LISBON, Portugal: November 13, 2026 When Web Summit organizers announced that Day 2 of the conference would be cancelled due to Storm Charles, three members of the investment community decided not to let the week's momentum disappear. By the next afternoon, WET SUMMIT Lisbon 2026, an investor-only pop-up summit and unconference (wetsummitlisbon.com), was underway in Lisbon in partnership with Valois by Yorkseed.
The idea came from Susie Trujillo of STRUC VENTURES, Ashley Martis of StartupFuel and Gergo Gulyas, who asked whether the investment community could still come together. Serkan Kurtuluş began building the WET SUMMIT website immediately.
Around midnight, Susie and Ashley shared the plan with Jessica Sophia Wong, founder of Yorkseed, who was hosting a Yorkseed event at Bar Na Colina. Planning began on the spot. The teams agreed to fold the Allocator Table, Valois by Yorkseed's originally scheduled private evening for capital allocators, into WET SUMMIT, combining two communities into one gathering.
WET SUMMIT took place on Wednesday, November 11, at Garagem da Vizinha by WOTELS in Saldanha. While the organizers worked across logistics, programming and outreach, the Valois team reviewed applications, verified investor credentials and conducted due diligence to curate a room of active investors and capital allocators, including family offices, LPs, GPs, institutional investors, venture capitalists and private capital leaders.
The day followed an unconference format, with a topic market, three discussion rounds and group read-outs. With Web Summit directing investors toward the pop-up, interest continued to build.
"The goal wasn't simply to gather as many people as possible. It was to create an environment where meaningful conversations could lead to partnerships, co-investments and lasting relationships."
The evening continued with the WET SUMMIT × Valois After Party at one of Lisbon's top cocktail bars, put together in roughly 30 minutes of planning, giving guests a chance to keep talking after the sessions closed.
By the time Web Summit resumed for its final conference day, WET SUMMIT had become a talking point across the conference, including among people who had not attended. PÚBLICO, one of Portugal's leading newspapers, reported on WET SUMMIT the same week.
"No single person made it happen. It took people with different strengths, networks and resources coming together, trusting one another and figuring things out as we went. The value of a network isn't measured by how many people you know, but by what people can accomplish when they come together."
A huge thank you to Susie, Ashley, Gergo, Serkan and everyone behind the scenes.
WET SUMMIT Lisbon 2026 was an independent, investor-only pop-up summit and unconference, created in response to the cancellation of a Web Summit conference day. It is not affiliated with Web Summit. wetsummitlisbon.com
Valois by Yorkseed is Yorkseed's curated inner circle for family offices, GPs, LPs and allocators. Membership is invitation-only, by referral or direct application. Learn more at thevalois.com.
Yorkseed is a curated, application-reviewed venture network for startup founders raising capital and investors actively deploying it, with hubs in 50+ cities. Learn more at yorkseed.co.
Yorkseed Press Team
news@yorkseed.co