- Title: Web Summit helping Lisbon to 'reboot' as tech start-up hub, says founder
- Date: 5th November 2018
- Summary: LISBON, PORTUGAL (NOVEMBER 5, 2018) (REUTERS) WEB SUMMIT FOUNDER PADDY COSGRAVE ON CENTRAL STAGE / WEB SUMMIT LOGO (SOUNDBITE) (English) WEB SUMMIT FOUNDER, PADDY COSGRAVE, SAYING: " This is an amazing place to come to in November, this is a city also going through a rebirth, it's almost like...it's a startup city, it's being rebooted as a city and a country both as a city and a country and great weather great hospitality and there's a great vibrancy in the city and that's not to say that there aren't other great cities across Europe and we are incredibly flattered by all of their approaches but in the end we just think the Web Summit brand fits beautifully with Lisbon and we are glad to be here for the next 10 years." COSGRAVE DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) WEB SUMMIT FOUNDER, PADDY COSGRAVE, SAYING: " So rewind the clock almost all venture investment was going to Silicon Valley, forward to today the majority is no longer going to Silicon Valley it's going, it's finding companies located almost anywhere in the world, so if you can be located anywhere in the world companies are increasingly choosing you know nice places to work where they can attract talent to come and work with them in those locations and so you look at Lisbon I think there's a good reason Mercedes and BMW have chosen Portugal, the quality of live is incredible it's he west coast of Europe you know, it's almost the California of Europe." COSGRAVE ON CENTRAL STAGE DURING LIGHT TESTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WEB SUMMIT FOUNDER, PADDY COSGRAVE, SAYING: " Increasingly people are just setting up companies on the basis of access to talent that's why they go to Berlin over the last number of years but now you see a wave of entrepreneurs who are second time entrepreneurs who built good companies in Berlin and built interesting things in Berlin saying I should go Lisbon now cause Lisbon has a lot of what Berlin had a number of years ago plus the weather it's a hell of a lot better." CENTRAL STAGE BEFORE OPENING TELEPROMPT WITH SPEECH WEB SUMMIT CENTRAL ARENA CAMERAS ON CENTRAL ARENA COSGRAVE TALKING TO ASSISTANTS
- Embargoed: 19th November 2018 18:39
- Keywords: Web Summit helping Lisbon 'reboot' tech start-up hub founder
- Location: LISBON, PORTUGAL
- City: LISBON, PORTUGAL
- Country: Portugal
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001958CRYL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Web Summit, Europe's biggest technology conference, is helping to stoke a "reboot" of Portugal's capital city as a start-up hub as the country continues its emergence from a crippling debt crisis, the event's founder said.
The Lisbon summit has put the city on the world technology map, with various visiting businesses settling here after being lured by modern infrastructure, the local tech cadre and warm climate. Local authorities estimate that the week-long event generates about 300 million euros ($342 million) in hotel and other revenue for the city.
Founder Paddy Cosgrave signed an agreement this year to keep the event in Portugal for another ten years, marking a huge boost for Lisbon's ambitions as a start-up hub.
The 34-year-old Irish entrepreneur started the event in Dublin eight years ago with only 400 people in attendance and has massively expanded the conference to this year's 70,000 paying participants and guest speakers, including the United Nations Secretary-General.
"This is a city going through a rebirth, it's a start-up city, it's being rebooted," Cosgrave told Reuters a few hours before the annual summit opened its doors on Monday evening.
Cosgrave said Web Summit will create 100 jobs in Lisbon in the next two years, adding to the growing number of tech companies opening offices in the area, including Google and the technology divisions of Mercedes and BMW.
He said a lot of people had cast doubt over the wisdom of moving Web Summit to Lisbon from Dublin in 2016, eschewing major cities such as Paris, Berlin and London.
"Portugal went through a dark decade of being hammered, like Ireland did," said Cosgrave, referring to the eurozone debt crisis that started around 2010, requiring bailouts for both nations. "But we made a decision which I think has turned out to be the right decision."
While some critics say Portugal's tech ambitions may not last or ultimately prove as successful as some larger technology centres, Cosgrave said the recent emergence of Portuguese businesses valued at more than $1 billion will ensure sustainable growth for Portugal's digital economy because the founders of those so-called "unicorns" become backers for the next generation of start-ups. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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