Web Summit Sells Out Earlier Than Ever

● Web Summit sold out sooner than ever with a record-breaking count of startups attending.

● Grit Daily returns to Lisbon, with John Biggs and Jordan French, and with its Annual Speaker’s Dinner on November 2.

● The Europas Awards take place November 1.

Web Summit – now the largest technology event in the world – is fully sold out earlier than ever. After surviving two challenging years brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the tech event has bounced back, with more than 70,000 attendees, 2,630 exhibiting startups and companies, 1,120 investors and 1,040 speakers traveling to Lisbon from November 1-4.

Hitting a record-breaking milestone, there will be more startups and partners on the Web Summit floor than ever before. The startup program sold out four weeks before the event, with 2,300 startups joining from more than 100 countries.

Among this group will be more than 100 unicorns, coming to the event to network and to discuss the outlook for entrepreneurs during a time of economic turmoil. UK, Portugal, Germany, USA and the Netherlands are among the most represented countries for startups, with SaaS, AI and machine learning, e-commerce, fin-tech and marketing continuing to be the most popular industries.

Speakers hail from the biggest names in tech including Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Amazon, as well as hundreds of the fastest growing startups in the world.

Author and linguist Noam Chomsky, Signal president Meredith Whittaker, Y Combinator president Geoff Ralston, Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk and Yuga Labs CEO Nicole Muniz are among the 1,040 speakers who – with the climate crisis and a recession looming – will be forecasting what the next few years will look like for society, the economy and tech companies around the world and who will be discussing the next steps forward in this new era.

Google, Figma, Stripe, PitchBook, AWS and Binance are among the partners exhibiting on the Web Summit floor. The exhibition space for partnerships sold out seven weeks before the event, with 330 partners attending – up nearly 40 percent on pre-pandemic numbers.

“By early 2021, it looked like Web Summit might not survive the year. As a team, we rallied together and somehow made it through 2021. It’s been an extraordinary recovery over the last 18 months, from near death in early 2021 to our best year ever in 2022,” says Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO at Web Summit.

To cater for the 2,630 companies taking to the exhibition floor, Web Summit 2022 will spread over an area at the Altice Arena and FIL pavilions that is the size of 371 tennis courts – 25 percent larger than the space used in 2021.

Key events around Lisbon

Web Summit satellite events take over locations all around Lisbon for the entire week, showcasing all the top locations, bars and restaurants Lisbon has to offer.

The Europas Awards

Founded in 2009 by Mike Butcher, editor-at-large at TechCrunch, the Europas was originally formed to recognize and celebrate the innovation emerging from Europe’s burgeoning tech startup scene. From the first awards held in a London Soho bar, The Europas has grown into the premier awards for Europe’s hottest tech startups.

Grit Daily’s Annual Speakers & Media Dinner

Grit Daily News and BlockTelegraph, along with founder Jordan French, editorial staff John Biggs, and special guest, Dr. Abdalla Kablan: Serial entrepreneur, fintech-expert, and TEDx speaker London 2022. What: Multi-course, sit-down meal with good Portuguese food, wine, a welcome drink, and speakers, VIPs, and moderator-media from Web Summit. Expect good flow — not chained to your seats – and an opportunity to meet all 50 VIPs in the room.

Opening Night

On Tuesday November 1, Web Summit’s Opening Night will bring some surprise guests – who will be revealed closer to the time – on stage at Lisbon’s Altice Arena.

Night Summit

Each night, Web Summit will be directing thousands of attendees to the best spots around Lisbon. After 5pm, attendees will get the chance to experience the city of Lisbon and network in some of Lisbon’s most famous bars and restaurants. Hub Criativo do Beato, Pink Street and Pavilhão Carlos Lopes will be among the locations used to host parties after hours.

Venture

Web Summit will host Venture – an invite-only event bringing together the world’s leading VCs, LPs and angel investors – in Lisbon on Tuesday November 1. Top Tier Capital’s Lisa Edgar, 500 Startups’ Christine Tsai and Stride.VC’s Fred Destin will be in attendance.

The Gathering

The Gathering is an invite-only event taking place before Web Summit, bringing together 200 of our selected early-stage startups. The Gathering will provide exclusive insights for startups, as well as unrivaled peer-to-peer learning and networking. These experts’ invaluable experiences will be shared with attending startups through talks and roundtable discussions over the course of the day.

Corporate Innovation Summit

Corporate Innovation Summit is a one-day invite-only gathering of innovation leaders from the world’s largest organizations, taking place prior to Web Summit.