And the title reads ‘Massive Tech Conference Comes to Vancouver!…’ The first ever!…the inaugural Web Summit Vancouver! What a beautiful city for having the Web Summit. May 27 – 30 were the dates. The tech conference days were jam-packed with new technologies, start-ups, pitches, connections and business. It was a success. Heavy presence naturally of attendees from Vancouver, Calgary and other parts of Canada in addition to attendees, start-ups and presenters from all over the world including one section from Korea. Tuesday, May 27 late afternoon the opening ceremonies took place. CEO and founder of the Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave, along with Vancouver Mayor Ken Shim took the stage to welcome and wish everyone a successful and enjoyable Web Summit Vancouver. The usual spirit of excitement of what’s to come over the next 3 days was shared amongst the full house audience in the centre stage area.
Who’s at the Web Summit tech conferences? Entrepreneurs who have created and want to promote their Start-ups and find investors and talent from around the world. Start-ups on health, fitness, financial, investment, travel, services to make life easier, biomedical technologies, application of machine learning and the big theme AI (Artificial Intelligence).
Who else? People in IT, businesses looking for employees, those looking to connect and share ideas to support a thriving Canadian economy in developing fields—from AI – artificial intelligence to agricultural tech to clean energy & sustainability to quantum computing. Key speakers for the stages around the venue… the Centre Stage and other stages on the main floor and then other stages on the lower level in the Trade Show area. Partners, Media, Investors are all there. Women in Tech, Black Innovation Zone, Developers Program, Indigenous Attendee Program.
Night Summits with chances to network and discover different areas of Vancouver (Bentall Centre – Downtown, Yaletown – Helmcken Plaza, Yaletown Brewing Company and Thursday evening The Shipyards, North Vancouver -by ferry)were all part of the Web Summit experience. The amazing Volunteers played an important part of the Web Summit providing directions, information and welcoming. Thank you to them!
To get everyone off to an energetic start, we met Gherardo from Milan, Italy(lead walker) in front of Giovane Caffè… Group Power Walks before the Web Summit on Tuesday afternoon and after on Friday evening … excellent networking while getting exercise walking, networking big time and seeing the beautiful view by the water as we approached Stanley Park. A real addition to the Web Summits. https://www.staaake.in/home https://lu.ma/staaake
How to find out about what’s going on? The Web Summit App is all inclusive! A well-organized app to plan and create one’s personal schedule by accessing the full Web Summit schedule on app. An excellent way to connect with other attendees, Startups, speakers etc.
The Vancouver Convention Centre is set by the water. Beautiful surroundings. The Venue itself is bright and spacious, well signed to get from one area to the other. Glassed building with lots of light and gorgeous views. The lower level with its spacious area for Startup booths, and bigger booths promoting companies and countries. From a Media point of view, the Staff is amazing – helpful and knowledgeable…from helping with Interviews, Press Conferences and to providing a calm atmosphere for working and networking.
Thousands of international entrepreneurs, investors, media and leaders gathered in Vancouver to connect the tech world.
Some of the special guest speakers included American Philosopher Dr. Cornel WestProfessor, Author and 2024 U.S. Presidential Candidate. NBA Champions JaVale McGee and Metta World Peace. Government Officials. Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky. Ivan Zhang, co-founder of AI company Cohere amongst others..
Local highlights to visit while in Vancouver for a short while – VanDusen Botanical Gardens, Stanley Park (walk or rent a bike), visit one of the amazing waterside restaurants for a meal, snack or drinks including Provence Marinaside with outdoor patio, beautiful interior with bar & live jazz weekly and welcoming staff https://www.provencemarinaside.ca/ , The many fantastic cafes, take the amazing Vancouver transit system – buses, trains, water taxis, and watching (or taking!) the Harbour Air planes from the Vancouver Convention Centre waterfront. Mesmerizing!
Rainforest, the ocean and mountains, Vancouver is city life meeting nature’s playground. A world hub for innovation, sustainability and tech. Vancouver is where creative minds push boundaries against a backdrop of breathtaking beauty. From its diverse culture and world-class cuisine to endless outdoor adventures, Vancouver inspires new perspectives of every kind.
Discover
Over 15,000 people attended the first Web Summit Vancouver. And that will grow more and more each year. Between the panel discussions, visiting the trade show floor on the lower level, Press Conferences for Media and Meetups for specific groups, taking time for a break outside by the water was paradise. Some of the Startups included ResearchBunny.com also at Web Summit Rio Brazil. viveamaia.comfrom Mexico. dataffluent.com from Jamaica Remitly – One easy app to send money worldwide www.remitly.com (contact them for a discount code!)
The Pitch finals were exciting.. Right to the end.. with the 3 finalists battling it out.. Congratulations to Canadian company gluxkind.com with its Smart Stroller run by AI the winner of the $125K in AWS Activate Credits with support from nextcanada.com
Business took place. Solid connections made. We look forward to May 2026 when The Web Summit will have its 2nd year in Vancouver.
But…there’s still room in Toronto for more tech. We hope, in addition to Vancouver, that it’s considered to have either Collision or Web Summit in Toronto to meet eastern Canada’s needs and those closer to Toronto in the near future! Fingers crossed!
And as it’s written on the Startup Qatar booth ‘Be the force behind tomorrow’s creativity’
Up next is The Web Summit Lisbon in Portugal in November 2025. For more info vancouver.websummit.com websummit.com
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