Berlin, May 15 2015 For the first time in Europe, a technology conference and educational seminar with a specific focus on Iranian e­commerce and innovation will be held in Berlin this summer. iBRIDGE­Berlin will host over 500 Iranian technology start­ups, and provide them with the opportunity to meet with their Western contemporaries to exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences. th​ th​
The conference, to be held from 4​
­ 6​ June, will include leading Iranian entrepreneurs from diverse fields ranging from robotics and nano­tech to green­tech, medical and wearable technologies. “The tech sector is one of the areas of greatest opportunity given Iran’s large, young, and sophisticated population,” says Rouzbeh Pirouz, chairman of Iranian financial services group Turquoise Partners. "The iBRIDGE conference will be a tremendous platform for Iranian entrepreneurs to meet their global counterparts with the hope for future co­operation," Mr Pirouz adds. The event has been designed to provide the participants with access to educational and innovative leadership within their sectors from universities and companies around the globe. The goal of iBRIDGES is to accelerate, and assist with, the build­out of an innovation­based private economy in Iran by exposing local, young high­tech entrepreneurs to the international high­tech community. iBRIDGE­Berlin is purely an educational event, is privately funded and organised, has no government involvement and is founded on the apolitical principal that the support and promotion of the digital economy should be accessible to all who work within it. Established entrepreneurs inside Iran have raised $300,000 to help defray travel and accommodation expenses of those entrepreneurs who need financial support to attend the conference. Over 200 high­tech enthusiasts from the Iranian diaspora across three continents have joined hands and volunteered to help organise the event. Attendees from Iran fall into two groups: the first group represents established, successful entrepreneurs from the private sector, mainly in information and communication technologies, nanotechnology and molecular biology. The second group is composed of younger start­ups and innovators who have demonstrated talent and expertise in developing business ideas and/or creating start­up companies in the aforementioned sectors. “The start­up tech scene in Iran is booming. The country has a well­known tradition of excellence in the sciences and a highly educated talent pool. There is immense potential and drive among young Iranians” says Nazanin Daneshvar, the founder of Takhfifan.com, the largest group­buying website in Iran. In total, there will be over 2,000 high tech enthusiasts and investors participating in iBRIDGE Berlin, which is an open event. The program consists of keynote speeches, panel discussions, an exhibition room and workshops over three days. “iBRIDGE Berlin is a unparalleled event which brings together the largest gathering of Iranians living inside and outside of the country with the global business community to explore together the development of the growing high­tech ecosystem of Iran,” says Ruha Reyhani, the chair of iBRIDGE Berlin. Presentations will be made by about 100 leaders from the tech sector, venture capitalists, angel investors and academics including Stephen Chambers, the director of international strategy at the SAID Business School, Oxford, Dave McClure, the well­known silicon valley­based “super angel” investor and Kamran Elahian, chairman and co­founder of Global Catalyst Partners. The event will also be live­streamed to viewers around the globe. “At the core of iBRIDGES lies the commitment to actively and unrelentingly contribute to the advancement of the human condition by developing high­tech entrepreneurial activities,” says Prof. Yahya Tabesh, one of iBRIDGES founders and an academic pioneer of the internet in Iran. iBRIDGE Berlin will be held in CityCube, a brand new, multi­functional convention center. Berlin is a burgeoning startup hub that has drawn talented, tech­savvy entrepreneurs from across Germany and Europe due to its dynamic innovation eco­system. iBRIDGE Berlin is a sequel to iBRIDGE Berkeley which was a conference held at the th​
University of California, Berkeley on Sept 6​
2014. The event was sold out and had 700 attendees. Over 1,000 viewers observed the event via live webcast, most from inside Iran. iBRIDGES is a non­profit, global movement whose mission is to accelerate the development and growth of the high tech entrepreneurial ecosystem in Iran through education. It began in 2014 as a collective effort of Iranian­American high tech entrepreneurs interested in high technology entrepreneurship in Iran. The iBRIDGES initiative has been made possible through financial contributions from many private individuals, organisations, and companies around the world, as well as through event registration fees. iBRIDGES Berlin is an educational event that is compliant with current US and EU laws. iBRIDGE Berlin will be co­hosted by the Berkeley Program on Entrepreneurship and Development in the Middle East (BPED) and the Chair of Entrepreneurship at the Technische Universitat Braunschweig, Germany. Media Enquiries: Salamander Davoudi [email protected] T: +44 207 887 7632