Web Summit Leader in Belgrade and CCIS

Serbia is one of the few European countries that has been recording a drastic increase in the participation of startups at the world’s largest technology fair, Web Summit, held in Lisbon, year after year.

This was the reason why the founder, CEO, and co-owner of Web Summit, Patrick (Paddy) Cosgrave, along with his team and in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS), visited Belgrade to learn about the potential of Serbia's innovative ecosystem and startup community.

“We’ve seen a fantastic growth in the number of startups coming from Serbia, so I just had to come and see what’s happening here. I wanted to meet these people in person and find out what’s going on in your country! I knew Serbia had one ‘alien,’ the great Novak Djokovic, and now I see you have an incredible number of highly innovative people and companies,” Cosgrave said at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.

The President of CCIS, Marko Čadež, introduced Cosgrave to the full range of opportunities Serbia offers for the development of startups and innovative companies, as well as the country’s capabilities and capacity to host major events.

“We’ve shown you what Serbia can do, what the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia can do, and that we want even greater and more meaningful cooperation with Web Summit,” Čadež said.

During his visit, Patrick Cosgrave also met with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to discuss potential collaboration. “It’s incredible how much information and data this man has in his head and how focused he is during conversations,” Cosgrave said after his meeting with the Serbian President.

The discussions and meetings between the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and Web Summit, which organizes conferences in Lisbon, Rio, Vancouver, and Qatar, will continue with the aim of establishing a strategic partnership.