The first speed dating event of MediaMatters in Belgium, was well received by Belgian media companies. A total of 30 matches were made between 7 startups and scale-ups from 5 countries and the 7 media companies present. These included Mediahuis, Medialaan (the TV and radio company of de Persgroep), Roularta and VRT.

The event took place on October 26 in the innovation centre of Telenet in Brussels. The organisation was in the hands of imec.istart and Medianet Vlaanderen. After the pitches of the startups, good discussions took place with the media companies. There was a lot of interest in the solution of the Dutch Media Distillery. This startup counted no less than 6 matches and the prospect of interesting deals. Media Distillery has developed unique AI technology to understand video content.

The event was so successful that imec.istart and Medianet Vlaanderen, together with MediaMatters, are thinking about a repeat in 2019. This will be MediaMatters' second foreign event. In May 2019, during the conference of MINDS International, a partnership of 23 news agencies, another speed dating event with startups will be organized. This will take place in Lisbon, where MINDS will meet for its six-monthly conference.