D.C.
GW OSCON is the only 2027 open source event we found with a start-up rate: companies under 3 years old, with less than $5 million in revenue and fewer than 30 staff, can take a Silver sponsorship for $3,000, with 4 passes, an exhibit table and a 5-minute talk. Keynotes come from Nithya Ruff, chair of the Linux Foundation board, Travis Oliphant, creator of NumPy and founder of Anaconda, and Omar Mohsine of the United Nations.
7. OCX: 13–15 April 2027, Brussels
OCX has tracks on AI, software-defined vehicles, Java, embedded systems, security and open regulatory compliance. The compliance track covers the EU Cyber Resilience Act, which affects every company that sells software with open source inside in Europe. See our guide to startup events in Belgium.
8. Open Source Summit North America: 17–19 May 2027, Vancouver
The Linux Foundation's main North American summit brings foundation staff, open source program offices and enterprise open source leads together. Go if you want partners, a home for your project in a foundation, or enterprise users.
9. Open Source Summit Europe: 20–22 September 2027, Glasgow
Europe's largest vendor-neutral open source conference. The Linux Foundation used its 2025 edition to release its report on commercial open source funding, so it is a natural place for open source business news. The Linux Foundation's AGNTCon + MCPCon Europe runs in London the week before.
10. All Things Open: 17–19 October 2027, Raleigh
All Things Open is one of the largest community-run open source events in the US, with a strong business and careers crowd. It is a friendly first step for European open source founders who want to enter the American market.
Also worth a look
- European Open Source Awards, Brussels, 28 January 2027, with a business and impact category, and the invitation-only EU Open Source Policy Summit, Brussels and online, 29 January 2027. summit.openforumeurope.org
- Config Management Camp, HoGent Campus Schoonmeersen, Ghent, 1–3 February 2027: free, the Monday after FOSDEM. cfgmgmtcamp.org
- FOSS-LÄND x OpenChain, Haus der Wirtschaft, Stuttgart, 22–24 March 2027: free event on open source compliance, registration required. openchainproject.org
- SCALE 24x, Pasadena Convention Center, 1–4 April 2027: free booth space for open source projects. socallinuxexpo.org
- foss-north, Chalmers Conference Centre, Gothenburg, 19–20 April 2027: tickets 700 SEK, students 300 SEK. foss-north.se
- AGNTCon + MCPCon Europe, London, 15–16 September 2027: open source AI agents and the Model Context Protocol. linuxfoundation.org
- PyTorch Conference, San Jose, 6–7 October 2027: open source AI models and infrastructure. linuxfoundation.org
Dates not announced yet
- Open Source Founders Summit (Paris; last edition 18–19 May 2026): the only conference made only for open source company founders. Watch 05f5.com for the 2027 date.
- Open Source Experience Paris (next edition 9–10 December 2026), CHAOSScon Europe, OpenSSF Community Day Europe and the Open Source Congress: no 2027 dates.
- PyCon US (Long Beach), EuroPython, the OpenInfra Summit, the Nextcloud Summit, GitHub Universe and MozFest: no 2027 dates yet.
- We found no open source pitch competition, demo day or investor event with a 2027 date. If you run one, send it to us.
Why open source events matter: the numbers
- Commercial open source startups raised $26.4 billion in venture funding in 2024, and at IPO they reach on average 7 times higher valuations than closed-source peers, according to the Linux Foundation, COSSA and Serena.
- Companies in the EU invested about €1 billion in open source in 2018, with an economic impact of €65–95 billion; a 10% rise in contributions would create more than 600 extra ICT start-ups a year, according to a European Commission study.
- Women were fewer than 7% of respondents in the Linux Foundation's latest survey, according to the EU's Open Source Observatory, so women open source founders are rare, and visible.
Building an open source company? Read our guide to venture capital for women founders, and see our lists of Top 10 Startup Events on Developer Tools in 2027, Top 10 Startup Events on AI in 2027 and Top 10 Startup Events on SaaS in 2027.
How to choose an open source event
- Start free. FOSDEM, Config Management Camp and FOSS-LÄND x OpenChain cost nothing, and FOSSASIA's community day is free.
- Spend a week in Brussels. The European Open Source Awards (28 January), the Policy Summit (29 January), FOSDEM (30–31 January) and Config Management Camp (1–3 February) are back to back.
- Go where your users are. Infrastructure projects belong at KubeCon, AI projects at AGNTCon and the PyTorch Conference, and Java or embedded projects at OCX.
- Learn the business side. FOSS Backstage and State of Open Con cover governance, licensing, funding and compliance, the problems that decide whether an open source company survives.
- Watch the early-bird deadlines. KubeCon Europe's €535 rate ends on 18 November 2026; GW OSCON's $3,000 start-up sponsorship is the only start-up rate we found.
List your event
Do you organise an open source conference, meetup, hackathon or investor event in 2027? 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 open source events for startups in 2027?
Our top picks are FOSDEM in Brussels, State of Open Con in London, FOSS Backstage in Berlin, the FOSSASIA Summit in Bangkok, KubeCon Europe in Barcelona, GW OSCON in Washington, OCX in Brussels, the Open Source Summits in Vancouver and Glasgow, and All Things Open in Raleigh.
When is FOSDEM 2027?
FOSDEM runs on 30–31 January 2027 at the ULB Solbosch campus in Brussels. Entry is free and there is no registration.
When is Open Source Summit Europe 2027?
Open Source Summit Europe runs on 20–22 September 2027 in Glasgow. The North American summit runs on 17–19 May 2027 in Vancouver.
Which open source events are free?
FOSDEM, Config Management Camp in Ghent and FOSS-LÄND x OpenChain in Stuttgart are free, and the FOSSASIA Summit's community day on 7 March 2027 is free.
Is there an open source event with a start-up rate?
Yes. GW OSCON in Washington offers start-ups a $3,000 Silver sponsorship with 4 passes, an exhibit table and a 5-minute talk.
When is the Open Source Founders Summit 2027?
It has not announced a 2027 date yet. The last edition was on 18–19 May 2026 in Paris.
When is KubeCon Europe 2027?
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe runs on 15–18 March 2027 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona. The Individual All-Access rate is €535 plus VAT until 18 November 2026.
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.
