Last Saturday, November 14th, Startups Without Borders Summit (SWB) kicked off its second edition but this time, a hybrid of online and offline. With over 95 speakers, the hybrid event took place on three stages in Amsterdam, Cairo and San Francisco. In spite of it being partially online, SWB held more than 48 sessions all complimenting the notion of redesigning the future of business for a “Brave New World,” which was this year’s theme.

On the platform Hubilo, Startups Without Borders Summit had 2,300 attendees registered, 1,000 participants who actually logged onto Hubilo, which saw 11,000 networking actions.

Here are some of our favorite moments:

In a session hosted by Facebook about cross-border expansion…

When we [at Facebook] think about enhancement, what we really mean is having a testing mindset of “failing harder;” Trying to learn and innovate beyond the basic foundation that you’ve built.”

Mounir Sheikh, Senior Account Manager, Facebook

And in a panel about the future of cities… 

“Entrepreneurship is vital for the future of cities. We need to see digitalization as the basis of any policy, it will not only advance the living standards of people but also the social standards.”

Désirée M. van Gorp, Chair of the International Advisory Board, Nyenrode Business University

“Let me be honest, the regulations are mostly done mid previous century and many of them are not up to adaptation with the technology. But we’re working closely with the government, especially in Egypt, to improve the legislation and to make the regulations much more lenient to be able to allow products that are disruptive and that can help create the future of cities.”

Mohamed Nagaty, Co-founder and COO, Halan

“In order for transportation companies to go out and evolve in cities, they’re going to need a base. Without some sort of formal transport, they’re not going to work.”

Adam Giambrone, General Manager, Saudi Public Transport Company