Our History

We’re at an inflection point. The kind of inflection point that comes around not once in a lifetime, but once in several lifetimes. We’ve all seen the world go through times more turbulent than our parents, or their parents, and the only thing we can expect for certain is more change.

There is no longer such a thing as a ‘tech’ industry – just industries that have been affected by tech. Just as the first industrial revolution 250 years ago left an indelible mark on the lives of the people who lived through it, tech is turning upside down everything we thought about work, social interaction, politics and life itself.

This year more than 50,000 tech CEOs, founders, startups, investors and political leaders driving change across the world are coming together in Lisbon for Web Summit. They’ll be looking for answers to the questions posed by the tech revolution we’re living through.

Every Field and Sphere of Thought in One Place

Web Summit has become “Europe’s largest and most important technology marketplace”, a crossroads for the world’s largest buyers and sellers of technology, alongside many of the world’s most disruptive emerging technology companies.

It’s not just Europe’s largest companies that will be at Web Summit, but over 7,000 CEOs from companies of all sizes and industries learning about what new software and hardware can transform their businesses. For the first time, they’ll be joined by leading academics, those at the forefront of tech and business worlds, cultural icons and influencers, and key world leader to tackle the world’s most pressing issues.

A Pioneering Approach: Engineering Serendipity

Our approach has always been different, and that difference has propelled our growth. We’re the first software company that creates conferences.

While conference companies typically hire experienced event planners, we hire computational physicists, applied statisticians, AI specialists and engineers of all shapes and sizes.

Our Marketplace: Unparalleled Calibre and Scale all in one Room

Web Summit now attracts the world’s largest buyers and sellers of technology. More than 65% of our attendees are senior management, from over 15,000 companies.

On the seller side, Web Summit is not just about the executive officers of the world’s leading technology companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google and Cisco all gathering in one room. It’s also about a generation of emerging technology companies selling to an ocean of 50,000 other potential customers from companies small, medium and large from across the world.

Media

Over 2,000 media from more than 100 markets will be at Web Summit in Lisbon. It’s not just editors from many of the world’s most influential publications, but market shaping industry reporters from leading technology and trade publications and blogs.

—Event Producer