One of the biggest benefits for aspiring entrepreneurs in Milan is the vast number of startup and tech events in the area. Italy's largest startup hub has grown swiftly over the years, with hundreds of millions of euros in allotted funding, and dozens of startup event-hosting organizations. At these many events, experienced CEOs, founders, and investors in Milan share their experiences and knowledge with the next generation of startups.
In the blog post below, we’ve listed plenty of startup events and groups in the Milan area for every stage of your startup, whether you’re testing your idea, looking to learn new skills, meet potential co-founders, find investors, or just meet new and interesting people.
Inspirational Startup Events
The are many inspirational startup events and Meetups in Milan, where you hear interesting stories from experienced entrepreneurs and begin to meet others in the Milan startup community. The great thing about these events is that they are open to the public and very welcoming to newcomers.
- Founder Institute events:
Milan Events:
- Guiding Founders Through Change: Transformational Mentoring with Chris Foltz: 5:30pm, Jan 21, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364153
- Mentoring Strategies for Technical Founders with Ivelin Ivanov: 5:30pm, Jan 28, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364154
Global or Regional Events:
- Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
- How to Build, Fundraise, and Exit Your Startup: AMA with Tim Grassin: 11:00am, Jan 22, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/365880
- What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 2:00am, Jan 23, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/362669
- How to Align Your Brand Messaging with Your Startup Mission: 7:00pm, Jan 27, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/363093
- FI Alumni Panel: Meet Portfolio Companies and Ask Questions: 7:00pm, Jan 29, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/363583
- Employee to Entrepreneur: How to Make the Trasition to Startup Founder : 2:00am, Feb 04, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/363737
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 7:00pm, Feb 05, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/363927
- How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 7:00pm, Feb 10, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364112
- Co-Founder Networking for European Founders: Find a Business Partner: 7:00pm, Feb 19, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364571
- Investor Valuation Basics: How to Assess Your Startup’s Worth with Neil Shah: 2:00am, Feb 25, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364540
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 2:00am, Feb 27, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/365123
- Ask an Investor Anything: Q&A with Javier Caruso: 7:00pm, Feb 27, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364289
- Co-Founder Networking: Sales and Marketing Partner Matchmaking: 6:00pm, Mar 12, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364731
- What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 6:00pm, Mar 19, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/364899
- Startup Fundraising Q&A: Meet Investors from the FI Venture Network: 1:00am, Mar 25, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/365312
- Employee to Entrepreneur: How to Make the Trasition to Startup Founder : 7:00pm, Apr 07, 2025 (Europe/Rome): https://FI.co/e/365727
- Data Science Milan
- Digital design days
- Fintech Up
- FWLAB Startup Meetup Milano
- Girls in Tech
- Health 2.0 Milan Chapter
- Lean Startup Machine Milan
- Milan Startup Week
- Milano Entrepreneurship and Innovation Meetup Group
- Milano Scala Group
- Milano Startup Scene
- Non-Technical Entrepreneurs Meetup Milano
- R-Ladies Milan
- Startup Weekend Milan
- StartupItalia! Open Summit
Best Practices Startup Events
Milan is home to a plethora of beginner knowledge-sharing events. These events are each focused on specific topics related to building a business, and feature expert speakers that share their best practices, tips for success, and pitfalls to avoid. Most of these events are free, but some may charge a small ticket fee that is definitely worth the investment.
- AWS User Group Italy
- Branding & Brand Identity Italia
- DigitalOcean Milano
- Legal Tech Milano
- Log.ED Milano
- Machine Learning Milan
- Milan High Tech Meetup
- Milano Chatbots Meetup
- Milano Design Thinking Meetup
- Serverless Italy
- Startup Founder 101 Milan
- Startup Grind Milano
- yTech Milan: Hybris Technology Community
Events to Network and Form a Team in Milan
When you're ready to start building a team, it's time to attend events, talk about your startup project, and meet people that share your interests in Milan. While attending any of the events listed in this post can help you meet potential team members, the events below are especially useful
- American Business Group
- Business e via Italy
- Business Networking Milan
- CoFoundersLab
- Endeavor Italy
- Founder2be
- FounderDating
- Hackers and Founders
- Milano International Business Networking
- Professional Women's Network Milan
- Startup Crash Test Milan
- StartupBlink Milano
- STEM 4 Health & AgTech Milano
- Tech Startup Milano
Builder-Focused Events and Hackathons in Milan
If you have a technical skillset, or are looking to network and learn from people that have a technical skillset, then it is worth looking into the maker-focused events in Milan. These include hackathons, technical Meetups, and other communities that foster people building products.
- 3DiTALY Milano
- Cashless Milano Hack
- Cognitive Hack
- DamA Space
- FabLab Milano
- Global Legal Hackathon
- H-ack by H-Farm
- Hacker News Milano
- Hacks/Hackers Milano
- Hash Code 2018
- Kotlin Night Milano 2018
- Makers Hub
- Milano Digital Week: Social Media Hackathon
- Opendot
- POLIFactory
- Poste Hack
- Space Apps Milano
- WeMake
Investor Networking Events in Milan
If you already have a team and/or product, then you might be ready to start networking with investors in Milan. There are many events in Milan that gather angel investors (affluent people that invest their personal capital in early-stage startups or entrepreneurs, and generally provide only a small one-time investment to help the business grow), angel investor groups (networks, or syndicates, of angel investors who pool their resources together to invest more money than would typically be issued with a private angel investment), and venture capital firms (large institutional funds that provide large amounts of funding for later stage companies with impressive and proven growth), like the ones listed below.
- Angel Investment Network
- Angel Partner Group
- Club degli Investitori
- Club Digitale
- Italian Angels for Biotech
- Italian Angels for Growth
- Italian Business Angel Network
- ScaleIt
- Siamosoci
Are you looking for expert guidance and feedback to build a startup in Milan?
The Founder Institute is an idea-stage accelerator that works with solo-entrepreneurs, and teams, during the earliest stages of building a business. Through an intensive 3.5 month program, FI participants build their business through a proven structured process, and receive feedback and assistance from over 30+ successful entrepreneurs and investors in Milan. Upon completing the program, Graduates join a global network of entrepreneurs and receive ongoing help to get funding and build their business. FI Graduates have raised over $1.85BN in funding, and are building some of the world's fastest growing companies.
Learn more about the Founder Institute at FI.co, join a free startup event in Milan, or apply to build a startup in Milan today.
