Behind the numbers of Web Summit 2023

The numbers are in, and it’s been another successful year for Web Summit.

With more startups than ever before, and a larger percentage of women attendees than in previous years, Web Summit’s Lisbon event has once again captured the imagination of thousands of people from every aspect of tech.

Startups, investors, industry experts and tech enthusiasts gathered to network, share ideas, and look ahead to a week of exciting talks.

“We’ve brought together tens of thousands of people who have used this week in Lisbon as a springboard to do remarkable things,” said Katherine Maher, the new CEO of Web Summit. The event allows innovators “to launch companies, find investors, unveil projects, and advance a vision of the world worth debating”.

Take a look at some of the numbers behind this year’s event.

70,236 attendees

With interests varying from sport and music to deep tech and AI, attendees flocked to Lisbon to enjoy what Politico calls “the world’s premier tech conference”. This year, more than 70,000 attendees joined us in the Altice Arena for talks, masterclasses, networking sessions, tech demos and more.

Portugal is the home of Web Summit, but the event isn’t constrained by borders. This year, Web Summit brought in attendees from 153 countries around the world. Whether it was a talk on Centre Stage, the incredible meals at Food Summit or the exciting Night Summit parties that caught the eye, a broad spectrum of global society clearly wanted to join us to make meaningful connections.

Of our 70,000-plus attendees, 43 percent are women. And more than 38 percent of our speakers are women – the highest percentage on record.

Talks across 16 stages

We deliver talks spanning 25+ content tracks and 16 stages, covering everything from sport, music and entertainment to deep tech, the future of work and supply chains. Our event app allows attendees to pick and choose exactly what they want to see, and provides the opportunity to try out something new.

Providing a platform for startups to shine is central to Web Summit. From bootstrapped young companies to unicorns (or even centaurs) in the making, a record-breaking number of startups from 93 countries around the world are exhibiting at Web Summit over the course of the event. Our PITCH competition is also a great opportunity for entrepreneurs – your next investor might be only a few feet away.

Entrepreneur called Web Summit “one of the most highly regarded gathering places for startups, corporations and investors”. They weren’t wrong, as the 2023 event gathers more than 900 VCs, angel investors and major funds. Among them are Indico Capital Partners managing partner Cristina Fonseca and Fertifa director Eileen Burbidge.

More than 2,100 media attendees have gathered this year, flocking to Fourth Estate and ContentMakers for insights on everything from creating compelling narratives to reporting from the front lines. Our media partners on the event floor include Politico, Euro News, Globo and CNBC.

At Web Summit, we gather fast-growing startups, the founders and CEOs of technology companies, policymakers and heads of state to ask a simple question: where to next? This year, more than 320 of our global partners join us to help find the answer to that question.

Don’t miss out on the Web Summit experience.

Main image: Web Summit