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| Web Summit (Lisbon) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Web Summit (Lisbon) |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Technology conference |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Venue | Altice Arena |
| Location | Lisbon, Portugal |
| First | 2016 |
| Founder | Paddy Cosgrave |
| Attendance | ~70,000 (varies) |
Web Summit (Lisbon) is an annual technology conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, that gathers founders, investors, politicians, journalists, and representatives from major technology companies. The event assembles startups, established firms, and policy makers for keynote speeches, panel discussions, pitch competitions, and networking across multiple tracks. Attendees include delegates from leading firms, academic institutions, international organizations, and cultural institutions.
Web Summit (Lisbon) brings together a wide range of participants including executives from Apple Inc., Google LLC, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Tencent, Alibaba Group, Samsung Electronics, Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Salesforce, SAP SE, Adobe Inc., Spotify, Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Stripe, PayPal, Block, Inc., Visa Inc., Mastercard, Goldman Sachs, SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator, Techstars, Startup Grind, Station F, Imperial College London, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, European Commission, United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, NATO, European Investment Bank, Banco de Portugal, City of Lisbon, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa.
The conference migrated to Lisbon in 2016 following negotiations involving the founders and municipal authorities, moving from its original locale where earlier editions had attracted speakers from The Guardian, Forbes, The New York Times, Financial Times, BBC, Bloomberg L.P., CNBC, Reuters, Wired, TechCrunch, The Verge, Vox Media, Politico, The Wall Street Journal. Early keynote speakers and attendees included leaders associated with Ebay, PayPal, IBM, Microsoft Research, Facebook (now Meta), Twitter, Slack Technologies, LinkedIn, Snap Inc.. The relocation catalyzed engagement with European institutions such as the European Commission and attracted investment attention from firms like Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, Northzone, Atomico, DST Global.
Main activities concentrate at the Altice Arena and the adjacent FIL exhibition center on the Parque das Nações waterfront. Satellite events and partner conferences take place across venues including LX Factory, Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, Belém Cultural Center, Coliseu dos Recreios, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Belem Tower environs and hotel clusters in Avenida da Liberdade. Lisbon’s transport links feature Lisbon Airport, Gare do Oriente, and river access on the Tagus River.
Programming spans keynote stages, themed tracks, startup competitions, and workshops with sessions from representatives of Tesla, SpaceX, Blue Origin, European Space Agency, NASA, Rolls-Royce, Boeing, Airbus, Siemens, General Electric, Schneider Electric, Bosch, Philips, Accenture, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG. Track themes have covered artificial intelligence with contributions referencing OpenAI, DeepMind, Hugging Face, cybersecurity with speakers from Kaspersky Lab, McAfee LLC, and CrowdStrike, fintech panels including Revolut, N26, Monzo, climate tech sessions with Tesla Energy, Ørsted, Iberdrola, and healthtech addressing Roche, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Roche Diagnostics. Startup programs include pitch competitions like those associated with TechCrunch Disrupt alumni and accelerators such as Y Combinator, Seedcamp, Plug and Play Tech Center, MassChallenge.
Attendance has ranged from tens of thousands to over 70,000 delegates with a mix of startup founders, venture capitalists from firms like Benchmark, Union Square Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, politicians including ministers from Portugal, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, and public figures such as CEOs from Spotify, Amazon, Microsoft, and cultural figures from Netflix and BBC Studios. The conference has influenced investment flows involving European Investment Bank, catalyzed partnerships with corporations such as Siemens, and supported startup fundraising rounds featuring investors like Tiger Global Management, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Insight Partners.
Organisers include the founding team associated with Paddy Cosgrave and corporate staff; major commercial partners and sponsors have included Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, SAP, Intel, Cisco Systems, Vodafone Group, Altice Portugal, Bloomberg L.P., Deloitte, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, EY, Accenture, HSBC, Santander, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, AON, AXA, Iberia, Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Visa Inc., Mastercard.
The event has prompted debate involving labor organizations and civic groups in Lisbon and critics from outlets such as The Guardian, Financial Times, The New York Times over issues including ticket pricing, venue displacement, and relations with local government bodies such as Câmara Municipal de Lisboa. Controversies have touched on data privacy discussions involving Cambridge Analytica-era scrutiny, sustainability critiques referencing United Nations Environment Programme, and concerns about inclusivity highlighted by activists associated with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and community groups in Parque das Nações.
Category:Technology conferences