The Irish based Web Summit has announced that from 2016 to 2019 it will take place in Lisbon, Portugal.

Chief executive and co-founder Paddy Cosgrave said the summit had grown beyond what he and his fellow co-founders Daire Hickey and David Kelly thought possible five years ago when the first took place in Dublin.

Mr Cosgrave said they had chosen the Portuguese capital because it has strong infrastructure, a thriving start-up community and a world class venue.

The company which employs 130 people at its headquarters in Dublin, will continue to be based in Ireland.

The decision will deal a significant blow to the Irish economy, as Failte Ireland estimates that last year the Web Summit brought in €100 million to the local economy.

The event will take place in the MEO Arena and Feira Internacional de Lisboa, a venue which can accommodate at least 50,000 people and which the Web Summit says has extensive transport links and capacity to enable it to grow substantially.

The company said that Lisbon is also attractive because of a growing technology start-up scene, driven by low rents and affordable IT talent.

The Web Summit was founded in 2010 when it had just 400 attendees. Over the years the number of people attending rose rapidly each year and last year 22,000 people attend the event. The event’s bosses predict that this year’s Web Summit at the RDS in November will have around 30,000 attendees, with 2,000 start-ups, 1,000 leading investors and 650 speakers due to take part.

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