AI funding assistant Granter wins Web Summit 2025 PITCH

Portugal-based Granter won the top prize at the Web Summit 2025 PITCH competition. Out of 2,725 startups, 105 advanced to the three-day contest, and Granter ultimately impressed the judges the most. The company offers an AI-powered grant assistant that helps businesses find the best funding opportunities, check eligibility instantly, and craft strong applications, with the goal of making the path to securing funding faster and smarter.

“We help companies find and apply for grants with AI. And we do it well,” summarized Granter CEO Bernardo Seixas before stepping on stage for his final pitch. When asked what he wanted people to remember if Granter won, he kept it simple: “We’re a Portuguese team, and we want to become the next Portuguese unicorn.”

In the Lisbon ecosystem, the team is known as the Bernardos.  Seixas, his co-founder, and even their first hire all share the same first name. “Fun fact: people here just call us the Bernardos,” he said.

Looking ahead, their goals are ambitious: “We hope to be operating in at least half of Europe’s countries next year and growing our team.”

Reflecting on this year’s highlights, Seixas added: “Besides PITCH? Meeting the Vice President of the European Commission through Unicorn Factory, who is exhibiting at Web Summit, and watching my engineers talk to customers and explain our product at the booth to people from all over the world. That was incredible.”

Nigeria-based VarsityScape and UK-based SegmentStream finished as runners-up. VarsityScape uses AI to help educators and teams run online academies more smoothly. SegmentStream is an AI marketing platform that helps companies understand how their ads are performing and which customers are most valuable.

PITCH as a launchpad for visibility

Thousands of startups enlisted in Web Summit’s startup program to compete for the PITCH prize over the three-day event. Winners gain global media attention and credibility with investors. Past winners include Portugal’s Intuitivo, an educational technology company that helps schools digitise the assessment process, and Brazil’s Inspira, a company trying to accelerate the legal system through AI.

Web Summit 2025 highlights 

Web Summit 2025 has brought together a record-breaking 71,386 attendees from 157 countries, highlighting its status as one of the world’s largest technology gatherings. This year marks a historic high for investor participation, with 1,857 investors, a 74% increase from 2024. 

The event also welcomes 2,725 startups, with artificial intelligence and machine learning emerging as leading industries. 

This year also saw the launch of China Summit, a new track at Web Summit dedicated to open important debates on global collaboration and innovation. With over 260 global delegations, Web Summit has become a bridge for conversations and partnerships that could shape the next decade.

Anton Osika, CEO of Lovable; Toto Wolff, Team Principal, CEO & Co-owner of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team; Maria Sharapova, tennis champion and entrepreneur; Rose Wang, COO at Bluesky, Alex Schultz, Chief Marketing Officer at Meta, and Cristiano Amon President & CEO of Qualcomm, a global leader in wireless technology and semiconductors were amongst the leaders in technology, business, sports and entertainment discussing global changes on stage.

More lighthearted moments included creator Max Klymenko bringing the viral hit “The Career Ladder” to Web Summit 2025, showcasing how his simple, upbeat format of guessing people’s professions has become an inspiring digital series. Humanoid robots from Chinese tech company Unitree Robotics also entertained attendees with advanced robotics demonstrations, performing choreographed dance routines on the exhibition floor.

You can read more about the numbers, investors, media, startups, top speakers and partners at Web Summit 2025  here.

Top talks at Web Summit 2025 include

• Building for the 99%: Lovable, the world’s fastest-growing tech company
• Smarter plays: how AI is changing the game
• Rethinking AI: How agents will impact marketing, business and humanity
• The inside scoop: Digital marketing insights from Meta’s CMO  
• Human-centered design in the age of AI  

Meeting the right people

Web Summit 2025 hosted more than 400 curated meetups designed to help attendees build meaningful connections and discover their communities. Among the most popular were sessions bringing together founders whose bold ideas became successful ventures, and rapid-fire networking events for women in technology. 

Behind all meetups is Web Summit’s proprietary software, Summit Engine, that matches participants with relevant people and companies based on shared industries, interests, and goals. Its mission is to help attendees meet the right people and build lasting partnerships.

Top meetups at Web Summit 2025 include

• Going global, international expansion meetup;
• Young Talent & Retention Meetup
•  WiT speed networking;
•  Replit rooftop reception;
• Crazy ideas that worked, 

Web Summit returns to Lisbon in 2026, from November 9 to November 12.