<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>Apply for our 2025 startup program and join us in Rio.</p>


Apply for ALPHA 2025

<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

Meet the startups that took part in PITCH 2024

Bee2Be

Clina.care

Doutor123

Exato Digital

Foodpass

Manycontent

MATIS

Olá Doutor

Turivius

TYMY

VoxCell BioInnovation

Airbuzz

Amplify UGC

BotVendas

Btix

Ecoa Biocombustíveis

FabNS

H+Trace

Harpa Global

icook

Intelijus

iTRecruiter

JJ4Tech

Kyanda Africa

Lets Fly

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