University is the cheapest time to start a company: student tickets cost a fraction of the normal price, and some competitions exist only for student founders. These are the ten best events of 2027 for student and graduate founders, from St. Gallen, Mannheim, London, Luxembourg, Lisbon and Munich to Stanford, Houston and Australia.
We picked events built for student founders or with a real student programme, such as a student ticket, a student pitch competition or a student hackathon, 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). Nine of the ten are Confirmed for 2027 and one is Announced.
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 Student Entrepreneurship Startup Events of 2027 at a Glance
The 10 best student entrepreneurship events of 2027
1. TreeHacks: 12–14 February 2027, Stanford
TreeHacks is Stanford's student hackathon and is free for admitted hackers, with flights covered up to regional caps. For a student founder from Europe, it is the cheapest way to spend a weekend in Silicon Valley in front of Bay Area sponsors and recruiters. See our lists of Top 10 Startup Events on Hackathons in 2027 and startup events in San Francisco.
2. BBLC Eurostart Venture Awards final: 3 March 2027, London
The Eurostart Venture Awards are run by the Belgium and Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. Universities pick their own semi-finalists and send one venture to the final, and every finalist gets at least £1,000; Lancaster University's internal deadline is 30 November 2026, so ask your university's enterprise team about yours. We found the 2027 date on a participating university's page, not on a BBLC page, so it is Announced. See our list of startup events in London.
3. UNIHACK: 12–14 March 2027, Australia (hybrid)
UNIHACK calls itself Australia's biggest student hackathon, and its hybrid format means you can take part from outside Australia. It is student-run, like most events on this list, so it is also a good place to find a technical co-founder. See our list of startup events in Sydney.
4. START Hack: 17–19 March 2027, St. Gallen
START Hack calls itself Europe's premier student-led hackathon. Companies set the cases, there is a CHF 10,000 prize pool, and it runs in the same week as START Summit, so a winning student team can stay on and meet investors. See our guide to startup events in Switzerland.
5. START Summit: 18–19 March 2027, St. Gallen
START Summit is run by students and is one of Europe's biggest startup conferences: the 2026 edition counted 1,350+ founders and 1,100+ investors. There is one pitching competition per vertical plus the START Summiteer final, and you need a Startup ticket to apply; the 2026 Summiteer prize pool was CHF 260,000, and 2027 prizes are not published yet. A student ticket gets you both days, startup jobs and one-to-one meetings in the event app. See our list of startup events in Zurich.
6. Q-Summit: 1–2 April 2027, Mannheim
Q-Summit calls itself Germany's largest student-led startup conference, and 2027 is its 10th anniversary. It is smaller and cheaper to reach than the big Berlin and Munich events, with 60 startups and 80 partners at the 2026 edition, and the Q-Hack hackathon runs just before it. See our guide to startup events in Germany.
7. Rice Business Plan Competition: 8–10 April 2027, Houston
The Rice Business Plan Competition calls itself the world's largest and richest student startup competition, with more than $1 million in cash, investment and prizes. At the 2025 edition more than $1.5 million was announced, and every team left with at least one cash prize. Teams from European universities can apply; the key dates are on the important dates page.
8. Gen-E: 6–9 July 2027, Luxembourg
Gen-E is JA Europe's festival for young entrepreneurs and the European final for national winners of its student company programmes. University teams compete for awards including JA Europe Start Up of the Year and Innovation of the Year, which looks for student start-ups with real investment potential. If your university runs JA Start Up, this is the road to a European stage.
9. European Innovation Academy: 19 July–6 August 2027, Lisbon
The European Innovation Academy turns students into startup teams: in three weeks you form a team, build a product and pitch it to investors, with no lectures. It runs in Lisbon, Rome and London in 2027, and many universities send students with scholarships, so ask yours. See our list of startup events in Lisbon.
10. Bits & Pretzels: 27–29 September 2027, Munich
Bits & Pretzels is one of Europe's biggest founder conferences, with 7,500 founders, investors and industry leaders and a curated two-to-one founder-to-investor ratio. For 2027 it has added affordable ticket categories for students and early-stage teams, and a new startup competition in which angel investors and first-check VCs nominate their favourite startups. See our list of startup events in Munich.
Also worth a look
- St. Gallen Symposium, University of St. Gallen: its Global Ideas Competition for master's and postgraduate students shares a CHF 20,000 prize fund and brings the winners to the symposium. Apply by 1 February 2027. The symposium page says 28–29 April 2027 and the competition page 27–29 April. symposium.org
- NHH Symposium, Bergen, 10–11 March 2027: Europe's largest student-run business conference, held every other year. symposiet.no
- Hack Winterthur, 12–14 February 2027: a free hackathon for students and company staff, with a path into the Launch Control Incubator. zhaw.ch
- HackUDC, A Coruña, Spain, 26–28 February 2027, and student hackathons for women and non-binary students in North America: ElleHacks (Toronto, 29–31 January), InnovateHer (6–7 February), HackHERS and WiCHacks (27–28 February) and WEHack (10–11 April). All Announced on the MLH 2027 season list.
