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What is PITCH?
What is PITCH?
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 with less than €5 million in funding to date, and that have not discernibly changed their business model within the last three years of operation.
Competition format
Competition format
Group rounds
Group rounds
On Day 1, the competing 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.
Semi-finals
On the afternoon of Day 2, our group-stage winners will take to Centre Stage for the semi-final of PITCH.
All semi-finalists will have three minutes to pitch their businesses to the Centre Stage audience and a panel of 10 esteemed judges.
Our judges will then deliberate and choose three finalists to battle it out in the PITCH final.
Finals
The PITCH final will take place on Web Summit's Centre Stage on the afternoon of Day 3.
Our three finalists will deliver another three-minute pitch followed by a three-minute Q&A with our four judges.
Following the finalists’ presentations, the audience will have a chance to vote for their favourite startup through the Web Summit app. The audience vote makes up 20 percent of the total score. The finalist with the highest combined score will be crowned the winner of PITCH at Web Summit 2025.
Our previous judges
Our previous judges
Rebecca Parsons
CTO, ThoughtWorks
Prashanth Chandrasekar
CEO, Stack Overflow
Sarah Kunst
Managing Director, Cleo Capital
Brian Collins
CCO, Collins
Judge info pack
Judge info pack
I've agreed to be a PITCH judge. What do I need to know?
I've agreed to be a PITCH judge. What do I need to know?
You can find everything you need to prepare as a PITCH judge in the info pack here.
LIS25 PITCH judges guide.pdfPITCH stage MC
PITCH stage MC
What are my responsibilities as the PITCH MC?
What are my responsibilities as the 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.
LIS25 _ PITCH MC Guide.pdfYour 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 the success team if you have any questions or are interested in putting yourself forward as a PITCH judge or MC.
Interested? Contact the success team if you have any questions or are interested in putting yourself forward as a PITCH judge or MC.
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