What How to Web does

How to Web (legal entity: How to Web Media SRL) is a privately held Romanian company founded in 2010 that operates Eastern Europe's flagship annual technology and startup conference, held each October in Bucharest. The firm's core product is a three-day conference that convenes tech professionals, startup founders, venture investors, and corporate executives across content stages covering product, engineering, growth, AI, and investment tracks. Supporting the flagship event, How to Web runs a portfolio of ecosystem programs including the Spotlight startup competition (with a €465,000 syndicated investment prize in 2022), the Dealflow investor-startup matching service, Demo Nights, 1:1 Matchmaking (facilitating over 2,500 curated meetings per edition), and the Investors Summit track. The company also publishes the annual "Venture in Eastern Europe" report, positioning it as a data publisher on CEE venture trends.

The business operates on a diversified revenue model combining individual ticket sales across four tiers (Builder €129, BizDev €159, Startup €89, Investor €359, with 2022 Exec and Investor passes at €509 and €549 respectively), corporate group ticket packages with volume discounts of 5-15% for teams of 3-21+, and enterprise sponsorship from a roster that includes Google for Startups, Microsoft, Mastercard Romania, BRD, Orange Romania, Bitdefender, KPMG, Stripe, Adobe, Nvidia, Netflix, and UiPath. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through the howtoweb.co website supplemented by corporate partner recruitment channels. The 2025 edition drew over 3,000 attendees from 40+ countries; the 2026 edition is scheduled for October 6-8 at Face Convention Center in Bucharest.

How to Web runs on a lean operational model — 1-10 core staff supported by 50+ volunteers, with no disclosed external venture funding, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. The firm is led by CEO Daniel Dragomir and co-founder/advisor Bogdan Iordache. Conference attendance has approximately doubled from 1,500 in 2019 to 3,000+ in 2025, and Spotlight alumni from the last three editions have collectively raised approximately $25 million in follow-on funding, providing a credible track record of deal flow origination for the investor attendee segment.

Name

How to Web

Legal name

How to Web Media SRL

Website

https://howtoweb.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

How to Web organizes Eastern Europe's leading annual startup and technology conference in Bucharest, serving tech professionals, founders, and investors through ticketed events, a syndicated startup competition (Spotlight), investor-startup matchmaking, and a proprietary CEE venture capital data report.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Technology Conference & Startup Ecosystem Events

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)

akta.pro primary industry

Technology & Innovation Expos Organizers (THAHABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Engineering & Technology Congresses (THAHAJAE), Corporate Conferences & Sales Kickoffs (MPAGAGAC)

Keywords

• Technology conference events
• Startup pitch competitions
• Venture capital reports
• Investor matchmaking services
• Founder networking programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Bucharest

HQ country

Romania

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Conference Tickets: Primary revenue stream from ticket sales across multiple tiers (Builder €129, BizDev €159, Startup €89, Investor €359) for the annual How to Web Conference in Bucharest, Romania.
2. Sponsorships and Partnerships: Revenue from corporate partners including Google for Startups, Mastercard, Orange, Bitdefender, KPMG, Microsoft, and other companies that sponsor the conference and exhibit at the event.
3. Group Tickets: Corporate team ticket packages with volume discounts (5-15% savings for groups of 3-21+), allowing companies to send multiple employees to the conference.
4. Startup Programs (Spotlight): Startup spotlight program that provides investment prizes (€350,000 in 2021, €465,000 in 2022) to winning startups, funded through syndication with regional investors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

How to Web organizes Eastern Europe's leading annual startup and technology conference in Bucharest, Romania, bringing together over 3,000 tech professionals, founders, investors, and business leaders across three days of content, networking, and deal-making. The company also runs the Spotlight startup pitch competition with syndicated investment prizes, the annual Venture in Eastern Europe research report, and curated investor-startup matchmaking programs such as Dealflow and Demo Nights.

Product overview

How to Web is a conference and ecosystem enabler company operating Eastern Europe's leading startup and technology conference. The core offering is the annual How to Web Conference held in Bucharest, Romania, a three-day event for tech professionals, founders, and investors. Supporting products include the Spotlight startup competition program, the Venture in Eastern Europe annual research report, the Investors Summit investor track, Dealflow investor-startup matching, Demo Nights startup showcase events, and 1:1 Matchmaking networking facilitation. The company also publishes editorial content through its HTW Blog and produces industry reports on the regional venture ecosystem. The product portfolio centers on community-building, knowledge-sharing, and capital-connecting services rather than a software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Spotlight: Leading startup competition and investment prize program in Eastern Europe, with history of 10+ years propelling innovative startups to success.
• Venture in Eastern Europe

