African Startups Showcasing at the 2025 Web Summit in Lisbon

For many African founders, Web Summit’s cavernous halls from Lisbon to Hong Kong, Vancouver, Qatar, and Rio de Janeiro have become a seasonal proving ground: a place to test product-market fit, pitch for follow-on capital, and increasingly, to rewrite the continent’s tech narrative on its own terms.

With the Lisbon event in the pipeline, African startups are showing up with clearer objectives as they have always done. Beyond the traditional hunt for investment, founders will be looking for partnerships, pilot contracts with European corporates, and exposure to product teams that can accelerate integration and scale. The summit’s formal startup program, which highlights selected companies and arranges investor meetings and showcase slots, provides a structure that startup founders use to stretch scarce runway into tangible opportunity.

A distinguishing theme among the African startups presenting at the summit in Lisbon this year is their keen focus on AI and Machine Learning. This aligns with the broader global movement, where AI is being viewed less as a buzzword and more as the fundamental operating framework. Founders are making it clear that the period of “AI-powered Africa” is not a matter of time — it has already materialized.

Sectorally, African startups arriving in Lisbon reflect homegrown priorities. While AI and Machine Learning dominate, there’s a strong representation in fintech & financial services, e-commerce & retail, SaaS, and Sustainability & cleantech.

If Lisbon has taught African founders anything, it is that big conferences reward strategy as much as presence. The startups that leave with deals tend to be the ones who treat Web Summit as a planned campaign — targeted meetings, reinforced storytelling, and a clear ask. For many African founders, the summit is less an ending than an opening: the start of partnerships and conversations that may finally scale local innovations into global products.

Here are the African startups that will be showcasing at the Web Summit Lisbon from November 10-13, 2025, at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa and/or Altice Arena.

See also: “If You are an Investor, Invest in Women,” — Rafaela Frankenthal