Is Lisbon a startup hub because of the Web Summit, or does the Web Summit keep coming back to Lisbon because of the city’s growing tech scene? Regardless of the answer, the fact is that one of the most prestigious events in the tech industry is about to open its doors again, making tens of thousands of people flock to the Capital of Portugal. Here are a few things you should know about the conference and the 2024 edition.
What is the Web Summit Lisbon?
The Web Summit is one of the largest and most prestigious innovation events in the world, founded in Dublin, by Paddy Cosgrave, in 2009. After moving to Lisbon in 2016, the event signed, in 2018, a 10-year deal with the city, granting its spot in the Portuguese calendar.
Filled with interesting talks, round tables, pitch opportunities and much more, the event has received many important names of a wide arrays of fields such as tennis player Serena Williams, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, musician and activist Bono Vox, SpaceX Founder Elon Musk, and Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, just to name a few.
The Web Summit as a company also promotes other events such as Collision, and Web Summit Rio and Qatar. Web Summit hosted in Portugal, however, is the flagship event and also the largest one.
This 2024 Web Summit Lisbon kicks off on November 11th, with an opening centre-stage presence at the Meo Arena of Paddy Cosgrove, the co-founder of the annual technology conference, Portugal's president Mr. Luís Montenegro, as well as Lisbon's Mayor, Mr. Carlos Moedas.
For 8 consecutive years now (including a virtual edition during the Covid-19 pandemic), November is a month when Lisbon welcomes more than 70,000 tech enthusiasts, CEOs, and start-up investors who join in the capital of Portugal to attend one of Europe’s leading tech events. The Web Summit has brought much attention to the country, promoting a rise in economic growth, and drawing global technology companies to open businesses and start-ups that created various tech job opportunities for both fellow Portuguese and expats.
They will now be able to join visitors who are pouring in from all 4 corners of the world to connect to make the best out of the 4-days event that will bring together over 1000 speakers, divided into 15 tracks.
Where is Web Summit's Location in Lisbon and How to Get There?
Well, if you have never attended the Web Summit before and it is coming for the first time, we can tell you the venue that welcomes the event year in year out, is huge. FIL (Lisbon Exhibition and Congress Centre) has a total area of 100.000m2 spread across 4 pavilions and it is located in Parque das Nações, the most modern neighbourhood in Lisbon.
Web Summit takes all the pavilions and also an extra important venue in Lisbon: the Altice Arena, one of the most popular concert halls in the city, located right next to FIL. This is where the centre stage is located and where some of the most famous people of the planet have set foot on, either to perform or to participate in one of the Web Summit’s talks. That means that, in order to make the most of your experience, you need to plan ahead. Stages sometimes are not close to each other and with multiple things happening, you will have to choose carefully what you want to see the most, where and when it is happening.
Now, if you are wondering how to get to the event, we can assure you it will be easy. If you are not already staying in Expo – how many locals will call the Parque das Nações area, due to the fact it was created to host the Expo 98 – there will be plenty of transportation available. Depending on where you are, you can catch a train, a bus or a metro to Gare do Oriente, a huge terminal station within walking distance to where the Web Summit is.
2024 Web Summit in Lisbon: Main Speakers and Topics
In case you still did not have the time to check this year’s Web Summit schedule we have some highlights for you. Opening day will have debates on Transforming CO2 to Fuel and who will decide the Future and will close with the gathering of artist and entrepreneur Pharrell Willian with Visa’s CMO Frank Cooper to talk about culture versus commerce.
If you get to day 2 already feeling overwhelmed, you can stop by a yoga experience at stage 10 in the morning. Another option is to participate in the press conference with European Investment Fund Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt, Portugal Minister of Economy Pedro Reis, and European Commission Deputy Head of Representation António Vicente. You will also be able to hear what Robert Habeck, the Vice-Chancellor of Germany has to say about the path to a progressive future. You can also check what the inventor of the world wide web himself, Tim Berners-Lee, has to say about how to make it better.
Day 3 will have names like Margarida Balseiro Lopes, Minister of Youth and Modernization of Portugal, and Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and Steven Knight, screenwriter, director, producer & creator of the hit show Peaky Blinders.
The fourth and last day of the WebSummit 2024 will start with a talk about the future of Mobility in the centre stage. Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, Portugal’s Minister of State and Finance will talk about what next for the Portuguese economy and actor Richard Schiff will host a Q&A session about the US recent elections.
Also, throughout the whole event there will be, of course, a lot of talks and round tables around the subject of the moment: AI. This is really just a glimpse of what this huge event will bring and the best way to go about it is to keep yourself up to date through Web Summit’s app and website.
Why Does Web Summit Keep Returning to Portugal?
It is not by chance that Lisbon has received the prestigious Web Summit conference for the past 8 years. Located in a country that has the 7th cleanest air quality in Europe and that is also ranked as the 7th safest country in the world, Lisbon has a small-town quality of life but with all the perks of an important European Capital. It surely also helps that Portugal is the 8th most English proficient country in the world.
Apart from the multitude of leisure and cultural activities, ranging from museums to national landmarks, the main Portuguese city also features two UNESCO world heritage sites: the Torre de Belém, built to commemorate the Vasco da Gama expedition, and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a 16th-century cloister and former friar refectory.
Also, although Lisbon exudes old-world charm, it also showcases outstanding diversity in its culture and has become, in the past years, an important technology hub of the continent, hosting a dynamic startup ecosystem, including some of the 7 Portuguese-born unicorns, companies that have reached a value of over $1 billion.
It is hard to tell if the Web Summit address in Lisbon is the result or the cause of the growth of Portugal’s growing importance in the tech scene, with many remote workers moving into the country in search of a thriving business environment combined with unparalleled quality of life, but the fact is that the event has grown exponentially in here.
Now, Web Summit and Lisbon are undeniably intertwined and are both partly responsible for the high-tech centre the region has become, with places like the Unicorn Factory, Startup Lisboa, and Oeiras Valley becoming the preferred address to many innovative companies. Portugal has even been ranked among Europe's Top 10 Leading Start-Up, much due to Lisbon’s entrepreneurial and Startup community.
This thriving scenario is also one of the main reasons why, in the last years, many wealthy individuals have also decided to come to Portugal, not only because of the country’s great climate, safety and quality of life, but also to make the best out of business opportunities that are in constant growth. Through Residency by Investment programmes such as the Golden Visa and the D2 Visa, they can live and work in Portugal and become neighbours to the Web Summit and all the innovations it fosters.
