The Web Summit Qatar 2025 has hit full capacity, welcoming 25,747 attendees from 124 countries – along with 1,520 startups and 723 investors – to the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC), the organisers said.

This is over 10,000 more attendees than last year, making the Web Summit Qatar the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region’s top startup event.

Notably, 47% of startups are women-founded – a 51% increase from 2024, with 37% women attendees, according to the organisers.

This growth is driven by the Web Summit’s startup team, which actively sought out women-led startups and provided exclusive discounts to encourage their participation in the Middle East’s premier tech event.

With 168 partners from countries such as Qatar, the US, Egypt, Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, the UK, India, and beyond, Web Summit Qatar attracts global investors to the region to tap into Mena’s growing tech ecosystem.

Globally recognised companies such as Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, IBM, TikTok, Snap, iHeart, Cloudflare and Huawei are among the 168 partners joining to showcase their innovations on the sold-out event floor alongside the early-stage startups.

As many as 381 speakers are taking the stage to tackle issues from artificial intelligence (AI) and global policy to climate change.

More than 120 meetups will be organised and operated through the Web Summit’s proprietary software, *Summit Engine, which uses an AI-powered recommender system to help connect attendees with each other based on shared interests, industries, and goals.

AI is the top startup sector at Web Summit Qatar (17%), followed by SaaS (software as a service), Healthtech & Wellness, Fintech, and Education.

The 1,520 startups at the Web Summit Qatar 2025 represent more than 90 countries.

They will meet with potential customers, business partners and the 723 investors who have flown to Web Summit from around the world in search of their next investment and tapping into regional business opportunities.

In total, 228 (15%) of these startups come from Qatar.

When looking at the early-stage startups who participated in the Web Summit Qatar 2024 Startups Programme last year, according to Crunchbase, 82 companies raised $120mn in the 12 months since the event.

AI-powered meetups include Women in Sustainability, Lebanon at the Web Summit, Cybersecurity, Neurodiverse & ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), AI CEOs (chief executives), and UX/UI (user experience/user interface) Designers in Tech.

From artists leveraging tech in creative ways to space tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs sharing their favourite books, and groups tackling imposter syndrome, the Web Summit meetups help attendees build meaningful connections around shared passions.

Hollywood superstar Will Smith, Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, best-selling authors and podcast hosts Malcolm Gladwell and Jay Shetty, Seven Seven Six and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Facebook and B Capital co-founder Eduardo Saverin, and Mozilla Corporation chief executive Laura Chambers are among the 381 industry leaders who will speak across the Web Summit Qatar’s five stages about the changing landscape of investment, entertainment, sports and our rapidly changing future.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA)’s $1bn Fund of Funds programme marks its first anniversary at the Web Summit Qatar, with HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, in his opening address on Sunday, highlighting its role in strengthening the local startup ecosystem.

The QIA has now partnered with six leading investment firms, including newly announced B Capital and Deerfield, to drive innovation in fintech, healthcare, AI, and clean energy.

These firms will establish regional headquarters in Doha, further solidifying Qatar’s position as a global tech hub.