Web Summit 2026: The Complete Guide to Dates, Tickets, Speakers, and Booking More Meetings in Lisbon

Web Summit says 24% of its attendees are CEOs or founders, 19% are C-suite, VP, or director level, and 58% hold leadership positions. In 2025, 40% of the startups at the event were women-founded.

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Who's speaking at Web Summit 2026?

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Web Summit 2026 speakers announced on the official site so far include:

• Michele Catasta, President of Replit
• Richard Socher, Co-founder and CEO of Recursive and You.com
• Tao Zhang, Co-founder and CPO of Manus AI
• Li Chen, Co-founder of Unitree
• Fei Xu, CMO of Xiaomi Group
• Leo Haojun Wang, Co-founder and CFO of Pony.ai
• Alan Shen, MD Global at MiniMax
• Dahai Li, Co-founder and CEO of ModelBest
• Ling Ge, Chief Investment and Strategy Officer (EMEA) at Tencent
• Samar Abbas, Co-founder of Temporal, on the AI Summit stage

Two humanoid robots are on the speaker list too: AgiBot's A3 and Galbot's G1. Yes, really. The 2026 lineup leans hard into robotics and Chinese AI companies, which is a noticeable change from earlier years.

Past Web Summit stages have hosted Sam Altman, Geoffrey Hinton, Elon Musk, Brad Smith of Microsoft, Michelle Zatlyn of Cloudflare, Anton Osika of Lovable, Ursula von der Leyen, and António Guterres. Speakers are still being added, so check the official speakers page before you lock your schedule.

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How much does Web Summit 2026 cost?

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A general attendee ticket for Web Summit 2026 costs €1,295 including sales tax at the time of writing, down from a listed €1,595. Web Summit raises prices as the event gets closer, so the number only goes one way.

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Prices excluding tax: General €1,053, VIP €1,585, Chairperson €20,285. Book through the official tickets page.

Here's the bit most people miss. The two ticket perks that matter most for business are the searchable attendee list and the downloadable contact file. Both come with a general ticket. They tell you exactly who'll be in Lisbon. They don't get a single one of those people to agree to meet you. That part's on you, and it's what the rest of this guide is about.

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How do you get a free or cheaper Web Summit ticket?

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There are two official ways to get a free Web Summit ticket: volunteer and work shifts during the event, or apply for an investor ticket if you invest professionally. Journalists can apply for media accreditation instead of paying.

For everyone else, the cheapest route is buying early, since prices climb toward November, or asking Web Summit's sales team about group pricing if three or more people from your company are going.

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Is Web Summit worth it?

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Web Summit is worth it if you go with a goal and a meeting plan. Founders raising money, companies selling to a broad tech audience, and teams that arrive with meetings already booked get the most out of it. Teams that plan to walk the floor and hope usually come home disappointed.

Web Summit is worth it if:

• You sell to founders, startups, or enterprise buyers across many industries
• You're raising and want hundreds of investors in one building
• You'll use the attendee list to pre-book meetings
• Someone on your team owns follow-up within hours, not weeks

Web Summit is probably not worth it if:

• Your buyer is one specialist role with its own dedicated conference
• Nobody owns follow-up after Lisbon
• You'll judge success by badge scans instead of meetings and pipeline

The ticket type matters a lot less than the plan.

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How do you build relationships at Web Summit that turn into pipeline?

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You build relationships at Web Summit that turn into pipeline by treating every conversation as part of an account relationship your company already has or is starting, not as a one-off lead. Most people in Lisbon aren't there to take sales meetings. They're there to meet people, learn, and see what's new. The teams that get pipeline out of Web Summit are the ones still in a real conversation with those people months later.

That's what relationship infrastructure means in practice, and it's what Knock AI is built for: one connected picture of who each person is, what they mean to your company, and what should happen next, across every channel and every teammate. Here's how it works at an event.

1. Map who you already know before you fly

Start with your existing relationships, not the attendee list. Your warmest Web Summit meetings are usually hiding in your own network: a prospect your sales lead worked with at a previous company, a decision maker who knows one of your customers, or a former champion who just moved to a target account. Knock AI's Private Relationship Graph can surface those paths by connecting your CRM history, your team's relationships, your customers, and past conversations. Cross that with the attendee list and you know who to book first.

