Web Summit should generate US$200 million (R$1 billion) in cooperation agreements for the city
Web Summit Rio 2024 is expected to generate around R$1 billion in business for the city - Fábio Motta/City of Rio
The second edition of Web Summit Rio has come to an end, attracting almost 35 thousand people (34.397) per day to the event, 61% more than the first edition, in 2023, when 21.367 people participated per day. In total, 102 countries were represented. In a market dominated by men, there was also a strong participation of women: 47,5% among the participants and 39% of the speakers and debaters. The cooperation agreements signed during the three days of the event by Invest.Rio, the Rio de Janeiro City Hall's investment promotion and attraction agency, should generate around R$1 billion (US$200 million) in business for the city, to be invested over the next four years. In addition to these amounts, the city government expects the Web Summit to generate R$1,5 billion in the city's six editions, up until 2028, according to a study by the Municipal Secretariat for Urban and Economic Development.
– The Web Summit was a success, we managed to close US$ 200 million in deals for the city. We are very pleased and excited, and we hope that next year’s edition will be even bigger than this one. We had around 35 thousand people per day at the event. I think we have the capacity to reach similar numbers to Lisbon, reaching 70 thousand, especially since we have all of Latin America wanting to contribute and coming here to our event – summarized Chicão Bulhões, municipal secretary of Urban and Economic Development.
According to the event organizers, 1.066 startups, representing 42 countries and 31 industries, passed through the halls of Riocentro. Women represented 45% of startup founders; 22% were black. Web Summit Rio also attracted 499 investors and 175 partner companies, including IBM, Huawei and Salesforce. In this second edition, 844 media outlets covered the event, which had 518 speakers.
Investments for the city of Rio
Through Invest.Rio, at least 10 cooperation agreements were signed, which should result in US$200 million in investments in the city over the next four years, with emphasis on the Unicorn Factory, which aims to attract startups from Lisbon to set up shop here, promoting the integration of ecosystems. And for Kate Capital, through the company Kate Blockchain, responsible for the tokenization of the innovation group FCJ Venture Builder.
Second edition of Web Summit Rio attracted almost 35 thousand people per day to the event – Fábio Motta/City of Rio
According to the president of Invest.Rio, Alexandre Vermeulen, the Web Summit is a unique opportunity to bring more visibility and showcase all the business potential we have in the city.
– The number of investments has at least doubled from last year to this year. We held more than 60 business meetings with investors, venture capital funds, academia and diplomatic representations for the internationalization of companies. We signed several technical cooperation agreements, which will certainly have a major economic impact. Rio de Janeiro is beautiful, with many natural beauties, but it also has many vocations such as energy, oil and gas, creative economy, health, biotechnology, climate economy and tourism. We are also on our way to becoming the innovation capital of Latin America – assessed Alexandre Vermeulen.
Startup20 helps leverage the internationalization of the Web Summit and the city
The Web Summit also hosted a meeting of the G20, the group of the world's largest economies, which will hold its summit on November 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro. Startup20 is an engagement group created in India last year. ABStartups organized the meeting in Rio, which brought together 420 participants, with delegations from 22 countries and the European Union. This was the group's second meeting this year, having been in Macapá in February. The main debates included public policies for innovation, ESG, financial regulation and fintechs, and the impacts of artificial intelligence. The president of the Rio G20 Committee celebrated the results of the meeting.
– Mayor Eduardo Paes’ idea was to include the G20 within the Web Summit with Startup20. This vision promoted greater savings in resources and synergy with this major international innovation event. The two-day meeting was a success, with a significant number of 400 participants, including representatives of companies, development agencies, and public bodies from 23 countries. Startup20 is an opportunity to debate fundamental issues on innovation and entrepreneurship and for leaders from the innovation sectors to present a statement to the government and state leaders of the world’s largest economies, who will meet at the G20 Summit in November – said Lucas Padilha.
2024 edition of Web Summit Rio had 61% larger audience than in 2023 – Fábio Motta/City of Rio
Web Summit Rio 2024 is expected to generate around R$1 billion in business for the city - Fábio Motta/City of Rio
