TechCrunch is bringing its Disrupt conference to Berlin this autumn in what the city’s mayor described as “yet another step towards Berlin becoming Europe’s technology capital.” The four-day event will feature a hackathon on October 26 and 27 before a conference showcasing startups and featuring big-name speakers takes place over the following two days.
Disrupt was launched in 2010 and has been held in San Francisco, New York and Beijing, making this year’s trip to Berlin the first in Europe.
Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin, has taken a keen interest in the city’s startup scene recently, and he said: “TechCrunch’s decision to bring their Disrupt conference to the city is yet another step towards Berlin becoming Europe’s technology capital. Berlin is already one of the leading hot spots for startups worldwide, alongside Silicon Valley. The Berlin Senate strongly supports this chance for further growth and employment in these young, innovative sectors.”
The hackathon which will kick the event off brings together hackers and developers from all over the world to work on a product over 24 hours. Each team then gets the chance to present their hack to a panel of experts and audience members, with the winners taking to the main Disrupt stage with their product. Some of the entrants at previous Disrupts have gone on to find further success, such as GroupMe.
The main conference features the Startup Battlefield, where 20 companies launch and pitch their products in a contest for a $50,000 check and the Disrupt Cup, and Startup Alley, which showcases a further 100 plus companies.
Mike Butcher, TechCrunch’s EU editor, said: “TechCrunch is absolutely delighted to bring our major tech startup event to Berlin. It feels like exactly the right place, right now in 2013, to be uniting our European audience, in a city which has become renowned for its startup culture. Berlin is ‘TechCrunch-y.’ It has been said that Berlin is poor but sexy – we know it is rich in startups.”
Disrupt is held each year in New York in the spring and San Francisco in the autumn. It was also held in Beijing in 2011. A venue for the Berlin event, known as TechCrunch Disrupt Europe, has yet to be announced, but you can already find info on sponsorships and tickets.