- Venture Cup Sweden: the national final of the free, university-rooted startup competition is in Helsingborg in January 2027 (day not published). venturecup.se
- Startup OLÉ Launch Event, Salamanca, 4 February 2027, with a student registration track. startupole.eu
- Falling Walls Lab: a three-minute pitch competition for young researchers and innovators; the 2027 season opens on 1 February 2027. falling-walls.com
Dates not announced yet
- The Hult Prize ($1 million in seed funding; global finals usually in September) and the Enactus World Cup (the 2026 edition is 16–19 November in São Paulo) have no 2027 dates yet. hultprize.org
- The EO Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, MIT $100K, the Harvard New Venture Competition and the CEO Global Conference have no 2027 dates yet.
- Slush, Junction, hackaTUM (2026 edition 27–29 November), EIT Jumpstarter, ClimateLaunchpad, Entrepreneurship Avenue (Vienna), IdeaLab! (WHU), Imperial's Venture Catalyst Challenge, Stage Two and Y Combinator Startup School: no 2027 dates yet.
- VentureWell OPEN has ended: VentureWell cancelled its successor, the VIA Summit. venturewell.org
- We found no 2027 event in Europe only for women student founders. If you run one, send it to us.
Why student entrepreneurship matters: the numbers
- 16.5% of students are in the process of founding a company and another 6.4% already run one, according to the GUESSS Global Report 2025, based on 196,162 students in 66 countries. The same report finds that the share of student founders is consistently smaller among women than among men.
- UK university spinouts raised £1.3 billion in venture capital in 2025, the lowest figure since 2021, according to the Royal Academy of Engineering.
- Of the UK spinouts launched since 2020, 17% have at least one female founder, up from 7% in 2010–2014, and they raised a record £281 million, according to the same report.
Ready to pitch? See our lists of Top 10 Startup Events on Pitch Competitions in 2027, Top 10 Startup Events on Accelerators and Demo Days in 2027 and Top 10 Startup Events on Female Entrepreneurship in 2027.
How to choose a student entrepreneurship event
- Use your student status. START Summit's student ticket is CHF 119 until 3 December 2026, TreeHacks is free for admitted hackers, and Bits & Pretzels has added student tickets.
- Pick a competition you can win. Rice is open to student-led startups from any university, Gen-E to JA Start Up teams, and the BBLC awards to ventures nominated by UK universities.
- Build first, then pitch. Join START Hack or the Q-Hack to find a team, then take what you built to START Summit or Q-Summit in the same season.
- Ask your university. Many universities pay for the European Innovation Academy, nominate teams for the BBLC awards and run the national rounds that lead to Gen-E.
- Watch the deadlines. Lancaster's BBLC deadline is 30 November 2026, START Summit prices rise after 3 December 2026, and Rice applications close on 29 January 2027.
List your event
Do you organise a student startup competition, hackathon or founder conference in 2027, especially one for women student founders? 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 startup events for students in 2027?
Our top picks are TreeHacks, the BBLC Eurostart Venture Awards final, UNIHACK, START Hack and START Summit in St. Gallen, Q-Summit in Mannheim, the Rice Business Plan Competition, Gen-E in Luxembourg, the European Innovation Academy and Bits & Pretzels in Munich.
When is START Summit 2027?
START Summit 2027 runs on 18–19 March 2027 in the Olma halls in St. Gallen, Switzerland, with free Day Zero events on 17 March. Student tickets cost CHF 119 until 3 December 2026, then CHF 149.
When is Q-Summit 2027?
Q-Summit 2027 runs on 1–2 April 2027 at the University of Mannheim, with the Q-Hack hackathon on 31 March to 1 April. Ticket sales start in January 2027.
Can European students enter the Rice Business Plan Competition?
Yes. Startups with at least two current student founders or managers from any university can apply. Applications open on 9 November 2026 and close on 29 January 2027.
What is the biggest student startup competition in Europe in 2027?
Gen-E in Luxembourg (6–9 July 2027) is the European final for JA student companies, and START Summit runs pitching competitions with a student ticket. The Hult Prize and the Enactus World Cup have not announced 2027 dates.
Are there free startup events for students in 2027?
TreeHacks is free for admitted hackers, and Hack Winterthur is free. START Summit's Day Zero events on 17 March are free with a ticket.
Is there a startup event for women students in 2027?
We found no Europe-wide event only for women student founders with a 2027 date. In North America, ElleHacks, InnovateHer, HackHERS, WiCHacks and WEHack are announced for early 2027.
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.
