Collision

The Collision conference set new records with 37,832 attendees from 117 countries. Marking its final year in Toronto, Collision will move to Vancouver as Web Summit in May 2025. Celebrating milestones, 45 percent of startups (734) were women-founded, up from 30 percent in 2023. Women constituted 42 percent of attendees and 35 percent of speakers across 18 tracks.

Collision 2024 featured 1,623 startups from 57 countries, the most ever. Nearly 200 startups participated in the Impact program, with 370 Black- or Indigenous-founded. The event hosted 570 speakers and facilitated 1,762 investor-to-startup meetings.

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Web Summit, the parent company of Collision, has confirmed that the annual North American technology conference will move from Toronto to Vancouver starting in 2025. Collision, which has been held in Toronto since 2019, will be rebranded as Web Summit Vancouver. Paddy Cosgrave, founder of Web Summit, praised Vancouver’s beauty and growing tech scene, stating that the city is an ideal location for the event.

The conference, which attracts 40,000 attendees from 130 countries, is expected to generate nearly $80 million in economic impact for Toronto this year. Web Summit Vancouver is scheduled for May 2025, with further details to be announced.

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Paddy Cosgrave has resumed his role as CEO of Web Summit, six months after resigning due to controversial remarks about Israel. In his return, Cosgrave is shifting the focus from large-scale events to smaller, community-centric functions. His departure last fall followed statements regarding Israel’s response to a Hamas attack, sparking significant backlash and leading to an apology and resignation.

Notably, his comments led to boycotts of Web Summit events, which include the Collision conference, slated to be held in Toronto for the fourth time in June. The CEO position had been vacant since Katherine Maher, Cosgrave’s temporary successor, left for a role at National Public Radio.

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Geoffrey Hinton, the renowned “godfather of artificial intelligence,” spoke at the Collision tech conference in Toronto, expressing his apprehensions about the future of AI.

As AI becomes smarter and more prevalent, Hinton emphasized the need to take its potential risks seriously. He outlined the major harms posed by the technology, including bias, joblessness, fake news, and existential risks.

Hinton’s concerns stem from recent advancements in AI, with language models approaching human reasoning abilities.

Despite differing opinions, Hinton believes a proactive approach is necessary to counter AI risks. He called for increased focus on understanding and mitigating potential AI-created situations.

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Collision, now in its fifth year in Toronto, has achieved a new milestone with a staggering attendance of 36,378 people from 118 countries.

This year, a record-breaking 30 percent of startups participating in Collision have women founders.

The event boasts a remarkable 41 percent female attendee rate, with 36 percent of the speakers being women.

Over the course of three in-person conferences since 2019, Collision has injected CA$188 million into Toronto’s economy.

With 1,727 startups from 76 countries and 1,426 speakers and media from 42 countries, Collision 2023 has cemented its position as a premier tech conference.

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Collision, one of the world’s largest tech events, announced that it will host the 2024 edition in Toronto. The event will gather thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and journalists from around the globe.

According to Destination Toronto’s projections, Collision 2023 is expected to contribute $49 million to Toronto’s economy. Over the past three years, the event has added a total of $188 million to the city’s economy.

Toronto has seen the establishment of offices and engineering hubs by renowned companies like Google, Netflix, and Cloudflare.

Paddy Cosgrave, Collision’s founder and CEO, expressed gratitude for the support from Destination Toronto and aims to amplify the event’s global impact.

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