From 23 to 26 February, Web Summit Qatar 2025 welcomed over 25,000 attendees to Doha, the capital of Qatar, boasting a wide range of insightful panels and exhibitors.
Opening the doors to the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC), Web Summit Qatar 2025 welcomed not only thousands of attendees but also a host of big names from the tech world.
Alexis Ohanian, founder of Seven Seven Six and co-founder of Reddit; Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook and B Capital; Laura Chambers, CEO of Mozilla Corporation; and Brian Robbins, CEO of Paramount Pictures were just some of the industry experts that took to the stage.
Kicking the event off, Paddy Cosgrove, founder and CEO of Web Summit, gave his opening remarks, and revealed that the 148 companies present at last year’s inaugural event have now collectively raised nearly $30billion in investments.
Also on day one, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, addressed the audience, giving a speech that highlighted Qatar’s dedication to the wider tech, startups, innovation and digital as part of its wider economic development and diversification.
Highly decorated American actor Will Smith also had a moment on Centre Stage, during his keynote, ‘Redefining success in Hollywood and beyond’, alongside Jay Shetty. Smith shared some of the lessons he’s learned throughout his career, the challenges he has overcome, and how he continues to push boundaries in entertainment, business, and life.
While the centre stage remained busy throughout the event, other talks and gatherings were also taking place, including the fintech and venture summits.
Wherever you walked across the event, certain topics, including artificial intelligence (AI) and financial inclusion, recurred regularly.
Showcases, announcements and agreements
Across the event’s four days, many companies took the opportunity to unveil new partnerships, company announcements and product launches.
On 24 February, the Qatar Financial Centre announced the launch of the ‘QFC Metaverse’. QFC has been an active player in helping Qatar develop its regional position as a financial centre. This announcement became one of several in the past few years – including a digital assets framework last year. To note, last year, over 800 new firms registered with QFC and saw growth of 156 per cent.
As QFC geared up for the Web Summit, they waived registration and annual fees for the first four years, along with a tax exemption, for those entities that register with QFC during Web Summit 2025 Qatar.
Hamad Bin Khalifa University also signed a long-term partnership agreement with Web Summit to advance innovation, entrepreneurship, and research transformation and to promote Qatar’s innovation ecosystem worldwide.
In addition, The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signed a strategic partnership agreement with Scale AI on the sidelines of the Summit. The agreement, signed by H E Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and Alex Wang, founder and CEO of Scale AI, further showcases Qatar’s commitment to boosting digital and using enablers notably AI to help do so.
A plethora of companies also showcased a wide range of innovative solutions throughout the show, including the likes of Mastercard, Huawei, and Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), alongside many others.
Aside from boasting 25,000 visitors, Web Summit Qatar welcomed a record 1,500+ startups, a large buildup from its successful debut last year. The show sold out tickets.
