Web Summit sees record investment in staff during 2023 amid record revenues, laying foundation for a strongly profitable 2024

Web Summit, the world’s the world’s largest tech conference according to TIME, today revealed record investment in its teams during 2023 amid record revenues – laying the foundations for its €4 million-plus profit forecast for 2024.

Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave announced last week that the firm – which runs global events in Lisbon, Doha, Rio de Janeiro and Vancouver – is forecast to record profits of €4 to 5 million for 2024. The firm also has over €35 million in cash reserves.

This year, Web Summit has hosted four sold-out events in Lisbon, Doha, Rio de Janeiro and Toronto.

Last week’s Web Summit in Lisbon was hailed by attendees as the best ever, with more than 71,000 people attending. Top speakers at Web Summit 2024 included Microsoft President Brad Smith; Qualcomm CEO and President Cristiano Amon; President of Alibaba.com Kuo Zhang; entrepreneur and artist Pharrell Williams and many more. More companies exhibited than ever before including big tech companies such as IBM; Adobe; Meta; Huawei; SAP; DELL; Qualcomm; Boehringer Ingelheim; Visa; and American Express. Other notable partners included Niantic, Pitchbook, EDP, and KPMG.

In 2023, the company hosted three major events: Web Summit in Lisbon, Collision in Toronto and the inaugural – and highly successful – Web Summit Rio in Brazil. Another major milestone for Web Summit during 2023 was the company’s successful entry into the Middle East, setting to launch Web Summit for the first time in Doha, Qatar. The sold-out first-year event, in February 2024, was the largest and most global gathering of startups ever to take place in the region. This strategic expansion has set a strong foundation for growth in the region.

The firm’s 2023 accounts, filed today with the CRO, show that overall revenue for 2023 increased by 14 percent year-on-year to a record level of €60 million. Total attendee numbers surged by 21 percent to more than 128,000. Partnerships grew by 37 percent to 725, and Web Summit saw a 58 percent increase in start-up exhibitors at its events, reaching a total of over 6,000. 

The accounts also show that the foundation for Web Summit’s rapid expansion and powerful performance into 2024 was laid during 2023, as the company invested in its team by adding nearly 50 staff – up 16 percent – to bring the total headcount to 331. This headcount expansion was also accompanied by rises in staff salaries, including promotions, while the annualisation of staff hired in 2022 also added to overall annual staffing costs.

In total, staffing costs for 2023 increased by €4.5 million compared to 2022. This significant increase of investment in its staff – a key pillar of future growth –  saw the company record EBITDA of €0.3 million and a pre-tax loss of €5.6m for 2023.

The company believes it is now optimally positioned to support its four major events moving forward. Founder and CEO at Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave said: “We cannot do Web Summit without the incredible team of more than 330 staff. Investing in growth is the lifeblood of the most successful tech companies. While it took tremendous belief in our business to commit to the increased staffing levels and wages we saw in 2023, our performance during 2024 – for which we are forecasting a profit of €4-5 million – makes that decision to aim high worth it.” 

“In 2023 we managed to reach more than 128,000 attendees in three major continents and that grew even more in 2024 with the introduction of Web Summit Qatar. We are lucky we can achieve all of this with such a talented team, at the same time as growing revenue and making significant levels of profit. In 2025 we plan to make significant new investments to lay the foundations for expansion through to 2030, including key hires in new markets,” he continued.