And just like that, the first of Q4’s big four European tech events is over. Anyone else want to rewind and do SaaStock 2024 again?! Hundreds of new connections, the first-ever SaaStock Startup Day at Dogpatch Labs, investor intros galore, dozens of mentoring sessions for women tech founders, and even two of our members reaching semi-finals of SaaStock’s Global Pitch Competition. What a whirlwind! And we’d do it all again. Keep reading…

Founders Descend into Dogpatch for Startup Day on Steroids

With big hitters in the tech world coming through Dogpatch’s doors recently, like Stripe’s John Collison and Open AI’s Head of Strategy Jason Kwon, it’s not a surprise that founders from all over Europe descended into the startup hub’s vaults for SaaStock’s Startup Day. The highly anticipated, sold-out gig, a pre-cursor to the two-day tech summit to unfold, covered everything from live pitches to compete for that €500K Global Pitch Competition prize, and SaaS founder fireside with PandaDoc and Zephr, moderated by former founder of Change Donations and now NDRC Director at Dogpatch Labs, Lizzy Hayashida.

SaaS specialists and techies alike built pivotal CTO and product team connections, attendees experienced roundtables full of international entrepreneurs on the hunt for the latest SaaS trends and got a taste for what the Dogpatch life is like. And the best was yet to come!

Boots on the Ground: Podcast, Pitches, Product Demos

Dogpatch team, and its startup members, turned out in force to the RDS’ tech takeover, eager to connect, share, and learn. Malaika Judd was up first. NDRC Accelerator MD and founder of Sendy which raised over $45M. She interviews Flywire CFO, Cosmin Pitigoi in SaaStock Podcast Studio, talking all things finance and how the role is changing in startups. A mover and shaker in the tech ecosystem, and Dogpatch’s Head of Platform, Menno Axt is in conversation with Remote’s CEO, and leaves with one lasting message to founder: Don’t give up.

From 200 global entries to being selected as two of the top 25 startups to pitch in SaaStock’s Global Pitch Competition semi-finals, two startup members Dosen and DevA11y make the cut to compete against the top. LA-based Dosen houses its European HQ in Dogpatch, with a recent visit from its CEO as part of SaaStock pitches. DevA11y, a startup making digital accessibility for all, is a recently selected FCAT Fellow by Dogpatch Labs’ innovation partner Fidelity Investments, and more recently scaling in the NDRC H2 24 Accelerator. 

Wrapping the SaaStock Accelerate Stage was none other than Revium’s CEO and co-founder Patrick Rhatigan, another NDRC H2 24 cohort startup. Paddy shares his tips on how to turbo-charge your pipeline with discovery calls, one of the most undervalued tools in sales.

Scaling women tech founders with Fierce x SaaStock collab

At Dogpatch Labs, we work with a lot of women tech founders, and through many startup programmes, roundtables, founder workshops, and pillar events throughout the year, we understand some of the challenges these entrepreneurs face. Here’s where Fierce comes in.

A tech-focused initiative set up to connect fierce women entrepreneurs with globally successful founders, learn through impact-driven sessions, and scale their startups. A network of highly ambitious women founders in tech getting things done. No BS. From a small cluster of change-driven women in 2023 coming together to figure out what we can do to make real change happen, Fierce has grown to a network of over 500, with top investors, mentors, and partners jumping on board to accelerate women founders’ journey.

As SaaStock’s official women’s partner this week, we connected women tech founders with 10 investment firms, facilitated curated VC mentoring for these startups based on the stage, industry, and funding they’re looking for, welcomed Frontline VC’s Partner Zoe Chambers for a candid fireside and opened up the floor for an AMA. (Chatham House Rules-style applied, of course, to provide a space for these women to be vulnerable, ask the hard truths, and share personal experiences of how to “play the game”. If only the walls had ears… So takeaways from the session can be shared, for those not lucky enough to get a seat at this investor session.

– Do your homework to find your VC match.
– There are different investors for different stages of your startup journey.
– Manage and plan for risk. You’re building a long-term business, not a short-term gain. 

Whether pre-seed, seed or series A, our Mentor Madness lineup of VCs was here to help. Check out our investor line-up: Balderton Capital, MiddleGame Ventures, Puzzle Ventures, Act VC, Delta Partners, Cherry Ventures, NorthZone, HBAN, Molten VC, and Dawn Capital.

If you’re a women tech founder looking to scale, now’s the time to join the Fierce network.

Connecting top startups with international investors

Switching from the luxurious ambiance in RDS’ Presidents’ Suite for Fierce x SaaStock investor sessions, to the iconic venue famous for its opulent interiors – Café en Seine – Dogpatch Labs had investor networking on the brain. This time for an exclusive invite-only after-party. To wind down after a SaaS-filled Day One, we connected some of the hottest startups to watch with international investors at the SaaStock’s Investor After-Party.

It’s always great to team up with Cherry Ventures, which is one of Europe’s leading Pre-Seed & Seed funds, and Puzzle Ventures, a pan-European micro fund, welcoming founders, VCs, and ecosystem builders in the Irish tech ecosystem.

Content is key, of course, but know that building connections across the tech ecosystem, both at home and abroad, is where the needle can be moved for a startup hungry for growth. And we make this happen. If you’re an investor looking to invest in top startups, or a globally ambitious tech founder looking to make that connect, join our network.

Didn’t make it to SaaStock this year? Missed the chance to connect with the Dogpatch Team? Want to be part of our growing tech community? We’ve got you covered. Share your details and we’ll get you connected.