Web Summit organiser Paddy Cosgrave has confirmed the event will be moving to Lisbon from 2016. The announcement comes on the back of speculation that the so-called ‘Davos for Geeks’ was being courted by other European cities, with the Portuguese capital leading the field of alternatives.
Last year’s event was marred by Wi-Fi connectivity issues which saw Cosgrave publicly criticise the RDS for having insufficient capacity to service the 22,000 visitors to the three-day conference.
Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave said: “After careful consideration we have decided to host Web Summit 2016 in Lisbon. My co-founders and I started Web Summit five years ago and it has grown beyond what I had thought possible. We want it to continue to grow and for our attendees to get the best experience possible.
“We are proud of the fact that we have become an important pillar of the global start-up ecosystem and that 90% of our attendees come from abroad.
“We chose Lisbon because of the strong infrastructure in the city, the amazing venue and the thriving startup community. We look forward to working with the Lisbon community – they have been incredibly welcoming.
“Finally, I should add that we will always be grateful for the support and encouragement we received from Dublin, the Irish authorities and the Irish start-up community. We remain an Irish company employing 130 people in our HQ in Dublin. That is not going to change,” he added.
It is expected that Web Summit 2015 will attract more than 2,000 start-ups, 1,000 leading investors and 650 speakers from nearly every major technology company in the world when it returns to the RDS for the last time from 3-5 November.
Estimates put the value of the Web Summit to the local economy at €100 million.
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