One of the largest technology conferences in Europe and the world, Web Summit 2024 will be held from November 11 to 14 in Lisbon, bringing together thought leaders to discuss such important topics as the impact of artificial intelligence on society, government regulation of technology and the challenges of attracting venture capital.
This year’s event is expected to be attended by 70,000 people from 160+ countries. Also, more than 3,000 startups will take part – this is the largest number in the entire history of the conference.
Some interesting numbers and facts about Web Summit:
- last year, companies collected $60.6 billion at the Web Summit;
- Participants of the Web Summit startup program received $755 million;
- investor focus shifts to cleantech and SaaS, while fintech and e-commerce funding declines;
- 2024 sees the return of the Web Summit INSPIRE student program, which provides an opportunity to visit the conference center stage on a selected day.
Web Summit 2024 keynote speakers and topics
This year’s keynote speakers include Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, who leads the development of powerful and affordable artificial intelligence chips; Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal, which warns against government plans to scan private messages; and Grammy-winning artist and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams, who will talk with Visa CMO Frank Cooper about how businesses can harness the power of the creative economy.
Etosha Cave, co-founder of Twelve, will present her work on using CO2 to create sustainable jet fuel, while Grammy winner Imogen Heap will explore the role of AI in creativity. Gabriele Mazzini, architect of the EU AI Act, will discuss AI regulation, while Bumble CEO Lydian Jones will explore its impact on relationships. Also among the speakers are Kuo Zhang (Alibaba.com), Brad Smith (Microsoft), Jeff Shiner (1Password), Josh Silverman (Etsy), Richard Teng (Binance) and First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov.
Key themes for 2024 include:
- artificial intelligence
- government, regulation and policies
- elections and democracy
- venture capital
- fintech (in particular, competition in this segment, regulation, attracting financing, non-banks and AI capabilities in fintech)
- stability
- social media.
More than 1,000 startups founded by women will be presented at Web Summit 2024. Startups from such countries as Nigeria, Chile, South Korea, Uruguay, Japan, Serbia, Ghana, India, and others will come to Lisbon.
Ukrainian startups at Web Summit 2024
24 Ukrainian startups will represent our country at the conference and present their own technological projects: Cartum, Bliss Brain, Cardiomo, Beholder, EDMAPS, FleAgData, Karpatia, Metaenga, NewsCatcher, JustSpeak AI, Generect, Mariya.ai, Qudi Mask, SplineCloud, The Great Catalog , Pricer24, Medvoice, Hearify, VanOnGo, Swapp, Streamline, Verba, MISTO, tTravel.
Among the speakers who will represent Ukraine from the summit stage are Mykhailo Fedorov, Oleg Polovynko, Viroslava Novosilna, Iryna Volnytska, Andriy Skrypnyk, Luke Chenier and others.
We will remind that the Ukrainian pavilion debuted at the Web Summit in 2021, in 2022 the innovative potential of Ukraine was represented by 24 startups, and in 2023 – nine.