2. Prioritize accounts by coverage, not by headcount

An account where you already know three of six decision makers needs a different plan from an account where you know nobody. Before Lisbon, check your relationship coverage at each target account: who you've met, who influences the deal, and which roles are still missing. Then use Web Summit to fill those gaps instead of collecting random new contacts. It's the same thinking behind combining speed-to-lead with ABM.

3. Send the teammate who has the relationship

The best person to meet a prospect at Web Summit is whoever already knows them or their company. Knock can route a conversation to the rep with the strongest existing relationship, not just the next available rep, so a warm introduction happens in person instead of getting lost in a round-robin.

4. Capture context, not just a contact

A five-minute chat in Lisbon only matters if the next person who talks to that prospect knows what was said. Knock treats offline engagement as part of the relationship history, alongside LinkedIn, Slack, WhatsApp, email, meetings, and website visits. So when the prospect replies a week later, your rep and your AI agent pick up the conversation instead of restarting discovery.

That history also changes the follow-up. An existing customer, a former champion now at a target account, and a brand-new prospect you met at Night Summit shouldn't get the same message after Web Summit.

5. Keep one thread, on the channel they chose

Relationships stall when every touchpoint starts from zero. Keep the conversation in one thread on the channel the prospect picked, whether that's LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or Slack, and hand it between people without losing context. Our one-thread handoff playbook covers how to do that across marketing, sales, and AI agents.

6. Measure relationships gained, then act when intent returns

Judge Web Summit by how much relationship coverage you gained at target accounts, not by badge scans. Then watch for the moment someone you met starts showing interest again. People change jobs, new decision makers join buying committees, and a founder you met in Lisbon might start researching your category in March. Knock's graph keeps updating as new conversations, meetings, and job changes come in, and Knock Intent shows when an account heats up, so your team reaches out with the full history instead of a cold email.

Relationships come first. Meetings are what good relationships produce, and the next section covers how to book them.

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How do you book more meetings at Web Summit?

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You book more meetings at Web Summit by starting conversations before Lisbon, ending every in-person chat with a booked slot or an open message thread, and following up inside that same thread. Collecting contacts and emailing them a week later is the approach that fails.

Why does it fail? Look at what happens to normal inbound. At Knock AI, we studied a year of website, chat, form, meeting, and deal data across 90+ B2B software companies for our October 2026 report, The Anonymous Buyer. We found that 93% of demo and contact form submissions never turned into a meeting, reply, or conversation within 90 days. An event contact who gets a cold email the week after is in the same spot: a name on a list, waiting for a follow-up they won't answer.

The same research points at the fix. Buyers offered a conversation as the next step followed through 7.5x more often than buyers sent to a form (42% vs 5% at the median company). So the goal at Web Summit isn't to collect people. It's to start talking to them while you're still in the same building.

The steps below turn those relationships into booked meetings. They follow the approach in our events playbook: every event touchpoint is the start of a direct relationship, not a lead record.

Before Web Summit: start the relationship early

1. Pick your targets from the attendee list. Filter the searchable attendee list down to companies and roles that fit your ICP. Fifty right people beat five hundred random ones.
2. Make one booking link per purpose. Create a dedicated Web Summit link tagged with the event as its channel, so every meeting is attributed to Lisbon in your CRM. Knock Scheduling checks each buyer against your rules before showing a slot, and this guide to creating scheduling links walks through setup.
3. Set availability to Lisbon time. Add a temporary availability period for November 9 to 12 in the Lisbon time zone, so prospects only see slots when your reps are actually on site.
4. Word your invite as a chat, not a demo. In our data, "Chat" and "Ask a question" CTAs converted at 37% versus 17% for "Book a demo". At a conference, "Grab 15 minutes at Web Summit?" works far better than "Book a demo."
5. Start talking the moment someone books. A booking with zero contact until the meeting is a likely no-show. Automated LinkedIn outreach sends a personal message from the assigned rep as soon as a qualified prospect books, asking what they want to cover. That's how you stop chasing no-shows.

