Ready to meet Web Summit Rio’s inspirational community partners?

Our community partnerships – representing a diverse range of tech development networks, nonprofits and fellowships – are integral to our aim of improving the tech industry for everyone. Learn more about the community partners we’ve invited to Web Summit Rio.

We’re proud to team up with social groups trying to build a more diverse and welcoming tech ecosystem. Web Summit Rio, our first-ever conference in South America, has the chance to inspire other events in the region to make inclusivity a top priority.

What are community partnerships?

Our community partnerships are a series of collaborations and initiatives run with social organizations representing a range of interests. What do these diverse groups all have in common? A desire to bring underrepresented communities in the tech industry together.

We give selected community partners equitable access to our global tech events. Here, tech enthusiasts with fresh ideas and worthy causes connect with savvy industry professionals looking to make a lasting impact on the world. They can also learn from hundreds of hours of onstage content and run roundtables and masterclasses on key issues.

Web Summit Rio also offers community partners marketing opportunities through blog posts, email marketing and social media content to further amplify worthy messages.

We partner with organizations that aim to diversify the types of entrepreneurs starting new businesses and the venture capital firms funding them. We also work with groups tackling environmental and biodiversity degradation to build a sustainable future.

Who are our community partners?

Our community partners come from all over Brazil and the rest of the world. They can be small-scale local groups or regional community networks. These partners represent many interests connected to the tech world, ranging from promoting women-led businesses to increasing the profile of native entrepreneurs.

We also provide career development opportunities for learners typically underrepresented in tech. This includes working with various student fellowship programs.

Want to meet some of our community partners for Web Summit Rio? Here are just five:

1) Bantumen

Bantumen is an online Portuguese-language magazine which reflects the everyday culture of the African diaspora in the Lusophone world. It’s a platform where a diversity of views from creatives and social entrepreneurs can be shared and recognized by mainstream society.

The magazine started in Angola but is today read on five continents thanks to a community of Cape Verdeans, Mozambicans, Guineans, São Toméans, Brazilians and Portuguese who have made their presence known. Bantumen wants to ensure that new generations, regardless of their aspirations, have a mainstream media platform to seek inspiration.

“Web Summit is a global stage where we can create awareness about our brand among the biggest players in the market. It is a unique opportunity to build a powerful network.”

– Bantumen

2) Colorintech

Colorintech was founded by former Silicon Valley tech executive Dion McKenzie and ex-Google employee Ashleigh Ainsley. Why? To increase diversity in the European tech ecosystem in the face of all available data, which suggests that minority groups face disparities in business opportunities. A more inclusive tech industry can facilitate innovative ideas, create more driven employees and deliver a generational impact on lives by creating new wealth.

To date, Colorintech has grown to a community of more than 30,000 tech employees and allies. The organization arranges founder networking events and runs startup accelerators, with 5,000-plus graduates from their programs since 2016.

“Connecting with business leaders at Web Summit means we can create partnerships that lead to broader opportunities for underrepresented tech talent. It will create a ripple effect, amplifying our impact and fostering a more inclusive tech landscape.”

– Colorintech

3) PlurieBR

PlurieBR describes itself as “the most complete … Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [DEI] platform on the market’. This is a bold claim since DEI is now a prominent concern for businesses in all industries. However, few platforms can create custom DEI metrics, track a company’s maturity level in real-time and educate employees with specific online courses in one place like PlurieBR.

PlurieBR’s research backs up this focus on driving greater representation in the enterprise world – in a study of millennial tech workers, more than 30 percent who had recently left their job claimed they did so to work for a more inclusive company.

“Plurie BR was born at Web Summit – we exist because we found our first investor at this event and know the amazing potential for qualified connections, in terms of funding and great partnerships.”

– PlurieBR

4) Greenpeace Brazil

Many will be familiar with Greenpeace. However, many may not know that Greenpeace has been operating in Brazil for around 30 years, confronting governments, companies and private projects that encourage the destruction of the Amazon and threaten the global climate.

Greenpeace Brazil follows the same belief in the power of transformation through collective struggle as the wider organization. This is put into action through projects aiming to open dialogue in society and mobilize peaceful action to address environmental problems. Greenpeace Brazil makes this possible with a network of 200-plus professionals and more than 1,500 across all regions of Brazil.

“Attending Web Summit is an opportunity to engage with other prominent technology experts and expand our network, and determine how to design and implement campaigns in a more diverse and impactful way.”

– Greenpeace Brazil

5) Teto

Teto is working towards the construction of a just and poverty-free Brazil. In association with Techo – an international organization focused on improving housing and building habitats in Latin America – Teto mobilizes volunteers to work alongside residents of precarious communities, particularly favelas, nationwide to construct emergency housing and infrastructure.

According to Teto, 12 percent of the Brazilian population live in precarious housing conditions – housing built with non-durable materials, lacking space and/or without an indoor, plumbed bathroom. This social enterprise group intends to change this, not by relying on government or charity intervention, but through positive action driven primarily by local communities.

“Being able to attend this event will be great to expand our network, exchange ideas and bring the topic of inequality and social housing to the tech environment. We need people from all sectors to work together to create a just and poverty free society.”

– Teto

6) Black Innovation Alliance

Founded in 2020, Black Innovation Alliance represents a coalition of 89 member organizations closing the racial wealth gap inherent in society by helping Black, Indigenous and People of Color-centered entrepreneurs and communities to access resources, knowledge and enterprise opportunities.

Black Innovation Alliance attended its first Web Summit in November 2021, returning the following year with more than 50 ecosystem builders from across the US. Thanks to these events, Black Innovation Alliance has connected with amazing partners ranging from congressional champions, such as Congresswoman Stacey Plasket, to tech industry leaders such as Joaquim Lecha, CEO of Typeform.

“Web Summit has been a critical part of our journey. With this collaboration, our ecosystem leaders have had the opportunity to speak on a global stage and get exposed to opportunities beyond our borders. We’re excited to see what comes next.”

– Black Innovation Alliance

Want to get to know our community partners and discover first-hand why Inc. says we “do a superb job of building community”? Meet our other partners at Web Summit Rio 2023.

Main image of a community stand at a pavilion during Web Summit: Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)