Web Summit head of startups: Willing to team up with Chinese companies

November 17, 2023

Abstract : At this year's Web Summit, Ricardo Lima, the summit's head of startups and investors, said that his organization is interested in teaming up with Chinese companies.

People attend the Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wen Xinnian)

China is a powerhouse in artificial intelligence and "one of the main juggernauts when it comes to technology," Web Summit head of startups said.

LISBON, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- At this year's Web Summit, Ricardo Lima, the summit's head of startups and investors, said that his organization is interested in teaming up with Chinese companies.

This year's Web Summit, held here from Monday to Thursday, was attended by more than 70,200 people from 153 countries and regions, representing over 2,600 startups.

Lima told Xinhua in an interview that China is a powerhouse in artificial intelligence (AI) and "Obviously, China is one of the main juggernauts when it comes to technology."

This photo taken on Nov. 13, 2023 shows installations featuring the Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Xinhua/Wen Xinnian)

He said that other players could learn from China's technology landscape and that the Web Summit was eyeing opportunities to partner with businesses in China.

"It's very, very exciting to look at the Chinese ecosystem right now and understanding how, for instance, we at Web Summit can work together with Chinese companies to provide them with opportunities to expand into different markets."

Asked about the top technology topics at the event, Lima said, "The word of the year is artificial intelligence. It is everywhere because it impacts every single industry."

Visitors watch the performance of Hexagon robot dogs at the intelligent industry and information technology exhibition zone of the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

"We have startups working in fintech, in edtech, in climate change that are harnessing the power of AI and there's a lot of content at the different stages that touch AI in one way or the other."

Discussing the big trends reshaping the startup and innovation landscape over the next couple of years, he said, "Startups are becoming more focused on the business as a whole and growing the business organically."