<p>PITCH is Web Summit Rio&#8217;s startup pitching competition, bringing together the world’s leading early-stage startups to battle it out onstage. Founders have the chance to pitch to – and learn from – investors and leaders.</p>
<p><strong>Please note applications for 2025 have closed now</strong>. You can still book tickets or apply for our 2026 ALPHA startup programme.</p>


Apply for ALPHA 2026

<p>PITCH is open to exhibiting ALPHA and BETA startups that have received less than €5 million in funding to date and that have not had a discernible change in business model in the last three years.</p>


What happens when I apply?

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<p>All applications are recorded and passed on to an independent panel of influential judges for assessment.</p>
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Assessment and selection

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<p>The top 42 startups will prepare their decks and delivery to battle it out onstage at Web Summit.</p>
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Prepare for battle

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<p>Present in front of a panel of investors, members of the media and global partners for the chance to be crowned the winner of PITCH.</p>
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Time to pitch


<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-the-winner-of-web-summit-rio-2024-s-pitch-powered-by-the-ministry-of-science-technology-and-innovation">Meet the winner of Web Summit Rio 2024’s PITCH, powered by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.</h3>



<p>SaaS startup <a href="https://deco.cx/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deco.cx</a> has won Web Summit Rio 2024’s PITCH competition, powered by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The Brazilian startup is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Co-founder Guilherme Rodrigues collected the prize on Center Stage at Riocentro, having won out over Canadian healthtech startup VoxCell BioInnovation, and Brazilian AI and machine learning startup Manycontent.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Deco.cx is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that allows users to build high-performance ecommerce platforms. Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, deco.cx has employees based all over Brazil, including in Paraíba, São Paulo and Fortaleza.</p>



<p>“<em>Winning the PITCH competition shows that a Brazilian company can address a global market and build a global product. Brazil is a giant market, but unfortunately that means lots of people assume that Brazilian companies can only serve the Brazilian market. And that’s what we’re out to prove – that it’s wrong; that we can serve global markets with a Brazilian platform,”</em> said Guilherme Rodrigues, co-founder of deco.cx.</p>



<p>Guilherme and his co-founders Luciano Júnior and Rafael Crespo met while working at an ecommerce management company, before deciding to set up deco.cx in 2022. The company aims to build the largest multi-platform ecommerce community in the world, and is already backed by a community of more than 2,800 members.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This is Guilherme, Luciano and Rafael’s second time attending Web Summit Rio with deco.cx, but this was their first time pitching the company on Center Stage.</p>



<p><em>“It’s great and nerve-wracking at the same time, especially talking on Center Stage. But it’s amazing to have so many people from all over the world here, and to get to know a lot of great people.”</em></p>



<p>PITCH, powered by Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, is Web Summit Rio’s startup competition, which brings together some of the world’s most promising early-stage startups for a live onstage battle.</p>



<p>40 startups took part in the group stages of the PITCH competition, and eight startups competed in the semi-final.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A judging panel comprising Brazil’s national secretary for technology and innovation at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Guila Calheiros; Kaszek partner Santiago Fossatti; and Mundi Ventures investment director Rafaela Andrade selected deco.cx as the winner.&nbsp;</p>



<p>1,066 startups from 42 countries attended Web Summit Rio 2024. A record 45 percent of these startups were women-founded – the highest proportion of any Web Summit event in the company’s global roster, and more than double the proportion of women-founded startups that were at Web Summit Rio last year. </p>



<p><em>Main image of Guilherme Rodrigues and Rafael Crespo</em>, <em>co-founders of <a href="http://deco.cx/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deco.cx</a></em></p>


Deco.cx triumphs as Web Summit Rio 2024 PITCH champion

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Maria Hahn

<p>I’ve pitched to the public before, but the size of the PITCH audience is very impressive.</p>


Alex Kendall

<p>The publicity of winning PITCH gave us a build in momentum as we approach our next fundraising.</p>


Ana Robakidze

<p>I was watching as an attendee, and I said, ‘One day, I want to be there on the stage’. … It feels surreal.</p>


<p>Since beginning Web Summit’s startup competition PITCH back in 2013, there have been 21 winners from around the world. Many have gone on to great success in the tech world.</p>


Learn more

The Web Summit PITCH winners that have raised US$1.5 billion

Meet some of our past winners

Meet our 2024 PITCH judges

Head of Corporate Venture Capital

Pedro Saliba

Principal

Julia Salles

Founder & CEO

Philipe Moura

Board member and Investor

Alessandra Dabul

Artur Faria

Angel Investor

Renata Brasil

Presidente & Investidor

Marcelo Deschamps

Co-Founder and Chairwoman

Bianca Lopes

CMO & Ecosystem Engagement 

Paulo Emediato

Venture Capital Scout

Claire Diaz-Ortiz

Ceo 

Paulo Costa

Co-founder

Brian Requarth

Founder

Rafaela Andrade

National Secretary for Technological Development and Innovation 

Guila Calheiros

Partner | Venture Capital, Strategy & Innovation

Daniel Malandrin

Watch the Web Summit Rio 2024 highlights

PITCH | Startups | RIO25