Web Summit, the world’s largest technology conference, today announced that it has officially sold out its first Middle Eastern event, Web Summit Qatar, which will draw the largest ever gathering of international startups in the region’s history.
Next week, more than 12,000 attendees will arrive in Qatar to attend what will serve as a pivotal force for innovation in the region, enabling the people who are reshaping the world to connect.
The largest and most globally diverse cohort of startups to ever gather in the region – more than 1,000 startups from 80 countries – will connect with a new generation of investors and partners hailing from countries such as Qatar, the US, Egypt, Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, the UK, India, and beyond. Within the startup cohort, almost 200 will be coming from Africa, and more than 100 are part of the event’s Impact programme, which focuses on tech for good. Almost one third of attending startups are founded by women.
“ThecohortofstartupsatourinauguralWebSummitQataristhemostglobalandgender-diverse we’veeverhad.ThisisatestamenttothemassiveenergyaroundfoundersandtechintheMiddle Eastandbeyond.WebSummitQatarwilldrawthousandsoftop-tierentrepreneurs,partnersand tradedelegationsfromallovertheworld,creatingtremendousopportunitiesforconnectionswith theregion.Itwillbeatrulyglobalevent,” says Web Summit CEO Katherine Maher.
500 investors from some of the largest funds in the world will meet startups and peers. Peak XV managing director GV Ravishankar, Global Ventures founder Noor Sweid, 500 Global’s Christine Tsai and Khailee Ng, Invest Qatar’s Ali Alwaleed Al-Thani, and more from Northzone, B Capital, APAX Partners and TechStars, will explore the investment opportunities in one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
At Web Summit Qatar, stars such as Emmy-winning South African comedian Trevor Noah and Bollywood actress and singer Nora Fatehi will join WPP CEO Mark Read, Whoop CEO Will Ahmed, astronaut and Deep Space Initiative founder Sara Sabry, Replit co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad, Builder.ai founder and chief wizard Sachin Dev Duggal, soccer legends Patrice Evra, John Obi Mikel and Gilberto Silva, and Tabby co-founder and CEO Hosam Arab.
Big tech partners – including Microsoft, Snap, Qatar Investment Authority, Deloitte and Palo Alto Networks – will be exhibiting on the sold-out event floor. Trade delegations from countries including Canada, Türkiye, Bahrain, Pakistan, Nigeria and Kenya will be attending Web Summit Qatar to explore business opportunities in the Middle East.
The women in tech programme – which, with its commitment to balancing gender in the tech sector, runs across all Web Summit events – is also sold out. The Women in Tech Lounge will welcome organisations including Women of Qatar and Women Techmakers, along with thousands of women in tech attendees from all over the world.
The Doha event joins the company’s global roster alongside flagship event Web Summit, which draws 71,000 attendees to Lisbon each November; North America’s fastest growing tech event, Collision, in Toronto; and Web Summit Rio, which will take place in 2024 for the second time.
Web Summit Qatar will take place at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center DECC from Feburary 26 29, 2024.
About Web Summit
Web Summit runs the world’s largest technology events, connecting people and ideas that change the world. Web Summit events – Web Summit in Lisbon, Web Summit Rio in South America, Collision in North America, RISE in Asia, and Web Summit Qatar in the Middle East – have gathered half a million people since Web Summit’s beginnings as a 150-person conference in Dublin in 2009.
Web Summit’s mission has been to create software that enables meaningful connections between the CEOs, founders, investors, members of the media, politicians and cultural icons who are reshaping the world.
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”.
Useful links
Web Summit website: https://websummit.com
Web Summit Qatar website: www.qatar.websummit.com
About Web Summit: www.about.websummit.com
Web Summit Qatar Twitter: https://twitter.com/websummitqatar
Web Summit Qatar TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@websummitqatar
Web Summit Qatar Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebSummitQatar
Web Summit Qatar Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/web-summit-qatar
Web Summit Qatar YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@websummitqatar
Web Summit Qatar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/websummitqatar/ comms@websummit.com
