How to organize startup and investor meetings at an event

A productive startup and investor meeting program starts with being clear about what each side wants: startups want to meet the right investor, and investors want to see startups that fit their thesis without wasting time. To get there, you collect applications and select startups, build investor profiles, match the two sides with clear reasons and fit the meetings into a tight schedule. Follow-up after the event shows whether the program actually worked.

What each side wants

Before you design anything, write down why each side is coming:

Startups are looking for investment, but not only investment: they also want feedback, customer contacts, partnerships and visibility. They are not all at the same stage; a team with an idea and a team with revenue expect different things.
Investors want to use their time well. They focus on a particular stage, sector and ticket size, and a meeting outside their thesis wastes both sides' time.

Comparing these two lists tells you which startups to select and whom to invite.

Collecting applications and selecting startups

Set up separate application flows for startups and investors; asking both sides to fill in the same form makes matching harder later. On the startup application, ask at least for:

Company stage (idea, prototype, first revenue, growth)
Sector and business model
Type of investment sought and its rough size
A short product description and team details
What they expect from the event (investment, pilot customer, partnership)

Select against criteria written down in advance, and set the quota before applications open. If you have a jury, make sure every member uses the same criteria. Send a timely, courteous reply to the startups that were not selected as well; they are often the applicants for your next event.

Building investor profiles

A general "investor" label is not enough when you invite investors. Collect this for each one:

Stage: Early stage or growth stage?
Sector: Which areas do they invest in, and which do they avoid?
Ticket size: A general range is enough; you do not need an exact figure.
Type: Angel investor, venture capital fund, corporate venture capital or accelerator.
Expectations: How many meetings do they want at the event, and how much time can they give?

Matching approaches

There are three basic approaches, and most events combine them:

Manual matching: The organizing team reads the profiles and sets the meetings. It works well for small groups and slows down as numbers grow.
Criteria-based matching: Fields such as stage, sector and ticket size are compared. It is fast, but it only sees what the form asked.
Suggestions with reasons: The system compares profiles and presents each suggestion with a reason; the investor and the startup see why they were matched and decide on the meeting request with that in mind.

Whichever approach you choose, give investors the last word: accepting or declining a suggested meeting should be up to them.

Do not leave matching to the day of the event. Open profiles to both sides some time before the event, collect meeting requests during that window and lock the schedule in the final days. Investors then know in advance which startups they will hear, and startups can prepare by reading up on the investors they will meet. Also watch whether requests pile up on a few popular startups: if some get many requests while others get none, the organizing team needs to rebalance through suggestions.

One-to-one meetings or speed networking?

One-to-one meetings run longer and are scheduled at the request of both sides. They suit an investor who wants to hear a specific startup in depth. Speed networking rounds are short and fixed in length; startups sit at tables and investors change tables at set intervals, or the other way round. They create many introductions in a short time and work well for first contact.

A setup that works well combines both: a wide round of introductions through speed networking first, then one-to-one meetings with the startups that drew interest. For round and table math, see our speed networking guide.

Scheduling and room setup

Put meetings at times that do not clash with the main stage; investors do not want to miss the main sessions either.
Number every table and show the table number clearly in the meeting schedule.
Leave a few minutes between meetings for people to move.
Keep the meeting area away from stage noise; pitching in a loud room is hard.
Set up a help desk at the entrance for people who cannot find their table or whose schedule changed.
Keep a standby list for no-shows.

Briefing startups

Startups that arrive prepared show respect for the investor's time. Brief them before the event:

Short pitch: A few minutes that fit the meeting length: problem, solution, market, team and what they are looking for.
One-pager: A document that stays with the investor after the meeting and includes contact details.
Know the investor: Read up beforehand on what the investor they are meeting invests in.
A clear ask: Be able to say at the end of the meeting what they want next (a second meeting, data room access, a pilot).

Follow-up and measuring

The value of the program often shows after the event. For follow-up:

Within a few days of the event, send both sides their meeting list and contact details.
Use a short survey to ask which meetings are continuing.
A few months later, use a second survey to learn about second meetings, pilot projects and investment processes.

The main indicators to measure: planned and completed meetings, the no-show rate, meetings that led to a second meeting, and satisfaction on both sides. Use these results in the call for applications and the investor invitations for your next event; concrete outcomes are one of the strongest reasons for both sides to come back.

Common mistakes

Not asking for investor profiles: An investor matched with startups outside their thesis may not come to your next event.
Matching every startup with everyone: When quantity beats quality, both sides tire out.
Short meetings with no time to move: The schedule slips from the first round.
Leaving startups unprepared: Long, unfocused pitches lose the investor's attention.
Skipping follow-up: You cannot explain the value of a program you did not measure to your sponsors and partners.

How Eventiqs helps

In Eventiqs, the Registration and Visitor Management module lets you run separate application flows for startups and investors. Smart Matching presents each suggestion with a reason and a match score, and Meeting Requests and Messaging lets both sides write to each other and schedule meetings. The Speed Networking module builds the match matrix by round, table and time, and each participant sees their table and time in the app. At Hasat 2025, Eventiqs was the official networking partner: 1,000+ investor-startup meetings with 2,500+ visitors and 60 startups. Hasat applications run at hasat.eventiqs.com. See the Hasat 2025 case study for details.