World's 100 Top Tech Leaders To Gather In Europe

-Twitter's Chairman Jack Dorsey, Youtube Co-Founder & CEO Chad Hurley and Skype Co-Founder Niklas Zennstrom to attend FOUNDERS.

A select group of 100 of the world's leading young company founders and CEOs are to meet at an invite only event, organised by a group of Europe’s leading young company founders, in Dublin, Ireland, this October.

The event is known as Founders and will be an annual gathering of some of the world’s most influential young company founders and CEOs.

For the inaugural event, October 28-30, attendees will include the founders of Youtube, Skype and Twitter. They will be joined by some of the world’s leading investors and by some of the world’s most recognisable leaders and thinkers including the Chief Economist of the World Bank, Dr. Justin Lin; the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr. Mary Robinson; and campaigner and musician, Sir Bob Geldof.

Over two days the group will discuss a range issues including philanthropy, entrepreneurship and investment.

The President of the European Parliament, Dr. Jerzy Buzek, will make a televised address to the group from Brussels, while the Irish Prime Minister will host dinner for the group.

The young group of founders are almost entirely under 40 and drawn from some of the fastest growing technology companies around world.

The event, known simply as Founders, has been organised with the support of leading figures from across Europe including Niels Thogersen, Honorary Director General of the European Commission.

Thorgersen has dubbed the event “Junior Davos”, while Ireland’s leading newspaper, The Irish Times, wrote that the event is “Davos for Geeks”.

In recognition of the Founders Forum coming to Ireland, IDA CEO Barry O’Leary said, “It is testament to Ireland’s reputation as the ‘Internet Capital of Europe’ that so many of the leading lights in the technology sector have chosen to attend this international event in Dublin.

“Investment in emerging business technology is a significant part of IDA Ireland’s strategy for the coming decade. The Founders Forum will highlight Ireland as a leading location for investment in this area and will offer the opportunity for some of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs to view what Ireland has to offer in the business technology space.”

Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland said: “We want more international entrepreneurs to consider Ireland as the location in which to start their next high-potential business. Founders is a visionary event and a fantastic opportunity to showcase Ireland directly to over 100 of the world's leading entrepreneurs and highlight the support available to them in Ireland.”

Limited coverage of the event will be broadcast by some of the world’s leading media outlets who will attending the event.

For further information, accreditation and interviews related to Founders please contact:

Mr. Daire Hickey

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +353 85 1419072

Guests at FOUNDERS include:

Niklas Zennstrom, Founder of Skype

Chad Hurley, Founder & CEO of Youtube

Jack Dorsey, Founder & Chairman of Twitter

Prof. Justin Lin, Chief Economist of the World Bank

Dr. Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament

Dr. Hong-Koo Lee, Former Prime Minister of South Korea

Peter Sutherland, International Chairman of Goldman Sachs

Dr. Martin Curley, Intel’s Global Director for Research and Innovation

Dr. Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Dave Morin, Co-founder of Path, Creator of Facebook Platform

Andy McLoughlin, Co-Founder of Huddle

Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, T.D.

Michael Birch, Founder of Bebo

Ning Li, Founder of Made