It was a matter of time. When, in 2011, Paddy Cosgrave joined 400 people in the first edition of Web Summit in Dublin, the Irish might not believe that, five years later, would be to lay off – if hometown on its way to Lisbon. The export of the largest entrepreneurship event and technology from Europe, announced on 23 September, in the Portuguese capital, is one of the materialization of its growing pains: in five years, the Web has grown Summit. So much so that this year will attend the Dublin fired about 30 thousand people. Among the assistants will be 33 Portuguese startups, who flock to Ireland in search of visibility, new partners and perhaps investment.
Starting today and over the next three days, companies like IBM, Audi, Facebook, Oculus, Uber, Airbnb and Cisco share the stage, have experiences and testimonies intersect with investors, journalists, representatives of startups and more than a thousand speakers. Among the startups present, around 200 entitled to prominent front to investors, there are Alphas and Betas. The first garnered far less than 500 thousand euros of investment, since the latter managed to attract between half a million and three million financing. The selection, in both cases, is made by the organization that chooses the finalists from among thousands of candidates. But not only startups live Web Summit: a week ago, the organization announced that the event was sold out and, four days ago, Cosgrave communicated through their accounts of Twitter and Facebook, that only five of the 544 hotels, hostels and B & amp ; B still had vacant rooms. “Butterflies in the stomach. Dublin will be tight next week, “wrote
Two weeks earlier, Paddy communicated something less sympathetic:. Why one of the world entrepreneurship and technology events left her hometown. In social networks, a document listed 36 pages of correspondence between you and the representatives of the government of Ireland, John Callinan and Nick Reddy, with details of dates and times, senders and recipients. A simple way – in pdf. – To tell the world the reasons that led the organization to move to the Portuguese capital
The first reported contact arises August 21. In the email, Paddy has the Irish government proposals of the countries competed to host the conference, stressing that the organization had no interest in moving the event. “Our absolute preference is to stay in Ireland”, reads the email. Three days later, Cosgrave reinforces the intention of the organization to keep the event in Dublin in 2015 and 2016, but stresses the need for, next year a close relationship and coordination with the Irish government. “We believe it is essential to maintain open and constant communication channels”, he emphasized the CEO of the event, adding that the Web Summit team was available to work on a joint plan that would ensure the necessary conditions for holding an event on a global scale. In this e-mail that Cosgrave speaks for the first time in an announcement of the decision date:. September 23
Twenty-two days later, in the absence of a response to applications submitted, Cosgrave specific problems. “The Web Summit will be forced out of Dublin in the coming weeks. We do not want money, we just want a plan for public transport, traffic management, wi-fi and hotels, “says the founder of the event. Cosgrave adds that the organization had offers from other European cities that address these concerns and requirements and can not wait much longer to make a decision, underlining the impact of the conference to the Irish economy: 105 million euros. Contacts follow one another and is the September 3 that Cosgrave talks in Lisbon for the first time. Visit the city at least twice – with and without the team. – Until the announcement of the final decision, the September 23
Along with Paulo Portas, the Portuguese capital, the “prince of Irish tech” put Lisbon in the world mouths and validated that there is plenty Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem tries to confirm: Portugal as the next European entrepreneurship hub. Goodbye, Dublin. Hello, Lisbon.
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