Manufacturing Day 2026
21 May 2026|
1100 Vienna, Austria
Canettistrasse 6
Novotel Wien Hauptbahnhof
Registration open until 21 May 2026
This year's topic: Invest to scale.
Manufacturing Day 2026 focuses on one of the most critical challenges for the global industrial economy: how to successfully scale manufacturing ventures into competitive, resilient and globally operating companies.
While early-stage innovation in manufacturing is thriving, many promising ventures struggle to move from pilot projects to large-scale production and international market leadership. The reasons are complex, ranging from access to growth capital and industrial infrastructure to regulatory environments, talent availability and collaboration between startups, corporates and the public sector.
The event explores how different manufacturing ecosystems support or constrain this scale-up journey, and what enables some companies to grow faster, expand internationally and industrialise successfully. It looks at diverse investment models, policy frameworks and partnership approaches that shape how manufacturing innovation turns into industrial impact.
Manufacturing Day 2026 brings together investors, founders, industry leaders and policymakers to identify the practical levers needed to accelerate manufacturing scale-ups: from financing and industrial capacity to market access and global expansion. The focus is on learning across systems, challenging assumptions, and defining what is needed to build the next generation of resilient, world-class manufacturing companies.
What is Manufacturing Day?
The Manufacturing Day is the leading event for the manufacturing industry during ViennaUP, the largest decentralised startup festival in Europe. During this landmark event with more than 500 participants from over 50 countries, EIT Manufacturing is bringing together startups, key industrial players, investors, researchers and experts to celebrate the achievements and potential of the European manufacturing industry.
Renowned speakers from all over the world provide insights into hot topics in the industry, bringing new solutions and ideas to the table to make manufacturing more innovative and thus create a competitive advantage.
The Manufacturing Day aims to showcase the latest innovations and technologies that are driving this transition and to inspire the next generation of manufacturing professionals to take an active role in shaping the future of the industry. The event offers a varied and rich programme for and with startups in the manufacturing industry and is a platform for industry representatives to exchange ideas and network.
Save Manufacturing Day 2026 to your calendar
Make sure to have 21 May 2026 reserved for Manufacturing Day during ViennaUP!
#SaveTheDate: Get ready for Manufacturing Day - coming up on 21 May 2026 in Vienna
To get into the right mood, walk down memory lane with us and see some impressions from Manufacturing Day 2025 in the video below.
We are working hard on creating an amazing programme with outstanding speakers for you. Save your spot and get your free ticket now! We are looking forward to seeing you on 21 May 2026 in Vienna.
Your EIT Manufacturing East Team :)
Who is behind the Manufacturing Day?
Hello there,
we are the team of EIT Manufacturing East, a group of experts that helps the manufacturing industry to become more innovative, more competitive, more resilient and more sustainable. Out of our office in Vienna, we work with startups, SMEs, large corporations, universities, research institutes and other professionals in the manufacturing sector on their innovation activities and challenges. We support them to find the right partners, solutions, technologies and talents for growing their businesses, expanding their markets, optimising their production and enhancing their efficiency and sustainability.
We work with more than 1,000 European industry startups, we collaborate with top-notch universities and research institutes and we bring in all the big and small players from the business side along with the visible and the hidden champions to our innovation ecosystem. Together with the colleagues from our offices in Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Greece and France, we follow a true European approach, enabling cooperations across company and national borders.
EIT Manufacturing is the largest innovation network for manufacturing in Europe.
Supported by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, we bring together the leading industry stakeholders from business, academia and research. Fueled by a strong interdisciplinary and trusted community, our activities add unique value to European products, processes, and services – and inspire the creation of globally competitive and sustainable manufacturing.
EIT Manufacturing is headquartered in Paris, France and has a network of innovation hubs across Europe: Vienna (Austria), Darmstadt (Germany), Milan (Italy), Gothenburg (Sweden), San Sebastian (Spain) and Athens (Greece).
EIT Manufacturing
Theresa Neuhauser