How many startups exhibit at Web Summit 2026, and how much do they raise?
Published · Updated · 7 min read
Key takeaways
- Web Summit 2025 hosted a record 2,725 exhibiting startups from 108 countries, with AI and machine learning the largest category.
- Nearly 200 startups from the 2024 startup programme raised $715.5 million in the following year, according to the Web Summit x Crunchbase report.
- AI and machine learning startups raised $334.6 million of that total, up 360% on the year before.
- Web Summit says PITCH winners have raised a combined $1.5 billion since 2013.
How many startups exhibit at Web Summit 2026, and how much do they raise?
The reference figure is 2,725: that is how many startups from 108 countries exhibited at Web Summit 2025, a record, and the 2026 exhibition space in Lisbon (9 to 12 November) is reported to have sold out. On money, the latest Web Summit x Crunchbase report found that nearly 200 startups from the 2024 programme raised $715.5 million in the year after attending.
What does the exhibitor base look like in numbers?
The 2026 figure available so far is qualitative (a sold-out floor), so this report uses the 2025 edition as the baseline.
| Metric | Figure | Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Exhibiting startups | 2,725 (record) | 2025 |
| Countries represented | 108 | 2025 |
| Largest category | AI and machine learning, nearly 1 in 5 startups | 2025 |
| Startups with at least one woman founder | 40% | 2025 |
| Exhibition space | Reported sold out | 2026 |
Behind AI and machine learning, the rest of the 2025 top five was:
- SaaS
- Healthtech and wellness
- Fintech
- Sustainability
Two caveats apply to any headcount. Most startups exhibit on a single assigned day, so the floor changes from one day to the next. And line-ups shift until the last minute, so the Web Summit app is the place to confirm who is on the floor and when.
How are exhibitors split into ALPHA, BETA and GROWTH?
Web Summit sorts startups by stage. The markers below come from its recent startup programme materials; exact funding thresholds can vary between events.
| Stage | Profile | Funding marker |
|---|---|---|
| ALPHA | Early stage, just starting to build | Earliest stage |
| BETA | Funded startups | Raised no more than $5 million |
| GROWTH | Larger companies | Raised more than $5 million; revenue and team size also weighed |
The same labels work as filters in the app, which is the quickest way to cut thousands of booths down to a shortlist before arriving.
How much do startups raise after Web Summit?
The Web Summit x Crunchbase funding report 2025 tracked companies that attended the 2024 edition through the following year.
| Group (2024 attendees) | Raised in the following year |
|---|---|
| Nearly 200 startups from the startup programme | $715.5 million |
| AI and machine learning startups in that group | $334.6 million, up 360% year on year |
| All attending companies, including speakers and partners | $128.8 billion |
AI and machine learning took $334.6 million of the $715.5 million startup total, the largest share of any category. The $128.8 billion figure measures something different: it includes every participating company, large partners among them, so it describes who attends more than what the startup floor produces.
Web Summit also names former startup attendees that became major companies: Revolut, Uber, Stripe, Adyen, Cloudflare, Datadog, GitLab, Twilio, UiPath, Rappi, Whoop, ElevenLabs and Wayve.
What is the PITCH winners' track record?
PITCH is the live startup competition, brought to you by KPMG Private Enterprise. Selected startups present to investor and industry judges across the event, and the final runs on Centre Stage. Web Summit puts the combined funding raised by PITCH winners since 2013 at $1.5 billion.
| Year | Winner | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Wayve | UK self-driving company |
| 2021 | Smartex | AI defect detection in textile production |
| 2022 | Theneo | API documentation |
| 2023 | Inspira | Brazilian legal tech using AI |
| 2024 | Intuitivo | Porto edtech digitising school assessments |
| 2025 | Granter | Lisbon startup using AI for grant applications |
Portugal holds the last two titles. Web Summit's write-up of the Granter win covers the 2025 final.
The PITCH page listed 17 selected startups for 2026 when this report was compiled: AquaX Robotics / Geneseas, Ankra, BBright, BloodFlow, Carevision, Centiloquy AGI, Corbenic AI, Datamensio, Digital Samba, Elevon.io, Emendu, Gova, Greenda, HoneyLog, Intreea, Karumi AI and Novem. The list may grow before the event.
