The inaugural Web Summit in Qatar concluded last month with 15000+ attendees, 400+ investors and 1000+ entrepreneurs, establishing new connections, sharing insights and securing funds, with a dynamic lineup of sessions featuring industry luminaries and thought leaders from around the globe.
As many as 118 countries were represented in the event – the largest gathering of startups ever in the Middle East, held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre – with 37 percent women attendees, 30 percent women speakers, 31 percent women-founded startups. Kicking off proceedings, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced that Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, would invest more than UD$1 billion in international and regional venture capital funds, aimed at fostering innovation by attracting top international venture capital funds and entrepreneurs both to Qatar and the wider Gulf region.
His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani visited the Web Summit Qatar 2024, touring the pavilions of several major international tech companies, and was briefed on the latest developments in the field of innovation, digital initiatives and software.
Aimed at being the pivotal force for innovation in the region, enabling the people who are reshaping the world to connect, the event floor saw big wigs such as Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, Snap, Amazon, Meta, Shell, Huawei, Snapchat, alongside Qatari entities, from the Qatar Investment Authority.
The trending resource
Trending at this Summit was the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its various applications – including AI’s role in digital conflict mediation, citing Qatar’s role in facilitating negotiations between the US and the Taliban; and what the United Nations’ chief in Libya did using a hybrid model integrating personal and digital interactions reaching one million Libyans.
With digital technologies becoming more common in peacemaking, allowing mediators to see conflicts from new angles, Richard Gowan, UN’s director for the International Crisis Group said, “But I also think that we should remember that the heart of any political process remains wheeling and dealing between individuals who have deeply held prejudices, fears and ideologies.”
Qatar’s representation
Among the attending startups, 10 percent came from Qatar, 20 percent from Africa and 50 percent from the wider MENA region. Participating startups have had the opportunity to take part in Web Summit Qatar’s PITCH competition, powered by Jusour, which brings together the world’s leading early-stage startups to go head-to-head on stage in front of globally renowned investors.
The 400+ investors included some of the largest funds in the world, attending to explore investment opportunities in one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and meet the next generation of startups.
The impressive event closed with the announcement of being back to Doha again in the last week of February 2025.
Photos credit: The Peninsula; Gulf Times