During Web Summit: turn every conversation into a next step

1. Give every rep a QR code. Each rep's personal meeting and chat links can show as a QR code at the end of any hallway chat. The Knock Sales Card puts those links on a digital business card that also lives in Apple or Google Wallet. If you just want one for yourself, the free Knock Personal Card does the job.
2. Put one event card on everything you hand out. A Marketing Card is a mobile-first page with your pitch, content, a chat button, and a booking button. Print its QR on swag, slides, and printed materials. It replaces an event landing page and takes minutes to build.
3. Reply fast, especially at night. Speed decides deals, and buyer intent is highest in the moment it shows up. Our data shows buyers who got a reply in under a minute became deals 2.6x as often as buyers who waited 4+ hours (13.2% vs 5.2%). And mobile buyers convert most around 9pm, which is right when Night Summit is busiest.
4. Let AI cover the volume, and humans cover the money. You can't staff every DM at 11pm. The Knock AI Agent answers, qualifies, and books when your team is busy. In our data, humans stepped in on 3 of 4 pricing and demo conversations, so set the agent to hand off the moment the price comes up.
5. Plan for bad Wi-Fi. Knock captures the prospect's email the moment it's typed, so a dropped connection halfway through booking doesn't lose the lead.

After Web Summit: continue, don't restart

1. Follow up in the same thread. Someone who chatted or booked through Knock keeps talking to your rep on LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or Slack. No cold "great to meet you" email from a stranger. We at Knock AI call this DM selling, and it's built for exactly this moment.
2. Work the 30-day window. In our research, 98% of form-to-conversation connections that happened at all came within 30 days. After a month, the lead is gone. Treat Web Summit follow-up the same way.
3. Show up on more than one channel. Buyers who came in through two or more channels were 6.8x more likely to end up on a deal. Meet them in Lisbon, then keep the thread going on LinkedIn or WhatsApp.
4. Measure it like a channel. Filter your reporting to the Events medium to see which rep, touchpoint, and audience produced meetings and pipeline. The attribution analysis guide shows where.

The full setup is in the Knock AI for Events playbook, and the event pipeline how-to guide covers the same motion for any conference.

Going to Web Summit with your team? Set up your Web Summit card and booking links with Knock before you fly. It takes minutes, and you'll land in Lisbon with a way to turn every conversation into a meeting.

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What mistakes cost teams meetings at Web Summit?

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Most Web Summit teams lose meetings to the same six mistakes:

1. Arriving with an empty calendar. Walk-up meetings happen, but pre-booked ones are the ones that show up.
2. Putting "Book a demo" on the QR code. Nobody at a conference wants a demo from a stranger. Offer a chat or a quick question.
3. Scanning badges and calling it pipeline. A badge scan is a name on a spreadsheet. Nothing has started.
4. Sending the follow-up a week later. By then your prospect has had 300 other conversations and an inbox full of the same email.
5. Forgetting the time zone. US-based booking links showing Boston slots to someone standing in Lisbon will get you zero bookings.
6. Only meeting one person per account. Enterprise deals involve buying committees. Our data shows enterprise accounts send around 10 identified people to a vendor's site versus under 2 for SMB. A card someone can forward to their colleagues does work a business card can't.

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Which lead capture method works best at Web Summit?

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Knock AI works across website chat, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, and in-person events. So the person who scans your QR at Web Summit is the same person your rep sees when they reply on LinkedIn a week later, with the whole conversation attached. Real-time enrichment fills in their role and company, and Knock Routing sends them to the rep who owns the account. If your team is still deciding whether it needs more SDRs to handle event follow-up, read how to book more sales meetings without hiring more SDRs first.

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FAQs

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What does Web Summit do?

Web Summit is a company that runs technology conferences. Its flagship event happens in Lisbon every November, and it also runs Web Summit Rio, Web Summit Qatar, Web Summit Vancouver, and RISE in Asia. The events bring together startups, investors, enterprise companies, and media through talks, an exhibition floor, investor meetings, and evening networking.

Is the Web Summit worth it?

Web Summit is worth it if you go with a clear goal and pre-booked meetings. Founders, investors, and companies selling to a broad tech market get the most from it. Teams with no meeting plan and no follow-up system usually come home with contacts that never become pipeline. Knock AI closes that gap by turning each conversation into a booked meeting or an open chat thread with the right rep.

