The world’s most important technology event, the Web Summit, held in Lisbon since 2016 has reached its biggest numbers yet.
The event, which in previous years has had names like Stephen Hawking, Al Gore, Elon Musk and Edward Snowden as speakers, broke records this year with more than 70.000 participants from 160 countries. The event was spread among the Altice Arena and all 4 of the FIL pavilions around Parque das Nações in the Portuguese capital, along with side events and gatherings related to the event all around the city.
One of its biggest moments, the opening ceremony had the presence of Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, who asked for help for the country while discussing the use of technology in ongoing wars and conflicts around the world.
Lisbon’s mayor Carlos Moedas took the opportunity to present to the world the recently-opened Unicorn Factory project. The project aims to finance at least 20 start-ups and scale-ups companies every year and it is an integral part of the efforts to bring technology and digital nomads to invest in Portugal.
The Web Summit organiser, Paddy Cosgrave, has publicly thanked the Portuguese security detail, police and event producers, who were able to keep everything running. He also pointed out the goals for next year to find more venues and keep expanding the project.
While expanding to other parts of the world with editions in Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and now plans to go to the Middle East and Africa in the next few years, the main Web Summit event has a contract to happen in Lisbon at least until 2028.