Ireland's Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton, TD, with Dublin Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave at the Web Summit last year
The CEO of Evernote Phil Libin has been confirmed as one of the keynote speakers at the October Web Summit in Dublin. Taking its inspiration from SXSW, the organisers say this year’s event will be a week-long Festival of Ideas. The organisers envisage that this year’s Web Summit will contribute €20m to the local economy in Dublin, up from €12m last year.
As well as Libin, other speakers include soon-to-be space traveller and WPP board member Esther Dyson, Digg founder and Google Ventures partner Kevin Rose, and Jennifer Hyman, founder of Rent the Runway.
Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave said the SXSW-style 2013 Web Summit will incorporate a series of events that will span a full week in October. The main event itself will occur at the RDS on 30 and 31 October.
“Web Summit 2013 will feature a broader range of events, including workshops, pitching sessions and keynotes from some of the world’s most incredible entrepreneurs,” Cosgrave explained.
“The 2013 Web Summit will evolve to become an all-encompassing SXSW full festival experience.
“This year’s event will celebrate creativity and innovation in its broadest terms as the Web Summit partners with everyone, from non-profits to leaders in science, technology and education,” Cosgrave added.
The Web Summit organisation has grown to take on 30 staff in the past 12 months and now holds events in Dublin, London, Berlin and New York.
This year, the organisers are anticipating more than 1,000 start-ups and 300 international investors at the event.
Ireland’s thriving tech sector
Cosgrave said the tech sector in Ireland is thriving.
“Over the past 12 months, Hubspot, Dropbox, Etsy and Zendesk have all opened offices in Dublin.
“Polaris Ventures has made a real commitment to start-ups in Ireland, investing over €25m in Irish companies.
“This, combined with home-grown success stories like Datahug, Logentries and Balcony TV, help to create an ecosystem that didn’t previously exist. They have inspired the next generation of start-ups.”
