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PITCH is Web Summit's startup competition, which shines a light on the world’s most promising young companies in a live, onstage pitching battle.

The competition is open to Web Summit's exhibiting startups that have received less than three million euro in funding to date, and that have not discernibly changed their business model within the last three years of operation.

WS22_PITCH Judge info pack.pdf

Competition format

Startups that apply will present in front of our distinguished judging panel, as well as hundreds of attendees, in the group stages of PITCH.

Following the group stages, 12 startups will advance to the semi-final on Centre Stage, where they’ll pitch against each other in a bid for one of three PITCH finalist spots.

Those three finalists will fight it out on Centre Stage for a chance to be crowned PITCH champion at Web Summit 2022.

Group rounds

On Day 1, 103 startups will battle it out in the group rounds of the competition.

Competing startups will have three minutes to pitch their company onstage, followed by a three-minute Q&A with our judging panel. A panel of five judges oversees each group.

Our previous judges

Rebecca Parsons
CTO, ThoughtWorks

Prashanth Chandrasekar
CEO, Stack Overflow

Sarah Kunst
Managing Director, Cleo Capital

Brian Collins
CCO, Collins

Become a PITCH MC

A large part of what makes PITCH so engaging is the energy and charisma the MC brings to the stage. As the MC, you’re the onstage host of the PITCH competition. The mood onstage should be light and joyful, but still formal.

Together with the stage manager, you must ensure the smooth and timely running of the stage, in accordance with the schedule.

WS22_PITCH MC info pack.pdf

Your tasks

Opening the stage to the audience, and giving an overview of what PITCH is and the format for the hour-long session ahead.
Welcoming each member of the judging panel on stage, and introducing the judges to the audience.
Introducing each startup on stage, and moderating each startup’s time: a three-minute pitch followed by a three-minute Q&A with the judging panel. If they go over time, it’s your job to prompt them to wrap up.
You may be required to fill time on stage if there are any delays or issues with the AV team, so engaging with the audience is encouraged.
Generate a buzz for the next PITCH round as well as for the semi-final and final, which take place on Day 2 and Day 3, respectively.

Interested? Contact your success manager if you have any questions or are interested in putting yourself forward for PITCH.

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PITCH is Web Summit's startup competition, which shines a light on the world’s most promising young companies in a live, onstage pitching battle.

Competition format

Group rounds

Our previous judges

Become a PITCH MC

Interested? Contact your success manager if you have any questions or are interested in putting yourself forward for PITCH.

Our policies, and accessing
the event

Important note

PITCH is Web Summit's startup competition, which shines a light on the world’s most promising young companies in a live, onstage pitching battle.

Competition format

Group rounds

Our previous judges

Become a PITCH MC

Interested? Contact your success manager if you have any questions or are interested in putting yourself forward for PITCH.

Our policies, and accessingthe event

Important note

Our policies, and accessing
the event