by Kimi Lim
DUBLIN – From November 3 to 5, the tech world descends upon Dublin for three days of intense networking, illuminating talks and the widest array of startups for WebSummit. One of the world’s largest tech conferences, WebSummit 2015 is expected to attract 42,000 attendees from around the world after a modest start of 400 people attending the first ever WebSummit in 2010.
Founder Paddy Cosgrave emphasized in the opening remarks that it was all about meeting people and sharing ideas, saying that “Networking is what makes the web summit ultimately magical. Create as many relationships and meet as many people as possible.” This is a piece of advice that many startups have taken to heart after the most infamous success story of WebSummit being that of transport giant Uber. Uber founder Travis Kalanick raised 37 million USD in investment after talking to Scott Stanford, co-founder of Sherpa Ventures in a nearby pub in 2011.
Aside from helping startups gain exposure and investment, the conference also hosts talks throughout the three days. 1000 different speakers are scheduled across 21 different summits covering topics such as sport, marketing, money, enterprise, startups, fashion and more. The speakers include founders and representatives from companies such as Instagram, Oculus Rift, Tinder, Pixar and Microsoft. Other notable speakers include author Dan Brown, footballer Rio Ferdinand and DJ/Musician Steve Angello.
After four years in Dublin, WebSummit 2016 will be happening in Lisbon, Portugal on November 8-10 next year. For more information, visit https://websummit.net/.
