Running across all three days of IBTM World 2026, IBTM Ignite will take place on the show floor at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona from 17-19 November 2026.
More than 15 investors are expected to attend IBTM Ignite, bringing experience, networks and investment insight to a curated cohort of emerging businesses, including Alex Martinez, Investor, Altb2b.
The challenge is clear. Business events are being reshaped by technology, changing customer expectations and relentless disruption, yet turning a promising idea into a sustainable business remains notoriously challenging. Just 38.4% of UK businesses started in 2019 survived five years.
Since its launch, Ignite has already helped participating businesses secure £3.5 million in investment, demonstrating the role the programme can play in turning promising ideas into sustainable growth.
Ignite is IBTM World’s response: bringing promising businesses into an ecosystem where the right visibility, expertise, connections and investment can help good ideas gain traction.
30 qualified start-ups
This year, IBTM Ignite expects to showcase at least 30 qualified start-ups, building on a debut year that saw more than 80 startups apply, with 35 chosen to take part in the programme.
The place to discover the event industry’s next generation innovators, IBTM Ignite is welcoming applications from ambitious startups and scale-ups developing new solutions and business models spanning Event Tech and AI, sustainability, attendee engagement, event operations, accessibility, finance and the wider business events ecosystem.
Selected Ignite founders will receive investment-readiness training before taking to IBTM World’s Future Stage to pitch live, with investors and audiences responding in real time. The Ignite Lounge will create a dedicated space for investors and emerging businesses to continue those conversations, followed by structured meetings within three to four weeks of the show. New for 2026, the Investors’ Choice Award will be judged across the three days by the investor cohort, with the winner announced on day three.
Delivered in partnership with allpoints, Ignite will draw on its network of founders, operators and investors as the programme experience expands for 2026. Max Fellows, Founder and CEO of allpoints, said: “Ignite’s first year proved there’s real appetite for this. It has never been harder to launch and scale a business within the events industry, but through Ignite, we are creating a unique opportunity for start-ups and scale-ups to not only get incubated and developed, but receive expert feedback, build relationships with active investors and, where there is the right fit, access investment of between £50-£250k from established individuals who want first sight of what’s coming next and to back the next big thing. We’re proud to be leading the programme into 2026 and can’t wait to open the doors to a new cohort of startups and the investors who’ll be in the room to meet them.”
Register to attend the event here.
