Join the European Young Innovators Festival in Graz!

Get your tickets now!

Tickets to the Young Innovators Festival are now 50% off with the discount code EARLYBIRD

Click the link below to get yours!👇

Get tickets

The European Young Innovators Festival will return to Graz on 26-28 November 2025.

Connect with the purpose-driven WSA community innovating the European digital landscape.

Create new and meaningful solutions in our workshops, talks, and interactive sessions.

Collab on projects that have a positive impact on communities across the globe.

For the last last ten years, the EYI festival has fostered meaningful exchange, encouraged peer-to-peer and intergenerational learning, and celebrated cross-cultural connection. Fifteen European Young Innovators will pitch their award-winning digital solutions. Global experts will impart the wisdom of their failures and successes. Female founders will share their experiences, empowering others to follow in their footsteps. Styrian organizations will showcase local talent and strengthen European collaboration (as well as showcasing regional delicacies).

This EYI Festival is more than just an event, it’s a testament to the power of innovation – driving meaningful societal change through connection, creation and collaboration.

We look forward to continuing the conversation with you in Graz!

Add to Google Calendar Add to Apple/Outlook Calendar

 

Topics

Impact Entrepreneurship - Bringing together business and social justice

European youth are not just launching companies, they're launching movements, using technology and creativity to drive systemic change. Their ventures prove that profitability and purpose can go hand in hand. Impact entrepreneurship is not just a trend—it’s a blueprint for a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future.

Women in Tech – Why are they valuable?

Women are transforming the digital world but are often undervalued and uncredited. The phrases ‘Women in Tech’ and ‘Women in STEM’ have been thrown around for years, but have the innovation industries changed? Let’s learn from the young female entrepreneurs currently paving the way to a brighter future.

European Cooperation – Welcome to the WSA community

The sad reality is that ‘Europe’ doesn’t hold the same meaning for young people as it did ten years ago. The continent faces major challenges: rising populism, Euroscepticism, inflation, and war. But what Europe stands for – connection, democracy, human rights – is more relevant than ever. The next generation of European citizens has the power to shape, not just Europe, but the world.

Festival Highlights

The European Young Innovators Festival 2025 welcomes you to Graz for three-days of connection, innovation, and collaboration. Here’s what to look forward to:

Nov 26 - Connect4Impact

Murinsel and Radisson Hotel Graz
A warm Styrian welcome to our international attendees. Meet fellow innovators, swap bold ideas, and dive headfirst into the buzzing European innovation scene. These first sparks of ideas could be the beginning of powerful partnerships that will shape the days—and future—ahead.

Nov 27 – Connect. Create. Collab

Seifenfabrik, Rathaus
Day two kicks off with thought-provoking keynotes, panels, and interactive discussions from leading innovators and experienced changemakers. Participants explore the value of impact entrepreneurship, women in tech and European collaboration from those in the forefront of industry. In the afternoon, the European Young Innovators and local startups showcase their digital solutions through inspirational pitches – giving us hope that their innovations can solve the problems currently facing Europe.

Nov 28 - Skills & Knowledge

Unicorn, Lendhafen, Literaturhaus and Dom im Berg
Last but not least, day 3 of the festival focuses on attaining new skills and expanding participants’ expertise. Roundtable discussions foster in-depth dialogues around critical topics, while workshops equip participants with practical tools for their journeys as changemakers. The UniVation Student Poster Presentation spotlights groundbreaking projects from young academics. And to celebrate everything the young European innovators have done, the EYI festival closes with an Award Ceremony and After Party at the iconic Dom im Berg.

Key Participants

Eva Hiesmair

Co-Founder & COO

Content Creation School, WSA Austria

Austria

Nina Hubig

Founding Assistant Professor

IT:U

Austria

Andreas Jurdak

Social Business & IT Project Management

Volkshilfe Wien

Austria

Christa Kloibhofer-Krampl

Marketing & Kommunikation

Next Incubator - Energie Steiermark AG

Austria

Ilona M. Otto

Professor in Societal Impacts of Climate Change

Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz

Austria

Dino Osmanagic

Hub Leader

Young AI Leaders Linz

Austria

Malcolm Duerod

Assistant Professor

International Burch University

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jan Zlatan Kulenović

CEO/Founder

Social Innovation Incubator MUNJA / STAR.study

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gica Trierweiler

Co-founder

Instituto Beaba

Brazil

Ana Brigovic

Business Development Manager

ACT Group

Croatia

Panayiotis Andreou

Assistant Professor in Computing

School of Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus

Cyprus

Irene Polycarpou

Professor of Technology and Innovation in Education, Head of the School of Sciences

University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus

Cyprus

Alvin Korčák

Impact & Programs Lead

Impact Hub

Czech Republic

Eva Mejtová

EIT Community Officer

EIT Community Hub Czechia

Czech Republic

Madelynn Martiniere

Managing Partner

Armillaria

France

Nafsika Diamantopoulou

Programmes Associate

Orange Grove

Greece

Alexandra Sarma

Managing Director

Orange Grove Athens (Ithaca)

Greece

Bálint Dobai

Founder & President | Managing Director | Financial Coordinator

Entrepreneurship Club of Corvinus, Miratia, BME Aerospace Team

Hungary

Balazs Horváth

Digital Strategist & Community Builder

Tech In The City

Hungary

Craig Johnson

Technology Transfer Manager

Initium Venture Labs

Hungary

Odeta Iseviciute

Juror | Mentor | Advisor | Host | Moderator

WSA

Lithuania

Mujibor De Graaf

CEO

Fellow Digitals

Netherlands

Arjen Klinkenberg

Creative Director and Brand Guru

Tony's Chocolonely

Netherlands

Connor Sattely

Independent Consultant

Connor Sattely Consulting

Netherlands, United States of America

Sandra Fazenda Almeida

Executive Director

APDC – Digital Business Community

Portugal

Nadja Petrović

Professor

High School ,,Nada Dimic”

Serbia

Gal Krajncic

Product Manager for European Youth Card Slovenia

SLOAM, Slovenian Youth Agency

Slovenia

Jan Peloza

CEO

Impact Hub Ljubljana

Slovenia

Mustafa Özer

Head of business development and strategy

imece

Türkiye


Winners

Supporting Partners

European Outreach Partners

Strategic Partners

Co-Funded by the European Union