Startup networking that isn't random.
Most networking events give you a name tag and good luck. Ours give the evening a spine: live startup pitches in the middle of it, so every conversation has something real to start from. Founders, investors, engineers and operators. Startup, tech and business networking events in 25 cities, on a schedule you can plan around.
What the evenings look like.
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Three hours, four beats.
Every Startup Valley night in every city runs the same arc. Times shift by an hour or so between cities; the shape does not.
Doors, name tags, first drink
The first half hour is deliberately unstructured. Hosts work the door and make the early introductions, so nobody spends the evening standing alone by the bar.
The host welcome
Two minutes: who is in the room tonight, how the pitches run, and what to do with the person standing next to you. Short by design.
Live startup pitches
Founders take the stage for five minutes each, then answer questions from the floor. Investors attend by approval, so the questions come from people who actually deploy capital.
Open networking until close
The longest part of the evening, and the reason the pitches exist: everyone now has something real to talk about. Conversations start from a company you both just watched.
Founders & startup teams
Building at every stage, some pitching on stage, all up for comparing notes. Pre-idea to Series A in the same evening.
Investors
VCs and angels attend by approval, listening for the next thing worth backing. The gate is what keeps the pitch Q&A worth sitting through.
Engineers & operators
The people who've already solved the problem you're stuck on, or who want to join what you're building. Our highest-attendance ticket after founders.
Photographs, not stock.
Startup networking near you.
Each city runs on its own weekday and its own venues. Open a city for its next date, its past nights and the photographs from them.
The busiest cities are New York (115 nights), Toronto (82 nights), San Francisco (75 nights), Los Angeles (74 nights), Dubai (45 nights) and London (41 nights), and the next dates across every city sit on the events calendar.
Straight answers.
What is a startup networking event?
A startup networking event is an evening where founders, investors and operators meet in person to find each other: co-founders, first customers, hires, angels and funds. At Startup Valley the evening is built around a live pitch session, so the networking starts from something concrete instead of small talk. Every night runs the same arc: doors and first intros, a short host welcome, five-minute founder pitches with investor Q&A, then open networking until the venue winds down.
Where can I find startup networking events near me?
Startup Valley runs recurring startup networking events in 25 cities, including New York, San Francisco, London, Toronto, Los Angeles, Dubai, Amsterdam, Boston, Miami, Paris and Melbourne. Pick your city from the index on this page to see its next date, its usual weekday and the venues it runs in. Most cities run weekly to biweekly, so there is normally a date within two weeks.
Do investors actually attend these networking events?
Yes, and they attend by approval rather than by open ticket. That gate is the whole point: it keeps the investor side of the room genuinely investor-side, so founders who pitch get questions from people who deploy capital, and investors get a filtered evening rather than a queue of pitches.
Is this a business networking event or a startup pitch night?
Both, deliberately. The live pitches give the business networking a spine. Founders, investors and operators come for the pitch session and stay for the open networking, so conversations start from a company everyone in the room just watched.
How much do startup networking events cost?
Most nights are ticketed with a small cover that helps pay for the venue, and some are free when a partner sponsors the evening. Every event page shows the price before you book. Tickets are refundable up to 24 hours before the event and transferable after that.
Can I pitch my startup at a networking event?
Yes. Take the pitch ticket for an upcoming night and apply through the pitch form. Pitching founders get coached on the deck beforehand, five minutes on stage with investor Q&A, and a permanent listing in the public startup directory. Slots are limited per night to keep the session tight, so earlier is better.
How often do the events run?
Weekly to biweekly in the larger cities and monthly in the newer ones, on a steady weekday per city (New York on Wednesdays, Toronto on Thursdays, London and Dubai on Tuesdays). Recurrence is the point: the third time an investor sees you, you have stopped being a stranger.
Where to find venture networking events
The full map: recurring series, the platforms, the institutional calendar and the invite-only layer.
How the pitch nights work
The other half of the evening: five minutes on stage, then questions from investors who attend by approval.
The cold intro that gets a reply
What to send the investor you met, while you are still fresh in their memory.
Skip the small talk.
One night in the right room beats a month of cold outreach.