TOP AI & Deep Tech Startup Pitch Competition at Web Summit

About this event

Invite-only pitch competition for early-stage AI and DeepTech startups

A Bay Area–caliber room in Lisbon during Web Summit. Every seat is hand-picked: standout pre-seed and seed AI founders, top-tier VCs, and frontier tech operators.

APPLICATION FORM FOR STARTUPS TO PITCH ON STAGE: https://forms.gle/oULUuvfJBqHxwJkUA

🏆 Prizes

Winner: access to the Atlassian for Startups package (subject to eligibility)

All finalists: 90% off one year of HubSpot, plus access to HubSpot’s fundraising kit (subject to eligibility)

JURY

Anand Chandrasekaran — Managing Partner @ Celesta Capital

Deep tech VC with $1.1B AUM and 100+ early-stage investments, specializing in semiconductors and AI infrastructure

Ex-Partner at General Catalyst

Experienced operator: co-founder of Crescendo AI, ex-Meta, ex-Yahoo, and former CPO of Airtel and Snapdeal

Ben Joffe — Senior Partner @ SOSV

Global VC firm focused on early-stage deep tech

$1.5B+ AUM

Philip Braddock — Head of Startups @ Atlassian

Leads Atlassian for Startups, the program that has onboarded 5,000+ startups globally since launching in June 2024

Partners with 215+ VCs, accelerators and incubators, including Y Combinator, 20VC and a16z

Roman Bunin — AI Adoption Lead @ Nebius

Nasdaq-listed AI infrastructure company building full-stack AI cloud for model developers and enterprises

Leads AI adoption across Nebius; previously Head of Data at Nebius Group

Gonçalo Gaiolas — CPO @ DeepL

Leads product at DeepL, driving its expansion into voice and next-generation Language AI

Previously CPTO at SoSafe, where he pioneered a new category in human risk management; 10 years at OutSystems helping pioneer low-code

Tilman Ehrbeck: Co-founder & Managing Partner @ Flourish Ventures

Global fintech VC with ~100 startups backed including Chime, Neon, Unit and Kin

$850M AUM; previously 10+ years as Partner at McKinsey and CEO of CGAP (World Bank–hosted)

Igor Ryabenkiy — Managing Partner @ AltaIR Capital, Founder @ Altalab

400+ portfolio companies, 10+ unicorns ba

Description from the organiser’s page.