Published in: Herald Newsroom | March 2026
Herald AI is excited to announce our participation at START Summit 2026, Europe’s largest student-run startup conference, held on 19–20 March 2026 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. For our team, START Summit 2026 is more than a networking event; it is a return to the very university ecosystem where entrepreneurial ambition was first forged, and a powerful platform to connect with the investors, mentors, and fellow founders shaping the next generation of European innovation.
What Is START Summit 2026?
START Summit is Europe’s largest student-run innovation and tech conference, held annually in St. Gallen, Switzerland, with a mission to create a seeding ground for aspiring entrepreneurs, connecting founders, investors, and talent to drive innovation and growth. More than 7,000 participants from Switzerland, Germany, and over 30 other European countries are expected, alongside attendees from North and South America and Asia.
START Summit 2026 runs under the theme “Embracing New Horizons” and features four central stages: the Summit Stage for high-profile keynotes, the Alpine Stage highlighting the Geneva-to-Munich deep tech axis, the Builder Stage focused on company building from seed to IPO, and the Pitch Stage where startups compete across eight live pitching competitions.
The 2026 edition features more than 120 speakers across five tracks and two days of breakthrough ideas, with confirmed speakers including Milda Mitkutė, Co-Founder of Vinted, Gabriel Vasquez, Investment Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and Katharina Wilhelm, Partner at CREANDUM.
Why Herald AI Is Attending START Summit 2026
START Summit 2026 sits at the intersection of everything Herald AI is building toward: early-stage startup development, European investor access, AI and deep tech discourse, and a community of ambitious founders who are thinking beyond borders.
START Summit is a platform designed to bring together people who build companies, back innovation, and drive systemic change, through a curated mix of keynotes, panels, workshops, startup pitches, and structured networking formats where meaningful conversations and long-term collaborations can emerge.
For a legal AI platform targeting the European succession law market, this is the right community to be part of. The problems we solve, complexity, fragmentation, and administrative burden in cross-border inheritance cases, are exactly the kind of challenges that resonate with an audience of investors and entrepreneurs who understand the value of deep, domain-specific AI.
Workshops, Mentors and Partners at START Summit 2026
One of the most valuable aspects of START Summit 2026 for Herald AI is the quality of the workshop and mentorship programme. This year’s event features sessions organised by some of the most respected names in the startup and investment ecosystem.
Workshops led by UBS and HubSpot offer practical insight into financial strategy and growth. Sessions by 3VC and SalesPlaybook bring investor and go-to-market expertise directly to founders. And mentorship from Osborne Clarke, one of Europe’s leading tech-focused law firms, and Vinted, whose co-founder Milda Mitkutė is a confirmed keynote speaker, brings both legal and scaling perspectives that are directly relevant to Herald AI’s stage of development.
Confirmed partners of START Summit 2026 include Syngenta, Belimo, and Chain IQ, with the programme complemented by mentoring sessions and side events, including the Swisscom Venture Investor Night.
HSG Connection: Coming Home to St. Gallen
START Summit 2026 carries a special significance for the Herald AI team. Our CEO is an alumnus of the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and holds an Executive MBA from HSG, one of Europe’s most prestigious business schools and one of the most active startup universities in the German-speaking world.
According to the HSG Entrepreneurship Monitor, a total of 845 startups emerged from the University between 2014 and 2024, making HSG one of the most active startup universities in the German-speaking world, ranking directly behind the Technical University of Munich and ETH Zurich.
START Summit 2026 features a dedicated St. Gallen Area serving as a meeting place for regional startups, and the HSG START Accelerator is actively working to anchor early-stage deep tech teams in the region.
Returning to St. Gallen for START Summit 2026 is not just professionally relevant; it is personal. The HSG network is one of the strongest alumni communities in European business, and the connections forged there continue to shape how we build Herald AI.
Herald AI and the Future of Legal Tech in Europe
START Summit 2026 addresses how Europe can compete in the global innovation race, exploring which technologies and business models enable European startups to flourish, and how the continent can translate its strong research base into globally successful companies.
Legal tech is one of the most underserved verticals in this conversation. While AI investment has flooded into general legal platforms, the specific challenge of cross-border inheritance and succession law across Europe remains largely unaddressed by purpose-built technology. Herald AI is building directly into that gap.
Our platform combines a Case Workflow Engine, an AI Legal Intelligence Layer built on retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and an Expert Collaboration Layer, designed specifically for the complexity of EU Succession Regulation 650/2012 (Brussels IV) and the practitioners who navigate it daily. All built with GDPR and nFADP compliance at its core, and secured with AES-256 encryption.
For more on the EU legal framework governing cross-border succession, visit the European e-Justice Portal, the official resource for inheritance law practitioners across Europe.
Meet the Herald AI Team at START Summit 2026
Whether you are a fellow entrepreneur, a mentor, an investor, or an HSG alumnus, we would love to connect at START Summit 2026. Find us in St. Gallen on 19–20 March, or reach out in advance to schedule a conversation.
We are looking forward to inspiring workshops, meaningful mentorship sessions, and the kind of entrepreneurial energy that only START Summit delivers.
📅 Date: 19–20 March 2026 📍 Location: St. Gallen, Switzerland 🌐 herald-ai.legal | 🔗 startglobal.org
Stay tuned for our post-event update from START Summit 2026, and follow Herald AI’s journey as we build the platform transforming cross-border inheritance law in Europe.
