Web Summit 2020: behind the numbers

45.8 percent women

A constant measure of the success of our events is the number of women attending. We’re delighted to announce that, this year, 45.8 percent of our attendees are female. We’re delighted to welcome back so many women in tech.

168 countries

One result of the move to an online event is what is potentially our most geographically diverse Web Summit yet. People from 168 countries join us this year, connecting and networking across oceans and time zones.

1,137 speakers

Browse our five channels and you’ll find a mix of world leaders, founders, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, sports stars, musicians and actors. These are people from all walks of life because, in 2020, there isn’t an industry left that hasn’t been impacted and reshaped by tech. Joining us from around the world are the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the CTO of Facebook, Mike Schroepfer, tennis star Serena Williams, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

679 talks

This year, we’re bringing you 679 talks on everything from AI to climate change to smart cities. You can search the schedule and sort it by 30 different topics to find the talks you just can’t miss. Now’s the time to plan your schedule for the week, if you haven’t already.

2,007 startups

From bootstrapped companies to unicorns in the making, you’ll find every industry represented on our startups profiles page, where you can reach out and connect with them. Make sure to catch PITCH over on Centre channel and see some of the best startups in the world pitch their hearts out.

1,145 investors

Inc. called Web Summit “the largest gathering of entrepreneurs”. This year, we have 1,145 VCs, LPs, angel investors and major funds joining us. Among them are Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Nisa Leung of Qiming Venture Partners, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, Garry Tan of Initialized Capital, and Reshma Sohoni of Seedcamp.

2,229 members of the media

Whether they’re moderating our talks, interviewing speakers or bringing the biggest stories to the rest of the world, journalists and reporters are vital to an event like ours. Check out our Fourth Estate track for discussions on an industry that has increasingly come under attack. This year, we’re delighted to welcome 2,229 journalists, editors and broadcasters to Web Summit, representing CNN, Wired, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Vox, Business Insider, Reuters, Politico, Associated Press, the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, BBC, the Financial Times, Axios and the Intercept, to name a few.

Masterclasses, roundtables and Q&As

The thing we’ve missed most about live events this year is the face-to-face conversations and chance meetings that take place every day at Web Summit. To bring people together, we’ve organised industry-focused masterclasses and roundtables, and Q&As with some of our biggest speakers. We’ve also redesigned our apps in a way that helps you create meaningful connections, adding features such as Mingle – three-minute speed-networking with people our algorithm thinks you should meet. Below is a breakdown of everything that’s happening away from the stage at Web Summit 2020.

Masterclasses: There will be 154 partner and startup masterclasses running over the three days of the event.

Roundtables: We’ll be hosting 290 roundtables on topics ranging from “self-care in a crisis” to “gaming for a better planet”.

Q&As: Always one of the most popular stages at our events, we’ll see 70 Q&As between now and Friday. This is your chance to put your burning questions to Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, Mark Cuban, and Richard Curtis.

We have a lot planned over the next three days. Keep an eye out for highlights by following #WebSummit across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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