Hosting EBN Congress

Celebrate your accomplishments

Bring the main event of our community to your city and unite your innovation ecosystem with your pan-European EU|BIC community

Co-hosts the next EBN Congress! Connect with local stakeholders, reinforce your bonds with neighbour business and entrepreneurship support experts, create relationships and show your expertise internationally.

The annual EBN Congress is the most significant event for the EU|BIC community. It gathers around 300 corporate leaders, senior-level national and international government officials, and an international network of business incubation executives and innovative experts in a single location.

Become the next host

Interested parties are invited to contact the secretariat for an introductory conversation. We will be happy to clarify any questions and connect you with previous hosts to hear from your peers about the experience.

Sample of auxiliary documents:

A sample terms of reference. This is an example, not the final document

The foreseen timeline and share or responsibilities for the EBN Congress

Here you can find a template for filling in answers to some of the questions required – this document can also be accompanied by others that aid your presentation. Click here for an example

Start the conversation

Organisation process

The process for you to host an EBN Congress starts when the EBN Secretariat launches a public call for candidates with the EU|BIC Community.

As a first step, you are invited to prepare a preliminary document detailing the ideas and the feasibility of the event. The document should contain:

Short description of the host region and the context of your interest
Indicative optional dates
Event and dinner venue options
Accommodation partnering options
Preliminary themes and desired content for the event
Financial viability (preliminary total costs, potential private sponsors & public support,…)

The EBN Congress should occur in the first half of a year, preferably in June.

Once the documents are submitted, they are examined by the EBN Board of Directors. Their feedback will allow candidates to strengthen their proposals and submit a more concrete final document. Final proposals are again submitted to the Board of Directors who will make its final choice for host.

The collaborative organisation process starts once a choice is made.

Eligibility criteria

The criteria for a member to host one of the EU|BIC community’s flagship events are:

The hosting location should be European, and attractive from an economic, cultural, historical, or symbolic point of view. The location should also be accessible. The EU|BIC community prides itself on being present in all types of regions, from rural to highly cosmopolitan, from central to more remote. This pride informs our criteria – attractiveness and accessibility should not be taken to mean only capital cities, but rather that participants from other remote locations can travel with minimal hassle.

The hosting location should have the capacity to host approximately 300 delegates in a single space (with a plenary room for around 300 participants, and smaller breakout rooms and networking/catering spaces also available), with hotels in its vicinity to reduce transfer time as much as possible.

The ecological footprint of the event will be taken into account. In this frame, the sustainability of the venues, and the transportation methods needed by participants, among other elements, will be taken into account.

The host EU|BIC has the initiative to select themes, topics, and the overall content it wishes for the event. Generally, the programme should focus on innovation incubation trends and take into account the four EU|BIC mission commitments.