Event

AIM 2026 – the annual Yaka! WAW! conference

Ambition Is Mandatory. Surtout quand on est entrepreneur. C’est pour cela qu’existe AIM 2026 : Trois conférenciers percutants. Douze ‘break-out sessions’ sans filtre. Trois cents entrepreneurs ambitieux. Prenez ensemble une longueur d’avance avec L’Echo et De Tijd. Parce qu’entreprendre ne se fait jamais seul.

Date
Lieu
Wintercircus, Gand

L’ambition n’est pas un simple mot-clé. C’est la base même d’un entrepreneuriat à succès. Ajoutes-y un réseau solide, un accès au capital et la confiance nécessaire, et tu obtiens ce qui sépare la réussite de l’échec.

Oublie le congrès classique. Ceci est une expérience au sens plein du terme. Une journée riche en intervenants de premier plan qui élargissent tes perspectives, en débats journalistiques stimulants, en conversations vraiment marquantes, au cœur d’une communauté qui va bien au-delà de LinkedIn.


Tickets, incluant 1 an d’adhésion au club Yaka : 750 €

Inscris-toi ici

L’événement est gratuit pour les membres du club Yaka! et clubWAW!.
Les places sont limitées: inscris-toi sans tarder.
AIM 2026 est un événement en anglais.

Le club Yaka! est un réseau de L’Echo, exclusivement réservé aux entrepreneurs belges ambitieux qui osent voir grand. Découvre-en plus ici.

Programme

 

9:00 – 9:45 Roundtable Breakfast at the Atrium
09:45 – 10:30 Keynote: Ilham Kadri – a career built on reinvention 

Leading a global organization at scale, Ilham Kadri shares how leadership and decision-making change when the impact of your choices grows exponentially.
10:30 – 11:00 Keynote: Stina Ehrensvard, Founder of Yubico

Building a global tech company (Nasdaq) around one clear purpose: security and sharing the founder journey behind it.
11:00 – 12:00 Break out thema – ‘Network’

Success is never solo. It’s built by the people who stretch you, ground you and lift you. This session reveals how to shape that circle: breaking patterns, building diverse teams, and managing ambition at home.

  1. From office hours to binge-worthy work – myth, mindset or match
  2. ‘Netlog mafia’ – you don’t need to be in the Mafia, you need to build your own
  3. Self-belief is never solo

 
12:00 – 13:45 Roundtable Seated Lunch
13:45 – 14:30 Keynote: Juliet Bailin + Q&A

A rare US & EU perspective on entrepreneurial growth, shaped by years in venture capital and her own step into entrepreneurship.
14:30 – 15:30 Break-out thema – ‘Money‘

We cut through the money myths: raising vs. bootstrapping, customer-funded growth, and the realities of family capital. Straight talk and practical lessons to find the funding route that matches your ambition.

  1. Most founders don’t need VC. But who does? An honest take on risk, growth and choosing your capital.
  2. Bootstrap panel: you don’t need Venture Capital, you need customers.
  3. Family: born into capital, not into a playbook. The reality of 2nd or 3rd generation entrepreneurs.

 
15:30 – 16:30 Break-out thema – ‘Confidence‘

Entrepreneurial leadership runs on conviction and self-belief. We explore how confidence becomes a force multiplier.

  1. The Good/Bad/Ugly
  2. When conviction beats assumptions
  3.  Too much: who tells you the truth when you’re the boss?
16:30 – 17:30 Keynote: Beats, Brand & Business – Amber Broos
17:30 – 19:30 Let’s play ball. Networking, bites & drinks

Speakers

Juliet Bailin

Juliet Bailin is the co-founder of Whitting, the first multi-manager venture capital fund. Inspired by leading multi-manager hedge funds like Millennium, Whitting is the sole LP in exceptional investors’ new funds, and drives both systematic co-investment access and intentional liquidity for its LPs. Before founding Whitting, Juliet spent ten years investing at tier one funds, including Insight Partners, Mosaic, and General Catalyst, where she helped open the London office in 2021. Juliet invested in healthtech, infrastructure software, and applied deep learning, with a portfolio of generational companies such as Hinge Health, Nearpod, PhysicsX, and Goodstack.

Ilham Kadri

Ilham Kadri built her career across four continents and became the kind of CEO who leads with innovation that delivers, sustainability that’s real, and leadership people want to follow. A chemical engineer with a PhD, she was CEO of Solvay (2019-2023) and then led Syensqo until 1 January 2026.

