Web Summit's co-founder and entrepreneur Paddy Cosgrave delivers his final speech during the 2017 ... [+]
Web Summit, the renowned global technology events organization, is introducing a new flagship event in North America, set to take place in Vancouver. Scheduled for May 2025, this first Web Summit event in North America signifies a new chapter for the Dublin-based company and joins its growing list of international events.
Web Summit events – including Web Summit in Lisbon, Web Summit Rio in South America, Web Summit Qatar in the Middle East, and RISE in Asia – have gathered nearly one million people since Web Summit’s beginnings as a 150-person conference in Dublin in 2009. Its newest event, Web Summit Vancouver, will launch in May 2025, taking over from Collision in Toronto, which became the fastest-growing technology event in North America.
“We can’t wait to gather the tech world and take over the city next year. Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities with a flourishing tech community that connects the Americas, Asia, and the West Coast. The time has come to transition Collision into Web Summit. We have had the most incredible time in Toronto and are looking forward to continuing our Canadian journey in Vancouver,” says Paddy Cosgrave, founder & CEO of Web Summit.
Web Summit In Numbers
Over the past two years, Web Summit has launched three new events, including Web Summit Rio in South America, which attracted over 55,000 attendees in its initial two years, and Web Summit Qatar in the Middle East, which welcomed 15,000 attendees in its first year. The flagship Web Summit event in Lisbon is expected to draw more than 70,000 participants from over 150 countries this November. Overall, attendance at Web Summit events has surged by 51% since 2022, with their 2024 events projected to attract more than 160,000 attendees by the end of the year.
“We are now in four continents and have every intention to bring something to Africa very soon, as we continue our ambition to connect the tech world and build meaningful and lasting communities around the world”, Paddy adds.
Web Summit aims to bolster this growth further as it takes over Vancouver in May 2025. With more than 11,000 tech companies, technology has become the fastest-growing sector in the province. The tech sector is growing at twice the rate of the overall economy, and Vancouver ranks first in high-tech job growth in North America. Home to notable unicorns including Dapper Labs, Blockstream, Trulioo, LayerZero Labs, and Visier, the city also hosts major tech companies like Salesforce, Apple, and Amazon.
Vancouver is ready to welcome the world
“Vancouver is ready to welcome the world”, says Vancouver mayor Ken Sim. He continues, “We’re a young, energetic city full of opportunity. Nowhere is that more obvious than in our thriving tech scene, where we’re advancing leading-edge technology like virtual reality and augmented reality. Vancouver is attracting highly skilled people from around the world, drawn here by our lifestyle, incredible natural surroundings, and the chance to be part of something exciting.”
Web Summit Vancouver aims to build on the success of Collision, which brought CA$189 million in economic impact to Toronto over its last three in-person events (2019, 2022, 2023) and is projected to generate CA$77 million in economic impact next week. Starting next May, Web Summit Vancouver is expected to attract thousands of tech enthusiasts from around the globe and inject hundreds of millions into the local economy over the years. Destination Vancouver, the non-profit, member-led organization dedicated to supporting Vancouver's tourism industry, anticipates that Web Summit Vancouver will generate CA$172 million in direct spending and CA$279 million in overall economic impact for British Columbia over three years. Web Summit’s direct economic impact can reach up to €200 million annually in cities like Lisbon, where it hosts its flagship event. Since Web Summit’s arrival in Lisbon, the Portuguese startup economy has seen significant growth, encouraging many young startups to relocate to Lisbon and prompting major companies such as Mercedes, Revolut, and Google to open offices there.
“British Columbia has a 30-year track record of creating and advancing world-class technologies, and we want to scale up our ability to commercialize innovation and translate these successes into a sustainable competitive advantage for our provincial economy”, says the Honourable Brenda Bailey, British Columbia's Minister of Jobs, Economic Development, and Innovation (JEDI).
“Web Summit Vancouver is a transformative opportunity for the region that will create conditions for ongoing growth for years to come”, highlights the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan). He continues, “Collision has been an incredible success story for Canada’s tech ecosystem. It was exceptionally important to our government to have Web Summit stay in Canada and that Vancouver continues to build on and shape what was created in Toronto.”
The final Collision event in Toronto is expected to attract over 40,000 tech entrepreneurs from more than 130 countries. In a span of just 10 years, Collision has evolved into the fastest-growing technology event in North America.
