If you wish to simply demo your product on your laptop or screen, you do not need to submit a demo request. A demo request is only required if you wish to bring your physical product to the event.

If your product requires a demo space, you will need to submit a demo request. This form can be requested from the Startup Success team at any stage before your exhibition profile completion deadline.

Demo requests will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and we will do our very best to accommodate, where possible. You will not be permitted to demo a large product without approval from our production team. 

Anything our team deems a possible obstruction, eyesore or noise pollutant, or anything that could negatively impact attendee experience at the event, will not be permitted.

For your product demo to be considered, it must:

• Be your product.

• Fit on your booth (check our booth dimensions above).

• Not negatively impact your neighbour or other attendees by blocking walkways, being too loud, or taking up extra space.

Some examples of a demo request that would be denied:

• Pull up banners or other marketing materials. Your demo must be your product.

• Animals. Only service dogs are permitted in the event venue.

• Food. The distribution of food is against our health and safety guidelines.

• Excessively large or bulky products that will not fit at your booth, such as a car or free-standing robot. 

• Exclusive Wi-Fi bandwidth or private network setups.

• Requests for more booth space than allocated.

• Drones or flying devices indoors.

If you are unsure whether your product fits the above description, please get in touch with the Startup Success team.

We have provided some examples of prohibited items below. This is not a comprehensive list, so if you have any items that you are unsure about, please contact the Startup Success team. We will make decisions on a case-by-case basis. If you arrive with items considered unsuitable, you will be asked to remove them from your stand.

Prohibited items and actions include (but are not limited to):

• Customisation of the board. We do not allow any customisation of your board (such as large stickers, writing on it with markers or any other writing implements, etc)

• Bringing your own printed board. We will provide your printed board on your exhibition day. You are not permitted to bring your own

• Pop-up or pull-up banners and other large marketing items

• Stickers

• Balloons

• Furniture items

• Food and drink for distribution

• Flashing lights, fairy lights

• Confetti and tinsel

• Umbrellas

• Loud audio

• Anything that does not fit on your exhibition booth

Anything we deem a possible obstruction, eyesore or noise pollutant, or anything that could negatively impact attendee experience at the event, will not be allowed and may be removed if present at your startup booth. Please speak with the startup success team to address any queries.

Material:

Web Summit Rio is an environmentally conscious event, and we promote a paperless and single-use plastic free event where possible.

Prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, leaflets/flyers, stickers and single-use plastic items that could be distributed to an attendee. If you bring paper or single-use plastic items for distribution onsite, you will be instructed to remove them from the venue. Continued failure to comply will mean that your team’s access to the event will be revoked and you may be fined.

Items deemed useful and non-single use that startups are permitted to distribute on their exhibition day include branded USBs, pens, notepads, reusable water bottles, t-shirts with your company name, etc.

Please note: startups are limited to bringing one handheld-size box of promotional materials. If you have further questions regarding permitted items contact the Startup Success team.

Waste:

Stands must be left empty at the end of the day. Please do not leave rubbish in or around your stand. Recycling and waste bins will be provided across the exhibition floor to dispose of anything you don’t need.

Important: Web Summit is not responsible for the disposal of any items remaining on exhibition booths or the surrounding areas. Any leftover items found on startup booths are considered litter and therefore the startup will be subject to the minimum litter fine of €5000.

Your exhibition booth and printed exhibition board will be waiting for you on your assigned exhibition day. We encourage startups to get creative and capture attendees’ attention. 

There are lots of ways to stand out on the exhibition floor.

• Team: Consider wearing matching t-shirts with your company logo and name clearly visible.

• Your market: Think about your target market and whether you want to focus on building your brand there. Do you want to connect with all attendees, or focus on a particular type?

Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the venue for the entirety of the event, except where stated otherwise. This wifi is available for all attendees. 

Please note: Our wifi operates on the 5 GHz band, which is meant for lightweight usage, including email, browsing and instant messaging. You may see delays during peak times due to network congestion. 

Security constraints:

• Hotspots or rogue networks of any kind are completely prohibited and violate our terms and conditions. 

Internet-enabled network cables 

Your exhibition booth will include an ethernet network cable with internet connectivity. Please review the following terms to ensure support for your devices: 

Bandwidth 

• Bandwidth is shared with other wired points. During peak times, you may see delays due to network congestion. 

• This cable will be allocated a maximum speed of 7Mbps by default. 

Device support 

• You will be presented with a CAT5e cable with an RJ45 connector. 

• If you require mobile devices, connect them to our event wifi or bring an RJ45 network adapter to use with your ethernet cable. 

Security considerations

• Use of any and all network hardware such as routers, switches, access points and MiFi devices are strictly forbidden and will be terminated. 

• Hotspots or rogue networks of any kind are completely prohibited and against our terms and conditions. 

Please note: Operating any Wi-Fi network at our event without explicit permission is strictly forbidden and against our terms and conditions. 

We actively monitor for use of unauthorised devices and will terminate them if found. Unauthorised devices include (but are not limited to) Wi-Fi routers, and personal hotspots via your mobile phone or a MiFi device. 

Radio space in the venue is meant to be shared by everyone. Rogue networks directly interfere with that goal, disrupting everyone’s experience. We carefully plan and design our networks to support the best experience possible for everyone. 

You can only film at Web Summit with prior permission, provided that you follow all our camera guidelines here. Stage content and sensitive areas (such as registration or private lounges) can't be filmed, as well as other parts of the venue that you can find on the document above. 

If you'd like to film at the event, please email startupsuccess.rio@websummit.com with following;

• An itinerary of when and where you're planning to film

• The make and model of the camera and any associated equipment

• Confirm that the person/people filming have valid tickets to enter the event (these can be general or startup tickets)