The second annual Web Summit Vancouver conference opened this past Monday, with more than 20,000 attendees converging on the Vancouver Convention Centre and other venues this week.
Organizers said 20,235 people from more than 100 countries are attending this year’s conference, representing an increase of 29 per cent compared to the event’s 15,727 attendees during the inaugural year in Vancouver in 2025 — a relocation of the former Collision Conference in Toronto.
This year’s event also attracted 768 investors — up from 681 in 2025.
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The annual global technology conference, running from May 12 to May 14, 2026, for its second edition in the city, brings together startup founders, venture capital firms, policymakers, and major technology companies to discuss trends shaping the global economy, with a heavy focus this year on artificial intelligence (AI), clean technology, gaming, and digital infrastructure.
Among the attendees are representatives from nearly 1,200 startups, alongside investors from firms including Khosla Ventures, Benchmark, Insight Partners, and White Star Capital. Large technology companies such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Dell Technologies are also exhibiting at the conference.
Organizers say the conference continues to draw global capital and international attention to Vancouver’s growing technology sector. According to Web Summit, companies connected to last year’s inaugural Vancouver event collectively raised more than US$77 billion, including participating startups, speakers, and partners.
“We meet at a critical moment in the history of technology,” said Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave during opening night remarks.
Discussions have been centred on the rapid growth of AI technologies and the debate over whether the future of artificial intelligence will be driven by open-source or proprietary systems.
“On one side, trillions of dollars have been bet on a singular belief: that a small number of American firms will provide proprietary AI services, for a fee, to billions of individuals and businesses. On the other side are open-source AI models, freely available to anyone in the world, with Chinese open-source models dominating the rankings. There are speakers you’ll hear from who’ll tell you US closed systems will win: others will tell you it’s already over, and Chinese open-source has won,” continued Cosgrave.
Organizers say 157 meetups are scheduled throughout this week’s Vancouver conference, using AI-powered recommendations to connect attendees with shared interests ranging from fintech and education technology to diversity and accessibility in tech.
This year’s event also includes the first-ever Web Summit Hackathon, where participants — including both coders and non-coders — are being challenged to develop ideas aimed at improving live event experiences.
Under a three-year contract, Web Summit is slated to return to Vancouver in 2027 — for at least one more year.
The event has been touted by provincial and local government officials, as well as business and tourism leaders, as a major boost for the economy — not only for the direct economic impact generated by thousands of attendees travelling from around the world, but also for the global attention and investment opportunities it brings to B.C.
A number of major economic development announcements have been made this week, coinciding with Web Summit Vancouver.
U.S.-based AI firm Nutanix announced it will expand its presence in Downtown Vancouver, generating hundreds of new jobs in the process.
As well, Canadian telecommunications giant Telus, local developer Westbank, and the Government of Canada announced a major strategy to establish massive AI data centres in British Columbia, including two locations within Vancouver — converting a Hootsuite office building in the Mount Pleasant Industrial Area, and the construction of a brand-new, purpose-built, 10-storey building over the Creative Energy steam plant in Downtown Vancouver.
While Vancouver has gained Web Summit, it has lost its high-profile role as the host city of the official global TED Conference, which held its last annual event at the Vancouver Convention Centre in April 2026, ending an 11-year run. Beginning in 2027, TED is returning to its roots in California.
At the Web Summit conference in Doha, Qatar, in February 2026, the event recorded an attendance of just over 30,000, representing a 100 per cent increase compared to 15,000 in 2025.
Web Summit’s largest event, held in Lisbon, Portugal, attracted more than 71,000 attendees during its last edition in November 2025.
Web Summit also hosts annual conferences in Rio de Janeiro and in Hong Kong, where the event is known as RISE.
- You might also like:
- U.S. AI firm Nutanix confirms Vancouver expansion with hundreds of jobs
- Telus to build massive AI data centres at two Westbank properties in Vancouver
- Netflix opens new 111,000 sq. ft. purpose-built animation studio in Vancouver
- City of Vancouver leases 52,000 sq. ft. of office space in downtown for 500 staff
- Amazon begins using nearly 600,000 sq. ft. of office space in The Post's North Tower
- Canada confirmed to host NATO-backed global defence bank headquarters office, with Vancouver among cities awaiting host city decision