- Web Summit Qatar has sold out its first Middle Eastern event, attracting over 12,000 attendees, and marking the largest gathering of international startups in the region’s history.
- With over 1,000 startups from 80 countries, including a significant representation from Africa and a focus on tech for good, the event showcases the global and gender-diverse energy surrounding tech entrepreneurship.
- Featuring notable personalities like Trevor Noah and business leaders from major investment funds, Web Summit Qatar provides a platform for exploring investment opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.
Web Summit Qatar, the world’s largest technology conference, announced that it has officially sold out its first Middle Eastern event. This conference will host the largest-ever gathering of international startups in the region’s history.
In the next coming week, over 12,000 attendees will gather in Qatar for an event that will play a crucial role in driving innovation in the region. This gathering will facilitate connections among individuals who are actively shaping the world.
More than 1,000 startups from 80 countries, the largest and most globally diverse cohort ever gathered in the region, will connect with a new generation of investors and partners from countries such as Qatar, the US, Egypt, Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, the UK, India, and beyond. Almost 200 startups will be coming from Africa within the startup cohort, and more than 100 are part of the event’s Impact programme, focusing on tech for good. Almost one-third of attending startups are founded by women.
“Our inaugural Web Summit Qatar features the most global and gender-diverse cohort of startups yet. This reflects the immense energy surrounding founders and tech in the Middle East and beyond,” states Katherine Maher, CEO of Web Summit. She emphasises that the event will attract thousands of top-tier entrepreneurs, partners, and trade delegations from around the world, facilitating valuable connections with the region. Maher asserts that it will be a truly global event.
500 investors from some of the largest funds in the world will gather to meet startups and peers. Among them will be Peak XV managing director, GV Ravishankar, Global Ventures founder Noor Sweid, Christine Tsai and Khailee Ng from 500 Global, Ali Alwaleed Al-Thani from Invest Qatar, as well as representatives from Northzone, B Capital, APAX Partners, and TechStars. Together, they will explore investment opportunities in one of the fastest-growing markets globally.
At Web Summit Qatar, notable personalities including Emmy-winning South African comedian Trevor Noah, Bollywood actress and singer Nora Fatehi, 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, along with Tabby co-founder and CEO Hosam Arab, will participate.
Several big tech partners, such as Microsoft, Snap, Qatar Investment Authority, Deloitte, and Palo Alto Networks, will exhibit at the sold-out event floor of Web Summit Qatar. Trade delegations from countries like Canada, Turkey, Bahrain, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Kenya will attend to explore business opportunities in the Middle East.
The Women in Tech programme, dedicated to gender balance in the tech sector, is fully booked across all Web Summit events. The Women in Tech Lounge will host organizations such as Women of Qatar and Women Techmakers, as well as thousands of female tech attendees from around the globe.
The Doha event is now part of the company’s global lineup. It joins other major events like the Web Summit, held in Lisbon every November and attended by 71,000 people. Collision, the fastest-growing tech event in North America, is held in Toronto. Additionally, Web Summit Rio will take place for the second time in 2024.
The Web Summit Qatar is scheduled to occur at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) from February 26 to 29, 2024.
About Web Summit
Web Summit organizes the world’s largest technology events. These events connect people and ideas that change the world. Web Summit’s events include 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. Since its inception as a 150-person conference in Dublin in 2009, Web Summit events have brought together half a million people.
The mission of Web Summit is to develop software that facilitates meaningful connections among CEOs, founders, investors, media members, politicians, and cultural icons reshaping the world.
Forbes declares Web Summit as “the best tech conference on the planet.” Bloomberg compares it to “Davos for geeks.” Politico likens it to “the Olympics of tech.” The Guardian describes it as “Glastonbury for geeks.” According to the Financial Times, Web Summit is “the world’s largest tech conference,” while the Telegraph dubs it the “planet’s best tech conference.”
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