Sponsors of the upcoming Food Tech Congress in Barcelona are demanding their money back as it becomes increasingly clear that the already delayed event will not go ahead as planned in June.
The conference, pitched as “Europe’s premier food tech event,” ran in Warsaw, Poland, in 2023 and 2024, attracting international speakers and visitors. It was scheduled to run in Barcelona in early November 2025, but postponed until June 2026.
Three months out from, no firm date for the conference is listed on the website and no firm agenda has been shared; several speakers told AgFunderNews that they haven’t heard anything from the organizer for months. The venue listed on the website, Palau de Congressos de Barcelona, has not responded to a request to confirm whether it has been booked.
‘We believe we have been scammed’
Multiple sponsors who have already parted with cash to back the event tell AgFunderNews that organizer Futurae Events UAB has gone “silent,” with requests for refunds garnering no response.
One told us: “We believe we have been scammed. At this point, we have no idea if the event is still going ahead. Based on our experience, I strongly advise against engaging with the organizers any further. I only had a brief exchange with the CEO on LinkedIn, where he promised to refund our payment before he went silent.”
Another sponsor told us: “We have requested a refund and they have confirmed our request. But this was in January and no money so far.”
A third added: “We were on board for the November edition, which was cancelled, and, so far, we haven’t heard anything from the organization about the refund or the new date.”
A fourth told us: “I had filled in a form soon after the cancelation and they promised payment 100 days later. The 100 days have passed and I have sent two reminders and haven’t heard back.”
A fifth said: “It seems the organizers have gone silent after collecting fees for tickets and sponsorships. Many startups are affected, and I’m personally out of pocket for a client sponsorship with zero communication from their side.”
One of several execs listed as a speaker on the website told us: “The whole thing is strange. I’ve attended and spoken at their conferences before and was supposed to speak in the one in Barcelona in November 2025. They last minute postponed it without an explanation. Since then I have never heard from them. It is clear that the conference is dead and will not happen.”
AgFunderNews has reached out to multiple people on the Food Tech Congress team and had no response.
👉The event website lists the organizer as Lithuanian entity Futurae events, UAB in Vilnius, Lithuania, an international conference organizer running multiple industry-specific events including the Energy Tech Summit, Health Tech Forward, and Urban Tech Forward. Privacy-policy and legal pages on the conference sites show a two-entity structure whereby a London-based company called Futurae Media Ltd acts as the controller/parent brand and the Lithuanian company acts as the operational organizer.
👉According to Lithuanian business registry aggregator Scoris.lt, Futurae Events UAB reported revenues of €1.17 million in 2024 with next profits of €116,600 with total assets of €744k and liabilities of €787k.
👉Companies House UK records show Futurae Media Ltd as “active” with Rimas Maliauskas listed as a director but note that its accounts and confirmation statements are overdue. Its filing history shows a First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off [which would prevent the firm from trading or operating] dated July 29, 2025, with the strike-off action later suspended on August 7.
We will provide updates as more information becomes available.
