Web Summit to stay in Lisbon for five more years

Lisbon City Council has confirmed that Web Summit is to remain in the city for the next five years.

The Mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina and the Prime Minister of Portugal confirmed that it signed an agreement with the Irish organisers of the event at 10am today (Wednesday) for the world’s largest technology summit to remain in the Portuguese capital until 2023.

It means that the summit will stay in Lisbon for a further five years although the contract has an option for renewal for a further five years if agreed by both parties.

The Mayor and Prime Minister invited the company set up to organise the event in Lisbon  – Ecossistema Empreendedor de Lisboa – to sign the contract on 3 October at 10am at the Altice Arena.

Last year the week in which Web Summit was held had an important impact on the local economy in Lisbon. Over 60,000 participated in the event, 2,250 companies from 170 countries with 12,000 tickets sold to young people aged 16-23.

The event attracted 1,300 venture capital companies, featured 1,200 speakers, 25 conferences,  employed 160 staff, accredited 2,500 journalists and made Lisbon around €300 million.

The Web Summit itself is to announce news about the event venue itself which is expected to have new infrastructures.

Lisbon beat other important European cities in the competition to host the event including Madrid, Paris, London and Berlin. The short list comprised Lisbon, Berlin, Valencia and Madrid.