Web Summit Vancouver 2026 wrapped as one of the most significant tech gatherings ever held on Canadian soil. Over three days at the Vancouver Convention Centre, the event drew 20,235 attendees from more than 100 countries — a nearly 30% jump from the year prior — alongside 1,197 startups and 768 investors, the largest investor turnout the North American edition has ever seen. Vancouver did not just host a conference. It hosted a moment.
Gregor Robertson, PacifiCan Minister, Government of Canada, Hon. Brenda Bailey, Minister of Finance of British Columb, Government of British Columbia, and Paddy Cosgrave, CEO & Founder Web Summit | Photo by Sam Barness
The Biggest Names in Capital Came to BC
Global venture capital showed up in force. Khosla Ventures, Benchmark, Fusion Fund, Insight Partners, Eclipse Capital, Alumni Ventures, and White Star Capital were all on the ground, alongside corporate investors from Google, IBM, Sony, Qualcomm, and Toyota, and institutional heavyweights including BlackRock, Brookfield, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley. To put the stakes in perspective, Crunchbase data shows more than $77 billion was raised across all companies that attended Web Summit Vancouver 2025 — capital tends to follow the founders who show up, and this year, they showed up in record numbers.
The Conversations That Defined the Moment
Opening night set the tone. Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave framed the central tension of 2026 — the battle between closed proprietary AI systems backed by trillions in American capital, and the surging open-source models from China now dominating global rankings. It was a question not just for engineers but for governments, economies, and societies.
Helen Siwak, Editor-in-Chief of Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine, was in the room for opening night and felt the shift. “Opening night reminded me why Vancouver belongs in this conversation. When Canada’s Minister of AI is sharing a stage with some of the most influential voices in global tech, and it’s happening right here — that’s a signal. BC is not a footnote in this story. We’re a chapter.”
Canada’s first Minister of AI and Digital Innovation, the Honourable Evan Solomon, took the stage alongside Cohere Chief AI Officer Joelle Pineau to outline how Canada intends to make AI and quantum the engine of its next growth chapter. Across three days, sessions explored the global AI race, the future of film and gaming, shifting trade and supply chains, and the push to scale clean tech — with speakers including Amazon Prime Video’s Kelly Day, Sony Pictures Imageworks President Michelle Grady, and Chess.com co-founder Danny Rensch.
Photo by Alex Broadway
157 Meetups, One Community
Powered by Web Summit’s AI-driven Summit Engine, 157 curated meetups connected attendees across shared industries, interests, and communities — from the Vancouver Tech & Founders Meetup and the Fintech & Financial Services Meetup to the Accessible Tech Founders Meetup and the Neurodiverse & ADHD Meetup. The platform matched participants based on background and expertise, turning three days of programming into thousands of meaningful one-on-one connections.
Beyond the convention floor, the Growth NEXUS event — brought together by Tropoly, Ryan CPA, Invoke, and F12 — gave BC’s business and tech community a space to connect away from the main stage energy. “Growth NEXUS, Night Summit, the floor, the conversations that happen at the edges of all of it — that’s where the real intelligence is,” said Siwak. “You don’t find the best stories sitting at a desk. You find them in the room.”
The First-Ever Web Summit Hackathon
Web Summit Vancouver 2026 marked the debut of the first-ever Web Summit Hackathon, open to all attendees regardless of technical background. Teams were challenged to build something that changes how people experience live events, with the winning team taking home Chairperson tickets to Web Summit Vancouver 2027. It was a fitting addition to an event that has always been as much about building as it is about talking.
Cura Climate Takes The PITCH Crown
Of the 1,197 startups on the floor, one stood above the rest. Calgary-based Cura Climate, just six months old, won the PITCH competition — Web Summit’s marquee startup contest, held in partnership with KPMG.
Photo by Florencia Tan
Co-founded by Sabrina Scott, Cura Climate has developed electrochemical pre-calcination carbon capture technology that helps cement producers cut their emissions by up to 85% without replacing existing infrastructure. Cement is one of the most polluting industries on the planet, and Cura is showing it can be cleaned up with the infrastructure that already exists. The company had already reached the PITCH semifinals at Web Summit Qatar earlier this year and arrived in Vancouver with six MOUs signed across the cement value chain. Runners-up were US-based DealStack, an end-to-end platform for small business acquisitions, and Canada-based Drive Hockey Analytics, which brings NHL-level player tracking to amateur hockey using sensors and AI.
Photo by Vaughn Ridley
BC’s Own On The Floor
Portfolio.YVR was on the ground with purpose, Siwak spent afternoons moving through the startup floor — reconnecting with former featured subjects and meeting the new ventures that will shape the next issues. “I hit the floor with our AI/Tech Ambassador Ritchie Po, and it was one of those days that reminds you why you do this work. Catching up with Anthony Green of GreenHat Security, Margaret Dibor of Etuteki Lab Inc, Marko Sarunac of QR Bolt, Kris Krug of BC + AI Ecosystem, Victor Kazakov of Catio, and Ali Alame of CyberArmor — watching what they’ve built since we first featured them — that’s the part that doesn’t make the press release. That’s the proof of concept.”
The mission, as always, was to find the next wave. “There is so much happening in BC’s AI and tech space that the rest of the world hasn’t heard about yet. That’s the gap Portfolio.YVR fills. We were at Web Summit to find the next wave — the founders who are six months in, heads down, doing something extraordinary — and we found them.”
Vancouver on the World Stage
For BC’s business and tech community, the numbers tell one story — but the energy told another. “Web Summit Vancouver keeps raising the bar. The energy this year was different — more grounded, more serious. The startups on the floor weren’t just pitching ideas, they were building real things. That’s exactly the kind of story Portfolio.YVR exists to tell,” said Siwak. Hard tech, deep tech, climate tech, and manufacturing all had a stronger presence at this edition than ever before, a reflection of the Canadian ecosystem finding its voice on a global platform.
Web Summit returns to Vancouver in 2027 from May 25 to May 28. The next chapter starts now.
Photography courtesy of Web Summit Vancouver 2026, Helen Siwak, and Ritchie Po.
Author Profile
- Helen Siwak is the founder and publisher of Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine, a digital-first publication dedicated to sharing the stories of British Columbia’s most dynamic entrepreneurs. Through Portfolio.YVR, she highlights innovation, creativity, and business leadership across the province, offering an authentic look into the people shaping its economic and cultural future. As the founder of EcoLuxLuv Marketing & Communications Inc. and with a background in strategic communications and digital brand development, she collaborates with small to mid-sized businesses, and global heritage houses to strengthen their storytelling and digital presence. Always focused on growth and connection, Helen continues to expand Portfolio.YVR as a platform for meaningful entrepreneurial storytelling.
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