The highest ever number of female-founded startups at Web Summit will attend this week’s flagship event in Lisbon.
Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO of Web Summit, welcomed attendees to the MEO Arena in the Portuguese capital on Monday night. Some 3,000 startups – many from the U.S. and Latin America – are set to exhibit over the duration of the flagship event concluding Thursday, and a record number are female-founded.
Speaking at the opening of Web Summit Lisbon, where 70,000 people will pass through its doors, Cosgrave took to the main stage where he announced: “44% of the nearly 3,000 startups exhibiting over the next three days are female-founded, which is absolutely stunning.”
Web Summit recently announced the findings of its fifth global women in tech report, which show that women in tech remain underpaid, underrepresented and underfunded. Nearly a third of 1,000 surveyed women cited funding as a major hurdle with regards to starting a business, reflecting global trends of women-led startups struggling to secure venture capital.
More than half of the respondents noted a lack of women in leadership roles, with nearly 51% feeling unfairly compensated compared to men. Close to 76% of those surveyed feel empowered to lead. Known as the event where the tech world meets, Web Summit aims to spark debates that help us understand and address these ongoing issues.
Cosgrave, founder of the event, emphasised the importance of early-stage startups, whom he described as “the energy, the epicentre of Web Summit”. He noted that last year’s attending startups had raised over $750 million over the last 12 months.
Cosgrave also highlighted the story of Revolut, the fast-growing digital bank, which had exhibited as a startup at Web Summit shortly after being founded.
“I remember when Revolut exhibited,” he said. “Revolut had, like so many other startups, a tiny, one-metre booth: they also entered the startup competition. And they’ve gone on to become Europe’s most valuable private tech company. There’s so many stories like Revolut: young, unknown founders showing up at Web Summit and going on to great success.”
Additionally, Cosgrave announced significant changes to be introduced to this year’s event, focusing on an innovative method of networking, focussing on helping arrange meetups for people with similar interests in tech – all using the Web Summit app.
Cosgrave said that organisers of this year’s event have made the most significant changes in over a decade to how networking will be facilitated in Lisbon: “At Web Summit, we want to help you connect with the communities and groups that matter to you. It starts with the mobile app, with our mobile app – meetups by day and by night.”
He explained how the mobile app will organise meetups tailored to curious attendees: “There are hundreds of highly curated meetups. Many will be recommended to you, depending on your interests. The group looks amazing, and we have a huge variety of meetups just for you. Many are entirely open, and you can find them on our mobile app.”
Cosgrave added: “Making small meetups the core of Web Summit is, in my view, one of the biggest changes we’ve made in a decade.”
He finished his opening remarks by saying: “This past year has been a remarkable journey of highs and lows… Change, both uplifting and challenging, is picking up speed like never before. Technology continues to impact everything we once held certain about, work, society, economics, politics and life itself on this planet. These are just some of the themes that will animate discussions across more than 20 stages over the next three days.”
Notable speakers throughout this week’s event include:
For any questions about this or any other Web Summit content, please contact the Web Summit Newsroom at newsroom@websummit.com.
About Web Summit:
Web Summit runs the world’s largest technology events, connecting people and ideas that change the world. Half a million people have attended Web Summit events – Web Summit in Europe, Web Summit Rio in South America, Collision in North America, Web Summit Qatar in the Middle East and RISE in Asia – since the company’s beginnings as a 150-person conference in Dublin in 2009.
In February, Web Summit held its hugely successful inaugural event in the Middle East. Web Summit Qatar welcomed more than 15,000 attendees and was supported by over 100 partners including the Qatar Investment Authority, Snap, Deloitte, TikTok, Huawei, Microsoft, Shell, Palo Alto Networks, EY, Builder.ai and Qatar Airways. Web Summit Qatar showcased the work of more than 1,000 startups from around the world, and helped introduce them to a network of more than 300 investors in Doha.
Web Summit’s mission is to enable the meaningful connections that change the world. Web Summit also undertakes a range of initiatives to support Diversity, Equality and Inclusion across the tech worlds: this includes IMPACT; Women in Tech; AMPLIFY; the Web Summit/Qatar Foundation Scholarship Programme; and our Community Partnerships.
Useful links
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About Web Summit: www.about.websummit.com
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