By Sally Warburton
November 13 – 16, 2023 Lisbon, Portugal
The Web Summit started the evening of Monday, November 13 – The Opening Night: A celebration of Portugal ceremonies held at the Altice Arena. First on Centre Stage was a series of entrepreneurs selected to speak about their start-ups to the crowd of over 50,000. Next the newly appointed CEO Katherine Maher appeared on stage. She opened the tech conference attended by 70,000 people from all around the world – and introduced the 2023 Web Summit. She spoke about her excitement of her new appointment to the massive crowd at Altice Arena (where Madonna had performed the week before!). Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Vasco Pedro (Unbabel), Carlos Moedas (Mayor of Lisbon), Cristina Fonseca (Managing Partner at Indico Capital Partners), Antonio Costa Silva (Minister of the Economy & Maritime Affairs at Government of Portugal) were also part of the Opening Ceremonies excitement!
What is the Web Summit? The Web Summit is a company from Dublin, Ireland which holds events across the world: Web Summit in Lisbon, Web Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Web Summit Qatar in Doha, Collision in Toronto and RISE in Hong Kong. It’s been described as ‘The world’s premier tech conference’ and ‘Where the future goes to be born’. Living in a time of great uncertainty for many industries and the world itself, Policymakers, heads of state and founders and CEOs of technology companies and fast-growing startups gather at the Summit to ask a simple question – Where to next? And the answer to this and many questions can be found and explored at The Web Summit. These photos will help give you the vibe of the tech event.
The Web Summit included 5 pavilions (buildings filled with startups and stages easily accessible through walking from one to the other) across from the Altice Arena. There was an easy flow in and between the pavilions even with such a large attendance.
Some countries had their own booths such as Germany, Spain, Qatar, United Kingdom, amongst others…
Who was there? People from all over the world! Start-ups and speakers from every corner of the globe… Attendees were greeted at the airport with the BIG lettered sign WEB SUMMIT (like our Toronto sign at NPS). So well organized, attendees picked up their badges and bracelets at the Web Summit tent designated for accreditation pick up. Amazing friendly volunteers greeted attendees and answered any questions. Attendees could also purchase their 5 day Lisbon Metro pass and take the subway right from the airport to downtown Lisbon areas including the Altice Arena and pavilions where The Web Summit located.
The Toronto Booth definitely stood out! With representatives from the City of Toronto, Destination Toronto, Toronto Region Board of Trade, Burlington Economic Development, … Encouraging all to attend Collision Toronto in June 2024!
A couple of startups were: Sally Booth from Japan! https://sally-inc.jp/ Sally operates “UZU”, a platform where game users create and play “Madimis”.
And Tryp Staff from Norway explained this very interesting travel app. https://www.tryp.com/en Amazing!
Doha, Qatar and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil being promoted as countries where The Web Summit will be held in 2024.
Just like Collision (Toronto’s younger sibling of The Web Summit) the pavilion buildings were set up with Stages for different themes with an amazing schedule of world class speakers.
Food and quiet areas between the 5 pavilions for networking or resting. Lisbon’s weather was perfect that week- warmer and drier than predicted – allowing for attendees to watch speakers from Altice Arena on huge screens outside while having fresh air and a snack and drink.
The Web Summit is a time for making connections – business deals, learning, sharing, enjoying, pitches, media press conferences.
The 3 evenings included the Night Summit – 3 different locations giving attendees visiting Lisbon the chance to explore new areas – Tuesday Nightwas at Hub Criativo do Beato. Wednesday Night at Praça do Comércio in a massive tent. Thursday Night 3 in Pavilhão Carlos Lopes park north of Marquês de Pombal. All available on the Metro subway then walking… Lisbon is a lovely city for walking and exploring.
Lisbon’s food is delicious and healthy. People are friendly. Accommodation plentiful. Known for its coffee,
Pastel de nata (famous Portuguese custard pastry tart) and Superbock beer. A tram ride up to Bairro Alto to explore the area, see beautiful view of Lisbon by night, have a late dinner (outdoors luckily due to nice weather this November!) or drink when checking out the small cafe and bars or Fado music and street musicians. WebSummit giant letters were seen at various spots in the city for photos!
15 different stages throughout the 5 pavilions. Women in Tech lounge was always a very busy hive of activity. Mentor hours. Start-ups. Growth Lounge. Investors. Master class areas. Growth Lounge. Pitches. Master Class area building rooms between Altice Arena and the 5 pavilions. Developer Lounge. Networking area. Podcast booth. Healthtech and Wellness. Sustainability a constant theme. Security. Travel. Entertainment and Media. Software as a service (SaaS). Sport and Fitness. Investors. Gaming, VR & AR. Energy & Utilities. Education. Robotics. Design. Charities. Advertising, Media and Content. Fintech and Financial Services. Entertainment. Social Media. Companies redefining the tech industry. Podcasters. Throughout the 5 pavilion hundreds of Startups were on display with their enthusiastic staff to promote and teach attendees about their products. Every possible tech subject from many countries.
Over too soon! The Summit ended with Closing ceremonies in Altice Arena….. The Web Summit Lisbon brought together over 70,000 people and companies redefining the tech industry. Fantastic!
The experience of attending the Web Summit with its wonderful and plentiful volunteers, excellent staff, great security systems and security people, interesting tech speakers, fascinating tech topics at stages, learning about start-ups and their products, connecting with others through the excellent Web Summit app – plus the beautiful city Lisbon, its amazing people and food – all made for a wonderful experience. The vibe was perfect. Mark your 2024 calendar for Collision and the Web Summit!
For more info check out https://websummit.com/
#websummit #websummitlisbon and @websummit #techconference
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