Products and services

• How to Web Conference Eastern Europe's leading annual startup and technology conference held in Bucharest, Romania. The three-day event brings together over 3,000 regional and international tech leaders, investors, founders, and product professionals for learning, networking, and business development across multiple stages with 150+ speakers.
• Spotlight How to Web's flagship startup competition and acceleration program with a 10+ year history of propelling innovative startups through mentoring, investor matchmaking, pitch practice, and a live pitch competition for a syndicated investment prize.
• Venture in Eastern Europe Report Annual comprehensive research report tracking venture capital investment across Eastern Europe, providing data on funding rounds, deal counts, top countries, and emerging trends in the regional startup ecosystem.
• Investors Summit Dedicated investor-focused track within the How to Web Conference featuring dealflow sessions, investor hours, and networking opportunities connecting VCs with founders seeking funding.
• Dealflow Investor-startup matching program facilitating curated one-on-one meetings between investors and founders during the conference period.
• Demo Nights Side events showcasing startup demos and prototypes, allowing founders to demonstrate their products to investors and industry attendees.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000+ attendees from 40+ countries at 2025 conference
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Google for StartupscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGoogle for Startups is a key partner of How to Web Conference, providing startup programs, mentorship, and marketing support for the annual event and Spotlight competition.
• Mastercard RomaniacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMastercard Romania partners with How to Web as a sponsor of the conference and investor in the Spotlight competition prize.
• BRD – Groupe Société GénéralecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerBRD partners with How to Web, providing sponsorship and supporting innovation programs including the Spotlight competition.
• Orange RomaniacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOrange Romania is a long-term partner of How to Web, supporting the conference and startup ecosystem development.
• BitdefenderminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBitdefender supports How to Web Conference as a partner and exhibitor.
• KPMG RomaniaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerKPMG partners with How to Web, offering startup programs including KPMG Romania Startup Grow Pad Program.
• UiPathminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUiPath supports How to Web as a partner and presented the Automation Awards for startup competition.
• The RecursiveminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Recursive is a media partner covering How to Web and Eastern European startup ecosystem.
• Start-Up.rominorGTM or Marketing PartnerStart-Up.ro is a Romanian media partner covering How to Web conference.
• Endeavor RomaniaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEndeavor Romania partners with How to Web for community events and ecosystem building.
• La French Tech BucharestminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLa French Tech Bucharest community partners with How to Web for ecosystem events.
• Impact Hub BucharestminorGTM or Marketing PartnerImpact Hub Bucharest partners with How to Web for startup community events.
• F6SminorGTM or Marketing PartnerF6S startup platform partners with How to Web for startup program applications.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Web Summit: Web Summit runs some of the world's largest technology and startup conferences (Lisbon, Rio, Vancouver, etc.). It is the most directly comparable peer in scale, sponsor profile, and audience to How to Web's annual conference, and actively competes for CEE-region sponsor dollars.
• Slush: Slush organizes a flagship annual tech/startup conference in Helsinki with deep VC sponsorship, founder pitch competitions, and side events — closely mirroring How to Web's product structure (flagship event, startup competition, investor matchmaking) for the Nordic region.
• TechCrunch Disrupt: TechCrunch Disrupt is a marquee global startup conference featuring a Startup Battlefield competition, investor programming, and major tech sponsors — directly comparable to How to Web's flagship conference and Spotlight pitch competition.
• The Next Web (TNW): TNW combines a major annual Amsterdam tech conference with media content covering European startups — a comparable content-plus-events business model serving a similar founder/tech/investor audience to How to Web.
• Pioneers: Pioneers runs the annual Pioneers Festival in Vienna focused on early-stage deep-tech startups, with founder-investor matchmaking and a startup showcase comparable to How to Web's Spotlight and Dealflow programs.

Regional players

• Wolves Summit: Wolves Summit organizes tech and startup conferences in Central/Eastern Europe (notably Wrocław, Poland), competing for the same CEE startup and investor audience as How to Web, though from a different anchor geography.
• NOAH Conference: NOAH runs private internet/tech conferences in Europe (London, Berlin) bringing together founders, investors, and corporate executives — similar in audience and intent to How to Web's Investors Summit and main conference.

Broad incumbents

• SaaStr Annual: SaaStr Annual is a large-scale B2B/SaaS founder and investor conference. It overlaps on the founder-investor matchmaking and tech sponsor profile that How to Web sells, though focused primarily on SaaS verticals.
• Money 20/20: Money 20/20 is a large-scale fintech and payments conference that competes for the same financial-services sponsors (Mastercard, Revolut, Wise, BCR, PwC) that How to Web counts as enterprise partners.

Emerging players

• Startup Europe / EU-Startups: EU-Startups is a media and events platform covering European startups with summits and partner content; comparable to How to Web as a regional ecosystem media-plus-events brand serving founders and investors in Europe.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/how_to_web
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/HowToWebConf/playlists
• Facebookfacebook.com/howtoweb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/howtoweb

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about How to Web