Davos for Founders
Most founders arrive without a WEF badge and never get one. That's normal, not a problem to solve. The white badge is invitation-only and isn't for sale at any price a startup would pay.
What actually matters for a founder's week is what's open without it: hundreds of Houses, dinners and receptions running their own registration or invitation lists, entirely separate from WEF accreditation. Davos Access exists to work out what's genuinely accessible, what's worth your time, and to get you a real plan for the week without pretending you need a badge you're never going to hold.
Bringing a team to actually work the week, not just you? See Davos for Startups for the business-development side: pitch sessions, House ecosystem, and who to hand the calendar to.
You don't need the badge you think you need
The White Badge runs through WEF partnership, priced well beyond what a startup would pay even before the elite-badge surcharge on top: invitation only, not something you apply for. Even the hotel-zone badge that gets you near the Congress Centre requires a confirmed meeting inside the secure perimeter, applied for through the cantonal police. Exact figures change year to year, so check the current ones below rather than trusting a number repeated elsewhere.
Almost none of that touches what a founder actually needs from the week: rooms with the right investors, operators and press in them. Most of those rooms run on their own access, not a WEF badge.
Official WEF badges are never sold by third parties. Anyone offering to sell, guarantee, or fast-track one isn't legitimate, whatever the website looks like. Davos Access doesn't sell, broker, or facilitate access to them either.
Match your week to what you're actually here for
Raising, closing a deal, or just trying to be seen: Davos Match takes one choice (deals, learning, visibility or introductions) and returns the sessions that actually fit, ranked by a fixed formula against Davos Access's own scored programme. Free, no sign-up, and nothing here is generated or guessed by a model.
Find the rooms in your world
The Side Stage indexes speakers across the whole unofficial week by subject, not just by whoever's programme they're on. Not every session in the programme has been reviewed yet, so treat this as a starting point rather than a complete map.
Capital & Investment
See who's speaking →Policy & Governance
See who's speaking →When you'd rather hand it to someone
Not everything about a founder's Davos week fits into a filter. If you want it worked out by a person instead: our on-ground desk answers directly, and Build My Personal Davos Plan gets a fuller week put together by someone who's done this before, not a model guessing at your priorities.
The practical side
Trains from Zurich, what to wear on ice, where a room is even available this late: the First-Timer's Field Manual covers the ground logistics every visitor deals with, founder or not. For a place to stay, start with Where to stay. Sending someone ahead to manage the calendar? Point them to Davos for Executive Assistants.
Davos Access is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the World Economic Forum. We do not issue, sell or arrange WEF accreditation.