Web Summit to grow Portuguese team to 150 amid opening of new office in Lisbon

Web Summit has today announced that it will create 50 jobs in Portugal over the next year, and has opened its new office in Lisbon at Hub Criativo do Beato.

The Web Summit team in Lisbon – and in Portugal more broadly – has grown from just four employees to 90 since 2016, when the event first moved to the city. To host the growing number of staff members in Lisbon, the team has moved into Hub Criativo do Beato, which also houses Unicorn Factory Lisboa, as well as a host of startups and entrepreneurs.

Web Summit will hire at least 50 new members of staff in Portugal over the next year as the company grows its presence in the country and expands to new territories in Brazil and Qatar.

“We’re deeply connected to Lisbon. Web Summit landed in Portugal in 2016, and our growth won’t stop – we’re set to hire more than 50 new team members here over the next year. We’re now at the heart of where startups will be in Lisbon all year round,” said Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO at Web Summit.

“The whole team is incredibly excited to be part of Hub Criativo do Beato. As this part of Lisbon grows in energy and creativity, Hub Criativo do Beato is becoming a magnet for young entrepreneurs and established companies from Portugal and those relocating to Portugal,” Paddy continued.

“Web Summit has been one of the great drivers of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Lisbon over the last eight years. At a time when the city defined a new ambition with the Unicorn Factory, this office represents this new stage. Unicorn Factory made it possible to realise this dream and find space for Web Summit collaborators where they belong: the epicenter of the entrepreneurial community,” said Lisbon’s Mayor Carlos Moedas.

This year’s Web Summit will host more than 70,000 entrepreneurs, investors and members of the media from around the world at the Altice Arena from November 13-16. Top speakers include EU commissioner for competition and executive VP of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager; comedian Amy Poehler; Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei; producer Marshmello; Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith; Black Lives Matter co-creator Alicia Garza; Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg; and Bluesky CEO Jay Graber.

Hub Criativo do Beato, once a bustling factory complex used by the Portuguese army to produce everything from bread to military essentials, has transformed into one of the largest entrepreneurship hubs in Europe. Today, it attracts entrepreneurs and innovative companies, with around 50,000 square metres of space spread across 18 buildings. It plays an important role in attracting and retaining new talent and projects to Lisbon and to Portugal.

Notes to the editor
Web Summit’s staff in Portugal is currently composed of 90 people across various locations in Portugal, including Porto. 75 percent of the Portuguese team will be based in the Lisbon office. Team members hail from 12 nations, including Brazil, France, Ireland, the UK, Lithuania and Norway.

Facts
● The Portugal-based Web Summit team has grown from four members of staff to 90 in six years
● 90 people are now working for Web Summit in offices in Lisbon and Porto
● The Lisbon office hosts team members of 12 nationalities
● Web Summit will create 50 new jobs in Portugal over the next year
● Web Summit has fully embraced a hybrid working model, giving employees flexibility to choose whether to work in the office or work from home

About Web Summit
Forbes says Web Summit is “the best tech conference on the planet”; Bloomberg calls it “Davos for geeks”; Politico “the Olympics of tech”; the Guardian “Glastonbury for geeks”. In the words of the Financial Times, Web Summit is “the world’s largest tech conference”, and the Telegraph calls it the “planet’s best tech conference”