Capital, Scale & Europe Without borders
& State of the union
09.00
Registration & Welcome Coffee
09.30
Finance & Scale Breakfast: Curated Networking
Planetary Health pitches with Biotope
11.00
Life Sciences & Healthtech Scale-up Showcase
Workshop for Startups 1
Planetary Health pitches with Biotope
11.45
Life Sciences & Healthtech Scale-up Showcase
Workshop for Startups 2
Planetary Health pitches with Biotope
12.30
Lunch Networking
13.30
Registration for the State of the Union
14.00
Networking Coffee
14.30
Opening & Introduction of the State of the Union
14.45
International Keynote: Building Global Life Sciences Champions
15.15
Panel: Clusters Joining Forces to Win – Why clusters matter more than ever
- Anette Steenberg, Medicon Valley Alliance
- Ann Van Gysel, Biovia
- James Rose, Health Innovation Oxford
16.00
Coffee break
16.30
Fireside Chat: Financial Insights
17.15
Capital in 2026: What Actually gets Funded?
- Katleen Vandersmissen, Heran Partners
- Jerome van Biervliet, VIB, representing of The European Life Sciences Coalition (ELSC)
- Moderated by Laurent Van Lerberghe, KELES
18.00
Walking Dinner
Belgium on Display
08.45
Registration & Welcome Coffee
09.00
Partnering Opens
Exhibition Opens
10.00
Welcome words by Biovia
10.10
Welcome words by Province/City of Antwerp
10.15
International keynote: “Turning Europe’s research strength into scalable companies”
10.45
Keynotes: Beyond success stories
- “How to scale a biotech company”, Tim Knotnerus, CEO at Agomab
11.45
Panel: What it really takes to scale health innovation in Europe today
- Ilse Vanhulle, imec istart
- Christina Takke, V-Bio
12.30
Networking Lunch
14.00
No borders, just breakthroughts: Tech for One health pitches
15:00
Champions of innovation: Personalized medicine
Champions of innovation: Value-based healthcare
Champions of innovation: Clinical trials
Champions of innovation: Agtech & industrial biotech
16:00
Coffee Break
16.30
Closing fireside chat: “Surviving in a tough economy…a new playbook for health innovation”
17.30
Reception
Applications for speaking slots at Knowledge for Growth 2026 are now open!
We’re inviting innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to submit their proposals and help shape the conversations that will define this edition.
Open for applications:
📅 3 June – Pitching sessions (medical biotech, medtech, digital health)
📅 4 June – Breakout sessions: Tech for One Health & Champions of Innovation (medical biotech, medtech, digital health, agtech and industrial biotech)
If you have a compelling story, breakthrough innovation or valuable insights to share, this is your opportunity to engage with a high-level life sciences audience in Antwerp.
⌛ Submission deadline: 15 March 2026
