Back in 2009, Paddy Cosgrave, an Irish entrepreneur started Web Summit in Dublin with 400 attendees. Since then, Web Summit has grown to over 70,000 attendees from across 170 countries. This way, it has progressed to become a rapidly evolving tech conference ever. This year, the conference kicked off on November 5 and will go on until November 8 in Lisbon, Portugal.
As per the latest announcement, Web Summit signed a €110 million deal with event organisers to host Web Summit in Portugal for a decade. Like the previous years, this year too 23 conferences will place across nine major stages, and over 1000 speakers will be present at the event.
Today, we have come up with some of the cool startups from the Benelux region who have participated in Europe’s largest tech conference – the Web Summit 2018.
#1 Effect.AI
Effect.AI is an Amsterdam-based startup founded by Chris R. Dawe and Nick Vogel in 2015. It works on a decentralised network for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related services. ItsIt’s main objective is to build a platform to simulate AI development and create various AI services. The platform will offer accessibility, freedom and ease of use required for the development and distribution of AI services on a global scale. A few months back, the private beta of the project’s first phase called Effect Force was launched. In April, the startup received €11 million funding.
#2 Lobster Ink
Founded in 2007, Lobster Ink has its headquarters in Amsterdam. It is one of the world’s leading online education platforms catering to the hospitality industry. Their learners have completed over 11 million lessons, delivering standout returns to the world’s most remarkable hospitality brands across more than 120 countries. They have been developing new products to bolster their offering. In addition to creating memories for those who are on vacation, it helps entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry benefit from the training program.
#3 Spott.ai
Spott.ai was founded by Michel De Wachter and Jonas De Cooman in 2014. Spott.ai puts an interactive and shoppable layer on top of content with the help of AI algorithms. This will help marketers to increase sales from content. Those at Spott believes that content is the best way to reach the audience and build a connection. The Belgium-based startup makes content interactive so that audience is guided step-by-step.
#4 webtexttool
Founded in 2015 by Marcel Leeman and Kyrill Poelmans in Arnhem, Webtexttool is aiming to create high-quality web content. The Dutch startup assists thousands of users on a daily basis with real-time tips to optimise SEO scores, to get the best available keywords and optimise the text conversions. It is touted to help companies raise their Google ranking by 300% and double the on-page reading time. It received the first round of Angel funding in June 2015 but the exact amount remains unknown.
#5 Plant-e
Plant-e produces electricity with living plants. While plants grow we can directly harvest electricity: carbon negative power! This Dutch startup was founded in 2009 as a spin-off of the sub-department of Environmental Technology at Wageningen University. It’s co-founder David Strik works as an assistant professor at the university. It does remote sensing, wastewater treatment and DIY and demo setups. The startup carries out research on technology and develops products to generate electricity and reduce the carbon imprint.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.
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