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Pitches&Palms
The lit Miami skyline at night, the water of the bay in front of it

No.1,
Miami

The Miami Accelerator Week for European Founders

November 9–17, 2026, in Miami. Applications are closed. Eight startups have been nominated.

Join the waitlist for February 2027See the eight startups

Photo: Nick Rickert, Unsplash

Thank you for 35 applications

Applications closed on September 30, 2026. Congratulations to the eight startups we nominated for the first edition.

The villa's lit pool and open terrace at dusk
The house in Miami, booked for the nine days.

The week at a glance

Dates

Monday, November 9, to Tuesday, November 17, 2026.

Accommodation

All teams live together with us in a villa in Miami.

Venue

The LAB Miami in Wynwood, the neighbourhood's first coworking house, built out of a warehouse in 2012. The teams work here during the day, and the main stage is here too.

On stage

Pitch night on Tuesday, November 10, co-hosted by the EVO VC & Startup Community. A second stage night follows on Thursday, November 12. EVO is a community of investors and tech founders: more than 22,000 members across 35 cities, headquartered in Miami.

A packed hall at The LAB Miami during an event
An evening at the LAB.
Hosts
  • Sakis Tabakis, smiling, his hand at his chin
    LinkedIn

    Athanasios "Sakis" Tabakis

    Managing Director of SteerSuite GmbH, Chairman of SteerSuite Inc.

  • Julian Rosen in front of a graffiti wall
    LinkedIn

    Julian Andreas Rosen

    CEO of SteerSuite Inc.

  • Stephanie Weyer sitting on a bench by the window in a white shirt, one leg crossed over the other, her chin resting on her hand
    LinkedIn

    Stephanie Weyer

    Owner of Marketing Mavens Agency

  • Isabel Jeworski in front of a blue door, smiling
    LinkedIn

    Isabel Maria Jeworski

    Head of International Sales and Events at Marketing Mavens

Speakers
  • Gianluca Venturi in a suit, a microphone in front of him
    LinkedIn

    Gianluca Venturi

    Go-to-Market Strategy Executive, Alexa+ (Amazon)

    Gianluca Venturi is an international technology leader and Go-To-Market strategy executive for Amazon's Alexa+ AI division. Drawing on his extensive enterprise background, he actively supports the entrepreneurial ecosystem as an angel investor, mentor, and advisor guiding early-stage startups on GTM strategy, technology, and strategic partnerships. As a hands-on builder developing his own multi-platform applications, Gianluca operates at the dynamic intersection of enterprise AI scaling and grassroots tech innovation.

  • Dragana Linfield in half profile in front of a pale wall
    LinkedIn

    Dragana Linfield

    MIT Lecturer and Technology Advisor, Ernst & Young

    Dragana Linfield is a Technology Advisor in the TMT consulting practice at Ernst & Young LLP, with over 25 years of global leadership in technology transformation and innovation. Her career spans Vodafone, Telefónica, Etisalat and Liberty Latin America, where she has delivered technology transformations, complex M&A integrations and enterprise-scale modernization programs. At EY she advises Fortune 500 clients on rearchitecting core infrastructure, adopting agile operating models, and transforming legacy environments into modular, cloud-native platforms. Her focus is on cloud-native architectures, BSS/OSS modernization, and embedding AI across business workflows.

  • Thomas Render in a suit against a grey backdrop, smiling
    LinkedIn

    Thomas Render

    Partner, Quadriga Capital

    Thomas has been part of the Quadriga Capital team since 2015 and leads the Tech-Enabled Services sector group. He currently looks after the salestech group, the newcare group and the GBA laboratory group and helped build up the DOREA group. Before that he spent several years in investment banking at Rothschild. Thomas holds a Master of Science from the University of Mannheim.

  • Jamie Rosenberg in a light blue shirt, microphone in hand, mid-sentence
    LinkedIn

    Jamie Rosenberg

    2x Exited Founder, Techstars Alumni

    Jamie Rosenberg is a two-time exited founder and Techstars alum who built two category-defining companies at the intersection of education and financial technology. He founded ClassWallet in 2014, a digital wallet platform for public funds that processed over $6 billion across 37 states before its 2023 exit, and AdoptAClassroom.org in 1998, widely considered the first crowdfunding platform on the internet and one of the largest education philanthropy platforms in the country. Together, his companies have positively impacted millions of students across the United States. Today, Jamie teaches entrepreneurship and advises companies on strategy, go-to-market, leadership, and fundraising.

  • Konstantin Struck in a dark sweater over a white shirt, arms folded, leaning against a light wall
    LinkedIn

    Konstantin Struck

    Co-founder & President Americas, Kyan Health

    Prior to founding Kyan Health in 2021, Konstantin worked as an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company (2011–2020) and co-led McKinsey's Organizational Health practice in Switzerland. Kyan Health is an AI-enabled mental health platform for global employers. They have raised $20M and cover more than 3 million lives across 100+ countries. Kyan Health was founded and pre-seed funded in Zurich, Switzerland, and Berlin, Germany. Having demonstrated strong enterprise traction with global enterprise customers such as Hitachi Energy, Hilti, On Running, and SBM Offshore, Kyan Health incorporated in the US in 2022 to continue its global expansion, backed by additional US and European investors throughout Seed and Series A rounds. As Co-founder & President Americas, Konstantin has led the US market entry since 2025 and continues to be responsible for Kyan's growth and go-to-market activities across all 50 states.

Schedule
  1. Mon Nov 9

    Arrival, opening and welcome dinner

    The teams arrive over the course of the day and move into the villa. In the evening: the opening, onboarding into SteerSuite HQ and the first dinner together.

  2. Tue Nov 10Stage

    Hot seats and pitch night

    Morning hot seats on each team's goals for the week and its plan for the US market, then an afternoon of work at the LAB. In the evening a keynote, after which every team introduces itself to the room. The night is open to the public.

  3. Wed Nov 11

    Funding masterclass

    The topics are the US investor landscape, funding strategy and term sheets. A second masterclass follows, and in the evening a guest joins for a fireside chat.

  4. Thu Nov 12Stage

    Off-site meetings and stage night

    Meetings and work at the LAB during the day. In the evening a panel with two or three of the visiting startups, plus a keynote with an MIT lecturer, a private equity investor and a go-to-market strategy executive for Alexa+ at Amazon.

  5. Fri Nov 13

    Work at the LAB, evening off

    The LAB and meetings during the day.

  6. Sat Nov 14

    Free day, networking at a bar in the evening

    Nothing on the schedule until the evening. Then networking at a bar with people we've picked.

  7. Sun Nov 15

    Content day

    The teams stay at the villa: video, social material, the final prep for Monday. The evening is free.

  8. Mon Nov 16

    Closing day and farewell party

    In the morning every team presents what it got done, measured against the goals it set on Tuesday, and lays out its plan for the time after Miami. The farewell party is that evening. SteerSuite HQ launches the same day.

  9. Tue Nov 17

    Departure

No.2, February 2027

The second edition. Dates and programme to follow. Join the waitlist and we'll write to you as soon as applications open.

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