The web summit will be attended by “more than 300 partners,” some of whom considered returning to the event “and reversed their decision,” an official source told Lusa this Monday, without naming names.
On Saturday, Web Summit co-founder Paddy Cosgrave resigned from his position after several companies canceled their participation in the Lisbon event following statements he made about the conflict involving Israel and Palestine.
The technology summit, which kicks off on November 13 in the Portuguese capital, will go ahead “and we hope to host up to 70,000 people in Lisbon with a full programme,” the official source added.
“Last week we sold over 1,000 tickets” and “we had over 300 partners show up,” he continued.
“Some of the partners who discussed the situation came back and reversed their decision,” the same source emphasized, without naming names.
Announcing his resignation on Saturday, Paddy Cosgrave said: “Unfortunately, my personal comments have become a distraction from the event.”
“I once again sincerely apologize for the harm this has caused,” he added.
Paddy Cosgrave wrote a post on social network X (formerly Twitter) on October 13 that has attracted several criticisms.
“I am impressed that the rhetoric and actions of many Western leaders and governments, with the particular exception of the Irish government, are doing the right thing this time. War crimes are still war crimes, even if committed by allies, and they should be condemned for what they are,” Paddy Cosgrave said at the time, referring to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
After a wave of criticism, Paddy Cosgrave apologized, which did not stop several companies from withdrawing from the Web Summit.
Among the companies that announced their cancellation at the time were Amazon, Meta, Google, Intel, Siemens and Israeli investors who had previously said they would not participate in the event.
This year’s web summit will feature a “record” 2,600 startups.
This is “the highest figure in our history,” the same source emphasized.
In short, the technology summit has over 300 partners, 800 investors, 2600 startups and 2000 verified media.
Since Saturday, the web summit has been registering contacts of people looking for tickets to the event, which takes place in three weeks.
Meanwhile, Web Summit teams have been at the event site since this morning to set up and prepare the space.
“In total, more than 6,000 people will be involved in the construction of the site and holding the event, the total area of which is more than 200,000 square meters,” the organization said.
Meanwhile, Web Summit will appoint a new CEO (executive president) as soon as possible, but an announcement date has not yet been set.
The Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,400 people.
In response, Israel bombed several Hamas infrastructure facilities in the Gaza Strip and imposed a blockade of the territory, cutting off supplies of water, fuel and electricity.
The conflict has already caused the deaths of at least 4,385 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to figures released by Gaza’s health authorities.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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