Which partners and AI scaleups add to the count?
Startups make up most of the floor, but the 2026 partner page supplies the big names. Grouped by sector:
- AI, cloud and computing: Google Cloud, IBM (official AI Summit partner), Qualcomm, Intel, Cerebras, Elastic
- Developer and business software: Atlassian, Datadog, Replit, Twilio, Akamai, 1Password, Upwork
- Consumer platforms and devices: Apple, Meta, TikTok, Spotify, Booking.com, Lenovo
Replit is the one with a valuation attached: Web Summit describes it as valued at $9 billion, and its president, Michele Catasta, is speaking.
The speakers page adds a group of fast-growing AI and robotics companies, many of them Chinese:
| Segment | Company | Listed speaker |
|---|---|---|
| General-purpose AI agent | Manus AI | Tao Zhang, co-founder and CPO |
| Language, video and voice models | MiniMax | Alan Shen, MD Global |
| Compact models | ModelBest | Dahai Li, co-founder and CEO |
| Quadruped and humanoid robots | Unitree | Li Chen, co-founder |
| Humanoid robots | AgiBot | William Shi, president for Europe and the Americas |
| General-purpose robots | Galbot | Yuli Zhao, CSO |
| Robotaxis | Pony.ai | Leo Haojun Wang, co-founder and CFO |
| Flying cars | Xpeng Aridge | Deli Zhao, founder and president (Centre Stage, 10 November) |
| AR glasses | Rokid | Irene Long, CSO |
Where do Portuguese startups fit?
With two straight PITCH wins for Portugal, the host ecosystem gets attention. Six Portuguese AI startups in this year's ALPHA programme:
- Arsia Labs: compliance layer for AI agents, built around rules such as the EU AI Act and GDPR
- ByChat: AI FinOps, tracking and cutting AI and cloud spend
- Concha AI: decision-control layer for work delegated to AI
- Flowzi: connects company systems so AI can run operational work
- Ottex: meeting notetaker and dictation for strict data-residency needs
- Sentinela: control system for AI customer service
The featured startups page shows the same tilt: AI and machine learning is by far its most common category, with names including GetVocal AI, Polygraf AI, Melious AI, Acrab AI, AlixLabs and Primitive.
Where is MarkGrid on the floor?
MarkGrid, which publishes this site, is one of the 2026 exhibitors. It is showing Model Share, a measure of how often ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot recommend a brand over its competitors, at Booth B2-14 in Pavilion 2 on Thursday 12 November. The company-by-company rundown is in the full guide on MarkGrid, and booth details are in MarkGrid's Web Summit 2026 briefing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many startups exhibit at Web Summit?
The 2025 edition had a record 2,725 exhibiting startups from 108 countries. For 2026, the exhibition space is reported to have sold out; check the Web Summit app for the current exhibitor list.
What do ALPHA, BETA and GROWTH mean at Web Summit?
They are startup stages. ALPHA covers early-stage startups that are just starting to build, BETA covers startups that have raised no more than $5 million, and GROWTH covers companies that have raised more than $5 million, with revenue and team size also considered. Thresholds can vary from event to event.
How much do Web Summit startups raise after the event?
According to the 2025 Web Summit x Crunchbase report, nearly 200 startups from the 2024 programme raised $715.5 million in the following year. AI and machine learning startups raised $334.6 million of that, up 360% on the year before.
Who won PITCH at Web Summit 2025?
Granter, a Lisbon startup that uses AI to help companies find and apply for grants. It was the second Portuguese winner in a row, after Porto edtech company Intuitivo in 2024.
Do startups exhibit on every day of Web Summit?
Usually not. Most startups in the programme exhibit on one assigned day, so confirm the day in the Web Summit app before planning a visit.
Sources
Cite this article
AI Citation Report Editors. (2026, November 2). How many startups exhibit at Web Summit 2026, and how much do they raise? AI Citation Report. https://www.aicitationreport.blog/blog/web-summit-2026-exhibitor-count-stages-funding-data/