Techsylvania, one of the most influential technology events in Eastern Europe, will return with a new edition this June, with directors of major companies such as Waze and The New York Times on its list of speakers.

The organizers of the event, which will take place in Cluj-Napoca between June 9 and June 12, announced the presence of major international investors with budgets of over USD 3 billion at this year’s edition of Techsylvania. They will judge and award the most promising Techsylvania Startup Avalanche 2018 project. The winning startup will be awarded with a nine-day trip to Silicon Valley, California.

One of the guests is Ashley Carroll, a partner in Social Capital, an investment fund over USD 1.2 billion headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company was set up in 2011 by a former Facebook employee and has in its portfolio startups from areas such as health, education, finance, banking and mobile. Another well-known investor is Max Niederhofer, a partner in Sunstone Capital, one of the largest investment funds in Europe, whose portfolio exceeds USD 300 million.

Among those who have also confirmed their participation in 2018 Techsylvania, there are Di-Ann Eisnor, development director at Waze, Sebastian Dobrincu, the 19-year-old who developed Storyheap, a USD 1 million company in the United States with clients such as Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber, as well as Katherine Manderfield, director of strategy at The New York Times, one of the most important publications in the United States. The list also includes Newton Howard, director of MIT's synthetic intelligence lab, who made a chip that prolongs brain activity by up to 5 years.

The list of speakers includes more than 45 IT and business professionals. More details are available here.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com