The Epic Return of Web Summit 2023

The much-awaited Web Summit 2023 is finally here! The event, which will focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), kicked off today, 13th of November, and will run until the 16th of the same month at the FIL (Feira Internacional de Lisboa) in Lisbon, Portugal.

This year, the event has a new CEO, Katherine Maher, former CEO of Wikipedia. With 2,600 start-ups participating, this year's Web Summit boasts of the highest number of start-ups joining the event so far. 115 of these start-ups are from Portugal, representing the host country. 

The event is also expecting 70,000 visitors, including 900 investors, 2,000 confirmed media, 300 associates, and 800 speakers. Notably, these participants come from 160 different countries and 42% of these participants are women.

The main topic of discussion at this year's event is AI and its impact on various aspects of society. This event has taken place in Portugal since 2016, this year represents the 8th edition. The Portuguese government announced a 10-year partnership with Web Summit in 2018, which means this event will continue to take place in Lisbon until 2028.

It's worth noting that this year's event is happening at a time of political instability in Portugal. Former CEO Paddy Cosgrave resigned over a controversy stemming from a personal opinion he shared on social network X about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Despite these issues, the organizers are confident that this year's edition will be a great success.