WEB SUMMIT 2025
A Photographer Wanders Into a Tech Wonderland
Hey friends, welcome back to this month’s little corner of chaos. Normally, I’m talking to you about Lisbon streets, stray cats, burnout, and seasonal depression, but today we’re jumping into something different. I spent a few days inside Web Summit 2025, wandering between stages, startup booths, late-night meetups, and even a few wine tastings. I walked in curious, walked out exhausted, and learned a ton. Here’s the breakdown.
What Exactly Is Web Summit?
If you’ve never been, imagine the biggest tech fair you’ve ever seen, then multiply it until you start questioning how Wi-Fi signals even survive in there. This year’s edition broke records across the board. More than 1,857 investors showed up, marking a massive 74% jump from last year and proving the appetite for in-person deal-making is very much alive. The show floor hosted 2,725 startups representing 108 countries, with AI and machine learning taking center stage and nearly a fifth of all exhibitor space.
Lets talk about diversity: 40% of the startups were women-founded, which is still rare in the tech world but incredibly encouraging. On the stages, 869 speakers, from Toto Wolff and Maria Sharapova to leaders at Meta, Qualcomm, Runway, Lovable, and Replit, dove into everything from engineering and entrepreneurship to media, creativity, and the future of AI. Add more than 1,500 Media people (including yours truly) from many global outlets, and it felt like every corner of the world sent someone to Lisbon to witness what’s coming next.
Networking, Meetups & Night Summit
This is where Web Summit transforms from “tech conference” into “social endurance event.” With 400 curated meetups happening throughout the week, the organizers did a surprisingly good job helping people find their crowd, whether that meant content creators, women in tech, AI founders, or someone who just wanted to decompress with meditation sessions. And then there’s Night Summit, which basically turns Lisbon into a multi-neighborhood networking safari. Bars, rooftops, riverfront spots, every corner became a place to swap ideas and discover how many drinks people can squeeze in before midnight.
The Food & Wine Summit
Listen, I know everyone thinks the tech talks are the main attraction, but let’s be real: the Food & Wine Summit is dangerously compelling. Tastings, pairings, conversations about good food, all happening while you’re trying very hard not to fall asleep from your fifth keynote of the day. It’s a beautiful, delicious trap, and I happily fell into it.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I had a great time. I met amazing people, made some promising connections, and walked away with a clearer sense of where tech is heading, especially in AI and the future of media. But it was also exhausting, in that “my legs forgot what sitting feels like” kind of way. And then Storm Cláudia rolled in on the last day. Even with the rain and wind whipping through Lisbon like they were trying to start their own startup, the energy stayed high. People kept talking, learning, and hustling their way between shelters. So yes, I had a great time.
I’m tired, but I enjoyed it. And I’d absolutely do it again… after a long nap.
Until next time,
Gilby