Highlights: Web Summit Qatar Welcomes Over 15,000+ Attendees to Doha

Web Summit, one of the world’s largest technology conferences/gathering in April last year announced its expansion into the Middle East —expanding on the company’s already established presence in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia. The Web Summit Qatar will provide new opportunities to connect the tech world in growing Middle East, Africa, and Indian ecosystems.

The company is holding its first-ever summit in the Middle East — in Doha, the Capital of Qatar and it has gathered over 15,000+ attendees including government officials, entrepreneurs, investors, startups, the media, and the next generation of leaders reshaping the world, to mention a few.

“We host the Web Summit Qatar 2024 for the first time in the Middle East, which comes in line with Qatar’s National Strategy to advance our technology ecosystem,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Than, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Qatar said at the launch of the event on Monday. “This confirms the country’s position as a promising regional destination for the technology & investment sectors.”

Web Summit CEO Ms. Katherine Maher at the launch event noted that over the last few years, they noticed a growing presence from the Middle East at Web Summit events —which led to the company considering holding an event in the Middle East.

“Dynamic founders, investors, and entrepreneurs from the region were contributing to our events in such a meaningful way, that we knew that it was time for us to bring an event here,” said Maher.

After receiving bids from several cities across the Middle East, Web Summit selected Doha as the new event’s host city for the next five years. The summit plans to deepen its existing relationships in the region through Web Summit Qatar.

“Web Summit Qatar represents a brand new opportunity to connect a new generation of entrepreneurs, investors, and changemakers,” said Maher.

Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor Al Thani, Director of the Government Communications Office and Chairman of the Web Summit Qatar 2024 Organising Committee, said, “Hosting Web Summit Qatar signifies a milestone in our nation’s ongoing journey to forge the future, showcasing Qatar’s growing status as a place where people, ideas, and inspiration come together to envision the next digital revolution.”

He noted that the tremendous turnout of attendees demonstrates the high demand for such events in the region, and Qatar is a potential hub for SMEs and innovators.

On its very first day, Web Summit Qatar set records in Web Summit history including the biggest startup participation in a first-year edition and the largest presence of startups from Africa.

“With such a strong start, Web Summit Qatar is poised to be the next spot for technological leaps to take place,” said Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor Al Thani.

In numbers

• 15,453 attendees from 118 countries.
• 1,043 startups, the largest gathering of startups ever in the Middle East — were selected from 81 countries to showcase their visions and innovative solutions to attendees including potential investors.
• 10 percent of attending startups come from Qatar, 20 percent from Africa, and 50 percent from the wider MENA region.
• 10 percent of startups joined the event through Web Summit Qatar’s Impact program, which focuses on tech for good.
• 358 startups will take part in 42 Mentor Hours sessions during the event, learning from and connecting with leading entrepreneurs in the industry.
• 401 investors are coming from 46 countries. Investors include Peak XV Managing Director; GV Ravishankar, Global Ventures Founder Noor Sweid, Founding Partner & CEO of 500 Global; Christine Tsai, Managing Partner at 500 Global; Khailee Ng, and Invest Qatar’s Ali Alwaleed Al-Thani, to mention a few.
• 380 speakers including; H.E. Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Trevor Noah, Nora Fatehi, Mark Read, Will Ahmed, Jonathan Ross, Sara Sabry, Amjad Masad, Sachin Dev Duggal, Patrice Evra, John Obi Mikel, Gilberto Silva, and Hosam Arab, among others.
• 148 partners exhibiting on the event floor, including Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, Snap, Shell, Deloitte, Palo Alto Networks, and Qatar Investment Authority, to mention a few.
• 37 percent women attendees, 30 percent women speakers, and 31 percent women-founded startups

Qatar announces USD$1bn investment in international and regional VC funds

During his opening remarks at Web Summit Qatar 2024, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced Qatar’s first-ever venture capital Fund of Funds program, which will invest USD$1 billion in international and regional venture capital funds. Led by the Qatar Investment Authority, the initiative aims to foster innovation and boost the tech ecosystem in the country. In addition, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also emphasized that as technological innovations rapidly advance, it is a collective duty to ensure this progress serves the greater good by balancing innovation with ethical principles and guiding progress with moral wisdom for the benefit of all.

US-based Breshna wins Web Summit Qatar PITCH

Breshna was named winner of Web Summit Qatar’s startup competition, seeing off dozens of international businesses to secure the top prize in PITCH, powered by Jusour. The no-code game development platform impressed the judges, seeing off competition from Uzbekistan and the UK on the final day.

Breshna aims to empower users to create, share, and monetize their video games without prior coding or game design knowledge. The platform provides its network of 175,000 users with a game-maker editor, an AI-powered text-to-game engine, and a Web3-enabled metaverse.

Hailing from Washington DC, Breshna founder and CEO Mariam Nusrat said moments like these are important in the long, hard journey of a founder: “This kind of visibility is really cool.”

Uzbekistan-based financial services company IMAN and UK-based healthcare solutions business Rhazes finished as runners-up.

PITCH, powered by Jusour, is Web Summit Qatar’s startup competition, that brought together the world’s leading early-stage startups for a live onstage battle. 40 of the 1,043 startups at this year’s event qualified for the three-day competition, culminating in Breshna taking the top prize.

Qatar to continue supporting African startups

While addressing the press and commenting on the participation of African startups at the 2024 Web Summit Qatar, H.E. Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Mannai, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology at the Government of Qatar applauded the participation of the startups and also stated that their government will continue to support African startups and that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has specific plans for that.

He noted that most if not all the African startups that participated at the summit resulted as part of the network key from their “African Colleagues” during the Qatar-Africa forum.

With 1,043 startups participating at the Web Summit Qatar 2024, 200 startups were African.

Katherine Maher’s last day in office as Web Summit CEO

While officially closing the 2024 Qatar Web Summit, Katherine Maher announced that she will no longer be the CEO of Web Summit. Maher announced that she will be taking on the position of CEO of NPR starting in late March.

“I’m delighted to announce that I will be taking up the position of CEO of NPR starting in late March. NPR has been a lifelong part of my soundscape, and I credit its reporting with sparking my curiosity that set me onto the path to become the person I am today,” said Maher.

Maher was appointed as the CEO of Web Summit on October 30th, 2023 succeeding Paddy Cosgrave who resigned just over a week ago, following a backlash over comments he made about the Israel-Gaza conflict. The board appointed her to lead the company through this period of transition.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated from the time of publication