The ongoing Web Summit Qatar 2024 has welcomed 15,435 attendees from 118 countries to its inaugural event in the Middle East. With as many as 1,043 startups from 81 countries – the largest gathering of startups ever in the region, the historic event runs until Thursday at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.The event that will serve as a pivotal force for innovation in the region, enabling the people who are reshaping the world to connect, is being attended by 401 investors from 46 countries, 380 speakers and 148 partners exhibiting on the event floor, including Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Qatar Investment Authority.A salient feature of Web Summit Qatar 2024 is that 37% are women attendees, 30% are women speakers, 31% are women-founded startups. The startups showcasing their vision on the event floor were selected out of nearly 10,000 applicants.Among the attending startups, 10% come from Qatar, 20% from Africa and 50% from the wider Mena region.A highlight is that 10% of startups have joined through Web Summit Qatar’s Impact programme, which focuses on tech for good. A total of 358 startups will take part in 42 Mentor Hours sessions during the event, learning fromand connecting with leading entrepreneurs in the industry.Participating startups will also have the opportunity to take part in Web Summit Qatar’s PITCH competition, powered by Jusour, which brings together the world’s leading early-stage startups to go head-to-head on stage in front of globally-renowned investors.The 401 investors include some of the largest funds in the world, attending to explore investment opportunities in one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and meet the next generation of startups. Investors at the event include Peak XV managing director G V Ravishankar, Global Ventures founder Noor Sweid, 500 Global’s Christine Tsai and Khailee Ng, and Invest Qatar’s Ali Alwaleed al-Thani.As many as 896 members of the media are attending Web Summit Qatar 2024 which has trade delegations from countries including Canada, Türkiye, Bahrain, Pakistan, Nigeria and Kenya exploring business opportunities in the Middle East.Also taking part in the event are six community partners – groups that support and prioritise underrepresented people across the technology industry.Web Summit runs the world’s largest technology events. Web Summit in Lisbon, Web Summit Rio in South America, Collision in North America, RISE in Asia, and Web Summit Qatar 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.
February 27, 2024 | 11:20 PM