“You won’t find a better place in Brazil – or anywhere else for that matter – than Rio de Janeiro.”
– TechCrunch
Startup? Join us at Web Summit Rio
Web Summit Rio’s startup program, ALPHA, showcases the emerging companies disrupting their industries, and introduces them to leading CEOs, investors and media outlets.
Apply for our 2025 startup program, and join us next year in Rio.
US$36 bi
Total investment in Latin American startups between 2019 and 2023
45
Latin America unicorns created to date, 24 of which are Brazilian
US$21.9bi
Investments in Brazilian startups between 2019 and 2023
13,000+
Startups in Brazil, representing 62.9 percent of the total number of startups in Latin America
15
Brazil’s global ranking for VC investment in recent years
years8.5
Average time for startups in Latin America to reach unicorn status
Meet some of our 2024 investors
Neil Shen
Founding Managing PartnerSequoia Capital
Aileen Lee
Founder & PartnerCowboy Ventures
Alexis Ohanian
Co-founderSeven Seven Six
Vinod Khosla
FounderKhosla Ventures
Rebecca Lynn
Co-founder & General PartnerCanvas Ventures
Beezer Clarkson
Managing DirectorSapphire Ventures
Peter Thiel
ChairmanFounders Fund
Dana Settle
Founding PartnerGreycroft
Annie Lamont
Co-Founder and Managing PartnerOak HC/FT
Jan Hammer
General PartnerIndex Ventures
Connie Chan
General PartnerAndreessen Horowitz
Renata Quintini
Co-founderRenegade Partners
Ray Dalio
Founder, Co-Chief Investment Officer & Co-ChairmanBridgewater Associates
Nisa Leung
Managing PartnerQiming Venture Partners
Hans Tung
Managing PartnerGGV Capital
Amy Wu
PartnerMenlo Ventures
Jeff Jordan
General PartnerAndreessen Horowitz
Theresia Gouw
Co-founder & Managing ParterAcrew Capital
Nigel Morris
Managing Partner & Co-FounderQED Investors
Edith Yeung
General PartnerRace Capital
Reid Hoffman
Co-founderLinkedIn
Hemant Taneja
Managing PartnerGeneral Catalyst
Eileen Burbidge
DirectorFertifa
Shailesh Lakhani
Managing DirectorPeak XV
Wesley Chan
Co-founder & Managing PartnerFPV VenturesWhat is the Web Summit Rio startup program?
Our startup programme – ALPHA – offers you the chance to join a global community of startups. If selected, you’ll get three tickets to Web Summit Rio, access to Investor to Startup meetings, and be eligible to apply for PITCH competition, startup masterclasses, Mentor Hours and more.
Some of our startup alumni
They attend and report
“The world’s best speakers.”
– Inc.
“The networking at Web Summit is like no other tech conference.”
– Algolia
“Rio de Janeiro is becoming one of the best places to build a startup.”
– Founder Institute