The Web Summit Lisbon

For years I wanted to go to Web Summit in Lisbon, and this year I finally did it. When I came back, everyone kept asking the same thing: “So… was it worth it?”
Here’s everything - the good, the chaotic, the useful, and the parts I’d do differently next time.

Web Summit is truly massive. It started in Dublin, Ireland, in 2010 with a few hundred attendees. By 2015 it exploded past 40,000 people and completely outgrew Dublin. In 2016 the event moved to Lisbon, where it now welcomes more than 70,000 people from over 160 countries every single year. Lisbon simply has the space and energy to host something of this size.

Startup tickets come in two versions: Alpha (early-stage) and Beta (growing). We were selected for both and ended up choosing Alpha. Alpha cost €1,095 and Beta was €1,795. These are subsidized compared to the normal corporate exhibition packages, which easily cost €10,000 - €15,000 just for booth space. Startup packages also include three full conference passes - so overall, the pricing makes sense for what you get.

The venue - Altice Arena + FIL pavilions - is huge. Altice Arena can fit up to 20,000 people, though Web Summit configures it for around 7–8 thousand. Around it are four gigantic halls and one smaller one. You will walk more in one day than you normally walk in a week.

And then the queues start. You queue for badges. You queue for security. You queue to enter the pavilions, to get food, to go to the toilet, and even at the official parties. I once spent half an hour waiting just to order a drink, and another twenty minutes to leave my jacket - with maybe twenty people in front of me. Portugal has a relaxed rhythm, which is normally great, but less great when you're stuck in a slow-moving line while the DJ is already playing.

The central stage is impressive. It feels like a huge cinema with serious production - massive screens, lights, sound. This year I watched Hollywood actors, Scott Eastwood, the CEO of OnlyFans, and of course Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Seeing him live was a highlight. The pitch finals happen there as well, and the whole thing feels like a tech Champions League - founders pitching their dreams in front of thousands of people.

Startups can apply for the pitch contest. If selected, they go through multiple rounds on smaller stages. Judges evaluate them, winners advance, and the semifinals and finals take place on the central stage. Even watching it is inspiring - the pressure, the energy, the stories.

The Web Summit app deserves a mention because it’s genuinely excellent. But this brings me to Take 1: use the app early.
Most founders and investors arrive with a full schedule already planned days in advance. Meetings, sessions, coffee catchups - everything is arranged before they even land in Lisbon. I didn’t prepare early enough through the app, and I definitely lost some opportunities because of it.

Inside the pavilions, startups rotate daily. Around eight to nine hundred startups exhibit each day, and more than two thousand over the whole event. The booth setup is basically half a desk with your printed board above it. There is no privacy at all. You are squeezed between other startups, and if the booth next to you gets a crowd, your booth becomes invisible.

Take 2: the booth location matters more than the booth itself.
We were placed at the very end of the row, and the foot traffic there was dramatically lower. I assume this was because we registered late. If you're considering exhibiting, register early and politely ask for a central position. Even if it's random, it doesn’t hurt to try.

We chose Alpha, but because we couldn’t bring our Sculpture - which usually pulls crowds - and because our location was weak, the booth didn’t do anything meaningful for us.

Take 3: only get a booth if you have something eye-catching to demo.
If you don’t have a strong visual element, you will get more value by simply walking around, talking to people, and meeting investors outside the booth area.

Now, investors.
They are the main reason many people come to Web Summit, but the ratio of startups to investors is not in your favour - probably something like 100 to 1. Investors get thousands of messages through the app and realistically can’t answer most of them. So the best investor meetings don’t happen because of the booth or the app - they happen in real life. You meet them in coffee lines, at food stands, in random hallways, at side events, and especially at night around Lisbon.

This brings me to Take 4: your best investor meetings will happen randomly - at bars, in queues, or during unofficial meetups.
One strong opening sentence at the right moment can create more value than a full day standing at your booth.

Web Summit offers plenty of food options inside the venue - burgers, sandwiches, woks, salads - but expect to pay more than outside. Most menus are €18 - €25, which is high for Lisbon standards. So if you're on a budget, bring something with you. The good news is that water and coffee are completely free. The “Lisbon coffee” machines are everywhere, and people constantly queue for them. I don’t drink coffee, so I can’t judge it personally, but the fact that people queue so much probably means it’s good. There are water refill stations all around the venue too. And if you really want to avoid paying for food, you can walk around the booths offering free snacks and survive like that. It’s not classy, but it works.

Hotel prices during Web Summit jump dramatically. Everything - hotels, apartments, flights, even Uber - becomes more expensive during that week. This ties perfectly into Take 5: book flights and accommodation early.
You might get a better deal if you book months in advance, but surprisingly, sometimes you can also get a great last-minute discount from apartments that panicked because they didn’t get booked. It’s a gamble, but it happens.

If you're flying from Split, prepare your wallet. My colleague flew from Amsterdam and paid €70 for a return ticket. I flew from Split and paid €700 - same dates, same event, just a completely different reality. And this wasn’t business class or anything fancy.

If you can afford it, I strongly recommend staying in Lisbon’s city center. The nightlife, food, cafés, and small tascas are amazing and still relatively affordable. Lisbon really comes alive at night, and it’s worth being part of that energy after long days at the event. Just make sure your hotel or apartment is close to a metro line - ideally the Red Line (Linha Vermelha), because it takes you directly to Oriente station, which is the stop for Altice Arena and the FIL pavilions. Being close to the metro makes a huge difference after a full day of walking.

In the end, Web Summit is about people. One conversation can change your entire year. Or you can talk to 200 people and nothing will happen. For us, the value didn’t come from the booth - it came from the interactions we had outside of it, in lines, over coffee, during lunches, and across Lisbon.

Was it worth it? We will have to wait and see.