Where is the Web Summit 2026?

Web Summit 2026 is in Lisbon, Portugal, at MEO Arena and the FIL exhibition centre in Parque das Nações. It runs November 9 to 12, 2026, with opening night on November 9.

How long is Web Summit?

Web Summit runs for four days. In 2026 that's Monday, November 9 (opening night) through Thursday, November 12, with the main conference days on November 10, 11, and 12.

How many people attend Web Summit?

Web Summit expects more than 70,000 attendees and over 1,500 investors in Lisbon, which makes it one of the largest tech conferences in Europe.

How much does Web Summit cost?

A Web Summit 2026 general attendee ticket costs €1,295 including sales tax at the time of writing. VIP costs €1,950, Chairperson costs €24,950, and Platinum Investor costs €1,950. Approved investors and volunteers attend for free, and prices rise as the event gets closer.

What are the different types of tickets available for the Web Summit?

Web Summit 2026 sells General attendee, VIP, and Chairperson tickets, plus Investor and Platinum Investor tickets for investors. There are also group tickets, volunteer places, media accreditation, and a startup programme, which is sold out for 2026.

How to get a free ticket to Web Summit?

You can get a free Web Summit ticket by applying to volunteer or, if you're a professional investor, by applying for an investor ticket. Journalists can apply for media accreditation. Web Summit also runs a Women in Tech ticket allocation, which is sold out for 2026.

Who is the owner of Web Summit?

Web Summit is a privately held Irish company led by co-founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave. He co-founded it with David Kelly and Daire Hickey. Cosgrave stepped down as CEO in October 2023 and returned to the role in April 2024.

Why did Web Summit leave Ireland?

Web Summit left Dublin because its organizers said the city couldn't handle the event's growth without government help on traffic, public transport, hotel prices, and Wi-Fi. Connectivity problems at the 2014 Dublin event were widely reported. Web Summit announced the move in 2015 and held its first Lisbon edition in 2016. In 2018 it signed a 10-year deal with the Portuguese government worth €11 million a year to stay in Lisbon until 2028.

What is Night Summit?

Night Summit is Web Summit's evening networking program. It includes speed networking, dedicated meetup spaces, the Networking Garden, and events around Lisbon, and it's included in the general attendee ticket.

How do I network at Web Summit?

Network at Web Summit by pre-booking meetings from the attendee list, joining small Meetups instead of only big keynotes, and going to Night Summit. End every good conversation with a concrete next step, like a booked slot or a chat thread, rather than a business card. A QR code that opens your booking link or a chat with you makes that step take five seconds.

How do you build relationships at Web Summit that last?

Build lasting relationships at Web Summit by meeting people you already have a path to, capturing what each conversation was about, and keeping the follow-up in one thread on the channel they chose. Track relationship coverage at your target accounts instead of badge scans, and reach out again when someone shows new intent. Knock AI connects your CRM history, your team's network, and every event conversation into one relationship graph, so the relationship never restarts from zero.

How do I book meetings at Web Summit?

Book meetings at Web Summit by sending targets from the attendee list a dedicated scheduling link before the event, then using personal QR codes on the floor to turn conversations into booked slots. Knock AI handles both, routes each booking to the right rep, and starts a LinkedIn conversation as soon as someone books.

What's the best way to capture leads at Web Summit without a booth?

The best way to capture leads at Web Summit without a booth is a digital card or QR code that opens a chat or booking page on the other person's phone. Exhibition space for 2026 is sold out, so most teams will be working the floor, Meetups, and Night Summit instead. A Knock Marketing Card or Sales Card captures the contact, enriches it, and syncs it to the CRM with no booth hardware.

What should a sales team bring to Web Summit?

A sales team should bring a target list built from the attendee list, a dedicated Web Summit booking link set to Lisbon time, a QR code for every rep, one event card for swag and printed materials, and a plan for who replies to messages after hours. Chargers help too.

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The one thing to remember about Web Summit

The question isn't how many people you'll meet in Lisbon.

It's how many of them will still be talking to you on November 13.

Get your Web Summit card and booking links ready with Knock AI, or chat with the Knock team on Slack if you want help setting it up before November 9.