VI3NNA Congress 2026: Case Study
In May 2026, VI3NNA Congress took place in Vienna, Austria, and used Thrilld as its official networking app provider, supporting connections, attendee communication and more. Several attendees have contacted us since, inquiring about using Thrilld for their dedicated industry and professional events, which is arguably a reinforcement of our belief that there is a product-market-fit here.
VI3NNA Congress launched as an executive gathering focused on turning digital asset policy and infrastructure into real market adoption across Europe. Unlike large-scale industry conferences, VI3NNA was designed as an invite-only congress, essentially prioritising dialogue between decision-makers across Web3, finance, AI, banking, and regulation.
Background
The program began with the VI3NNA Evening Reception on May 18, followed by two days of main congress sessions hosted at MQ Libelle, located above the Leopold Museum within Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier. Side events also simultaneously took place across nearby venues, creating a sort of distributed event experience throughout one of Vienna’s most prominent cultural districts.
Discussions throughout the congress (in the form of panels, keynotes and several executive tracks in which industry builders discussed alongside academic partners and others) explored topics such as digital asset infrastructure, liquidity and capital efficiency, taxation, and AML frameworks, AI and blockchain integration, and Europe’s role in global innovation and regulatory competitiveness.
These conversations also contributed to the VI3NNA Declaration, i.e., an industry-driven position paper which ought to support future policy discussions around Europe’s digital asset ecosystem.
Thrilld, as the official networking app, enabled the attendees to connect before, during, and after the congress.
Alexandra Overgaag, founder and CEO of Thrilld Labs, was also present on site as an MC, also helping to enable various panels, like an academic panel and policy-fishbowl, from a more substantial perspective.
The Challenge
VI3NNA Congress was a rather more intimate gathering compared to other larger industry expos, yet networking naturally did remain central to the experience.
With policymakers, institutional representatives, founders, and infrastructure providers all participating, attendees needed a more efficient way to identify relevant connections and continue conversations beyond the panel sessions and receptions, per se.
At the same time, the timing around the event did in fact present one operational challenge for our team. Largely due to external circumstances, a major app version update was being finalized shortly before the congress, which means promotional efforts for the networking app could only begin approximately six days before the event itself (not the most optimal timeframe).
Additionally, some participants already knew each other beforehand. This created an interesting dynamic: networking tools need to complement existing professional relationships while also helping people discover new conversations, and opportunities alongside.
Another observation was that the organisers had also integrated LinkedIn QR codes directly onto attendee badges. While this is a smart addition for facilitating connections, it also sheds light on how event networking on-site is now involving multiple overlapping tools and channels, arguably creating some inefficiencies for various actors involved.
The Solution
Thrilld supported VI3NNA Congress by providing attendees with a networking and event experience before, during, and after the congress.
One feature of the app that worked particularly well, we believe, was the ability for attendees to preview who would be attending before arriving on-site. In an environment like VI3NNA, this sort of allowed participants to prepare strategically for discussions and identify individuals relevant to their policy, infrastructure, or investment interests ahead of time. This could have been further reinforced if we had more timeframe to promote the app; however, it worked out for most, nonetheless.
The in-app agenda and topic selection feature also proved to be very useful. Attendees could browse sessions, and mark their favourite topics. Real-time push notifications also helped communicate updates throughout the program.
Beyond the event itself, Thrilld also enabled participants to continue conversations afterwards and reconnect with people they may have missed.
On-site visibility further supported adoption. Alexandra Overgaag’s role as co-moderator also created additional awareness around the app.
The Result
Overall, VI3NNA Congress was a successful partnership for Thrilld Labs, especially considering the short onboarding and promotional timeline ahead of the event.
Despite being a smaller and more curated gathering where many attendees already knew one another, onboarding rates compared very positively against general adoption benchmarks observed by us at larger conferences. This shows, we believe, that professional groups still value a dedicated networking infrastructure whilst attending industry gatherings.
The event also helped us generate user feedback and product insights. One enthusiastic attendee identified a small UX issue related to scrolling on the settings page when profiles contained especially long descriptions.
Fortunately for us, the issue was minor, easily reproducible, and appreciated by the team - especially since detailed user profiles are exactly the type of engagement we encourage.
Another attendee suggested introducing LinkedIn-based onboarding functionality in further updates, an idea that aligns with our broader efforts to simplify onboarding and professional identity verification. We shall see when we can fit this in our roadmap.
A few attendees had some challenges with onboarding. Those usually have to do with device-specific errors that may be triggered due to the phone’s operating system or screen specifications interacting with Thrilld (said iPhone 16 bug is resolved at the time of writing).
The few challenges encountered got resolved in time by our support team.
The Future
As a first edition, VI3NNA Congress showed a strong potential.
For Thrilld Labs, we saw that at smaller gatherings, attendees, especially those coming from a more traditional finance background or from other (less “Web3”) institutions, value tools like Thrilld.
Several attendees have contacted us since, inquiring about using Thrilld for their dedicated industry and professional events, which is arguably a reinforcement of the notion that there is a product-market-fit of some sorts.
Future product development of the Thrilld networking app, to be expected in Q3 2026, will continue to focus on improving onboarding, refining UX, and new features for both event attendees, organisers and sponsors.
About Thrilld Labs
Thrilld, built by Thrilld Labs, lets Web3 professionals find each other, talk business, and build human connections through a fair networking app; online and at industry events. Thrilld Labs is also building a decentralised app that lets Web3 event organizers sell tickets and enhance their reach as well as attendee engagement.
About VI3NNA Congress
VI3NNA Congress is a curated executive forum bringing together policymakers, financial institutions, infrastructure providers, and innovators to accelerate sustainable growth through dialogue, collaboration, and real-world use cases. It focuses on Web3, AI, finance, and regulations to ensure Europe plays a leading role in building a compliant and prosperous digital economy.
