FI4INN held its First Transnational Conference during the EU-Startups Summit 2026 in Malta, bringing startup finance into the spotlight and sharing the project’s insights, experiences, and results on the Growth Stage with one of Europe’s most dynamic startup audiences.
The EU-Startups Summit is the annual flagship event of EU-Startups, one of Europe’s leading online publications on startups. Each year, the Summit brings together founders, investors, corporates, media representatives, service providers, and startup enthusiasts to connect, discover emerging companies, and discuss the future of Europe’s innovation landscape.
This year’s edition took place on 7–8 May 2026 in Valletta, Malta, and gathered around 2,000 attendees from across Europe. The audience reflected the diversity of the startup ecosystem, with 60% startup founders, 10% investors, 20% service providers and corporate representatives, and 10% students and startup enthusiasts. The event was designed around networking, matchmaking, dealmaking opportunities, inspiring talks, learning moments, and exchanges between some of the key actors shaping the European startup scene.
This vibrant environment created a valuable opportunity to share FI4INN’s insights, experiences, and results, while also learning from the actors working on the future of entrepreneurship in Europe.
The question on the Growth Stage
On the second day of the Summit, FI4INN joined the Growth Stage with a dedicated session on one central question: how can startup finance work better in practice?
The session opened with Luisa Marchionni from Startup Europe Regions Network, who invited the audience to look at finance from the perspective of startups trying to access it. Her introduction set the scene around one of the strongest messages emerging from FI4INN: Europe has no shortage of ideas, talent, or innovation potential. The challenge is that access to capital does not always follow
Over the past years, FI4INN has worked with startups, SMEs, institutions, and ecosystem actors across Central Europe to better understand why finance can remain difficult to access. The project identified recurring challenges such as low awareness of available instruments, complex and bureaucratic procedures, unclear eligibility criteria, long assessment periods, cash-flow pressure linked to ex-post financing, and limited predictability around calls and timelines. These insights came from more than 200 SMEs, startups, and support institutions across Central Europe.
From regional testing to shared learning
The conversation in Malta was not only about the obstacles. It was also about what can happen when regions test solutions, learn from each other, and adapt financial instruments to real ecosystem needs.
Following the opening remarks, the session moved into a panel discussion with FI4INN partners and ecosystem voices from different European regions. Perspectives from TEC4I FVG, Finpiemonte S.p.A., CzechInvest, Malta Enterprise, and startup testimonials helped bring the discussion from theory to practice.
The panel explored how financial instruments and support models have been tested and adapted in different regional contexts. Across FI4INN’s pilot regions, several approaches were explored, including venture guarantee governance, basket bond capital pooling, modular TRL financing, incubator-based co-investment, incubation targeting redesign, equity fund coordination, and hybrid loan and education models for startups and social enterprises. These were practical experiments designed to make financial support more flexible, coordinated, and aligned with startup realities.
Why regional cooperation matters
One of the key messages from the session was that regions can innovate not only technologically, but also financially. Cooperation between regions allows partners to compare experiences, adapt good practices, and transform local experimentation into knowledge that can support other ecosystems.
The EU-Startups Summit was such a meaningful moment for FI4INN because results become more powerful when they are shared, discussed, and made available to others facing similar challenges.
From Malta to Europe
For FI4INN, Malta was more than a stage. It was a place to share, listen, learn, and connect with the people who are building and supporting Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
As the conversations from the Summit continue, one message remains clear: building a more innovative Europe requires not only ambitious ideas, but also smarter, more inclusive, and better-connected financial support systems.