Ruth Janssens

"Most founders don’t need VC. But who does? An honest take on risk, growth and choosing your capital."

Ruth Janssens started her entrepreneurial journey over ten years ago as the founder of a tech company. She later co-founded and now serves as Managing Partner at the imec.istart future fund, supporting tech startups in the late-seed and Series A stages.

Axelle Moortgat

Axelle Moortgat co-founded NOX Energy to reshape the energy transition with AI-driven software that links heat pumps to energy markets. From student-entrepreneur to raising global funding and scaling from Belgium to New York, her vision powers smarter, sustainable grids.

Pieter-Paulus Vertongen

Pieter-Paulus Vertongen built his path from passion for tech to co-founder & IoT lead at Aaltra, where he crafts connected software and cloud platforms that make complex digital products intuitive and impactful.

Leen Segers

Leen Segers fell for immersive tech early, launching LucidWeb to bring VR/AR to the web and co-founding Women in Industries of Tomorrow Europe. Today, she scouts and backs early-stage innovation across deeptech, spatial computing and AI.

Caroline Van der Steen

Caroline Van der Steen co-founded Artion after 15+ years as an environmental regulator, turning hands-on insight into a SaaS platform that simplifies legal inspections for companies. Her leap from public service sparked a growth journey in tech and compliance.

Jens Verhiest

Jens Verhiest champions sustainable business impact as co-founder and COO at Karomia, where he helps simplify ESG reporting for companies. Earlier he built and led ventures like Contento, blending strategy with real-world results.

Sofie Spriet

Sofie Spriet pivoted from corporate law into real estate in 2013 and rose through Dewaele’s ranks, becoming CEO of Dewaele Vastgoedgroep. She drives strategic growth with bold transformation and a people-centric vision.

Stina Ehrensvard

Stina Ehrensvard turned a spark of design curiosity into a cyber-security revolution, co-founding Yubico in 2007 and bringing the YubiKey to the world, reshaping how millions secure their digital lives.

Matthijs Vanhaelemeesch

Matthijs Vanhaelemeesch blends entrepreneurial drive with strategic investment as a leader at Coformaco Ventures, where he backs innovative Belgian ventures and champions founders pushing tech and sustainability forward.

Dewi Van De Vyver

Dewi Van De Vyver turned curiosity about tech into action. From co-founding Flow Pilots to leading Effex, she champions ethical, human-centric innovation and diversity in STEM, co-creating The Ada Talks and inspiring voices across tech.

Lorenz Bogaert

Lorenz Bogaert is a serial tech entrepreneur and CEO of StarApps. He co-founded platforms like Netlog and Twoo and now builds, scales and backs new digital ventures from Ghent, combining product vision with founder-first execution.

Bieke Biesbrouck

Bieke Biesbrouck is co-founder of Höngry, a creative publishing house that helps children discover healthy food through playful storytelling. She blends entrepreneurship with imagination to make nutrition engaging for young families.

Marie Callens

Marie Callens is co-founder and managing director of Floorify. She helped grow the Belgian scale-up into a leading European brand in rigid vinyl flooring, combining design, innovation and international expansion

Jan Callebaut

Jan Callebaut leads the Business & Corporate Center at Belfius Regio Aalst, supporting companies with tailored financing and growth strategies, including scale-up and innovation-driven funding.

Amber Broos

Amber Broos is a DJ and creative entrepreneur who built a strong personal brand at the intersection of music, business and culture. She is known for turning passion into a scalable career and inspiring a new generation of creators.

Pierre-Olivier Danhaive

Pierre-Olivier Danhaive is co-founder and CEO of Verbolia, an AI-driven SEO platform that helps global brands scale organic traffic across thousands of pages. He leads Verbolia’s growth at the intersection of data, content and automation. 

Jan Hollez

Jan Hollez is co-founder of Deliverect, the Ghent-based scale-up connecting online food delivery platforms with restaurant POS systems. He scaled Deliverect from startup to global SaaS leader serving thousands of locations worldwide.

Jeroen De Wit

Jeroen De Wit is co-founder and CEO of Teamleader, the Ghent-based SaaS company helping SMEs manage CRM, invoicing and project work in one platform. He scaled Teamleader into a European growth company serving tens of thousands of businesses.

Lorenzo Bown

Lorenzo Bown is the co-founder of HappyClient, a Ghent based start-up helping marketing teams collect remote video testimonials from happy clients.