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Our team attended Web Summit for the very first time, and it became a truly milestone experience for us. We returned with dozens of promising connections, new partnerships in the making, strong investor interest, and an impressive wave of attention to JetRuby’s new brand — Digital Winery.
From early vineyard visits to a packed booth on the final day, the entire trip became a critical step in shaping our international presence and product strategy.
Digital Winery Roadshow: A Strong Start Even Before the Summit
Part of our team arrived in Portugal early to visit three wineries around Lisbon — large, mid-sized, and small. According to our account manager Dima Kovalchuk, this turned out to be an excellent opportunity to validate the product and gather industry insights directly from European winemakers. Their feedback confirmed that the challenges Digital Winery addresses are just as relevant in Portugal.
“Each winery confirmed that we are moving in the right direction. It was exciting to see how quickly people understood the value of Digital Winery,” noted Dima Kovalchuk.
These meetings served as a powerful warm-up for the Web Summit itself: the team refined the pitch, collected questions from real users, and adjusted their positioning for the European market.
We also attended a private pre-Summit gathering hosted by Russian-speaking investors, which helped us quickly establish an initial network and gather valuable feedback before the main event even began.
Day 0-1: Early Access and Strong First Connections
From the outset, the team gained an unexpected advantage: early access to the venue, which enabled us to understand the layout better, prepare for meetings, and navigate the space more confidently once the Summit commenced.
The opening networking events also provided us with the opportunity to meet participants from various regions and industries — an excellent foundation for the days ahead.
Day 1: Productive Meetings and Valuable Market Insights
The first full day brought a steady flow of conversations. Thanks to solid preparation, most of our early meetings took place as planned. Beyond that, informal gatherings and meetups proved especially productive. They helped us connect with startups, founders, and ecosystem players from the U.S., Europe, and beyond.
Digital Winery consistently drew interest and curiosity — it became an excellent conversation starter, naturally leading to broader discussions about our capabilities and expertise.
These early interactions helped us better understand the audience and opportunities Web Summit attracts — an important insight for shaping future event strategies.
Day 2: Our Most Productive Day of the Summit
The second day became the highlight in terms of business activity. With everyone fully settled into the event, communication became smoother and meetings more efficient. We successfully engaged with nearly all our pre-generated leads and conducted conversations across multiple zones, stands, and meeting points.
With a mix of scheduled and spontaneous meetings, this day significantly strengthened our lead pipeline and opened several new opportunities we are now developing.
Day 3: A Stand That Turned Into a Magnet
Our booth on the final day became the center of attention for us. Despite being the quietest day of the Summit, we still experienced continuous traffic and genuine interest from attendees.
People approached us throughout the day wanting to learn more about who we are, what we do, and why Digital Winery is unique. According to our Head of Customer Success, Artem Gavrilov, the team:
“At one point, we couldn’t lift our heads — people were approaching non-stop. It was the moment you realize your product truly resonates.”
This was one of the most impactful moments of the entire trip: a full day of deep, high-quality interactions that demonstrated strong demand and curiosity around both Digital Winery and our broader development expertise.
Strategic Preparation That Paid Off
Our Sales Ops lead, Vladislav Bayderin, emphasized that the trip’s success was built long before we arrived in Lisbon. Over the 1.5 months leading up to Web Summit, the leadgen team processed more than 4,000 contacts and initiated conversations that laid the foundation for on-site meetings.
This preparation helped us schedule around 30 intro calls before the Summit, ensuring that once on-site, conversations felt familiar and moved quickly toward meaningful discussions.
During the Summit, the leadgen team managed the entire schedule: optimizing routes, adding informal gatherings and meetups, and ensuring the team stayed connected to the right sessions and communities. This operational backbone enabled us to hold 50+ on-site meetings, maximizing the value of every minute.
In total, we returned with a diverse and high-quality pipeline:
- ~10 potential client leads
- 12 winery contacts interested in Digital Winery
- 20 investors open to further conversations
- dozens of additional warm connections across sectors
We also successfully visited and connected with the top wineries in the Lisbon region — a significant achievement stemming from our preparation and outreach efforts.
“Seeing the genuine interest from both wineries and tech partners reinforced that our approach is right on track,” added Dima Kovalchuk.
How Web Summit Expanded Our Vision
This trip marked a significant landmark for the company. It helped us validate product hypotheses, adjust messaging for new markets, and see firsthand how strongly people respond to both our products and our team.
Perhaps most importantly, it altered our perception of our presence at global events. As Vladislav noted, large conferences were not a priority last year; however, after the Web Summit, we’ve already committed to returning next year and are actively exploring additional specialized events for 2024-2025.
Offline presence has proven essential for building trust, demonstrating our capabilities, and forming long-term partnerships.
Final Takeaways
Web Summit was an extraordinarily productive and insightful experience for us. We:
- built dozens of high-value connections
- expanded our investor network
- validated Digital Winery with industry professionals
- gained new opportunities with potential clients
- strengthened our presence in the wine tech ecosystem
- gathered strategic insights for European market expansion
- delivered a standout performance at our booth
- and shaped a clear vision for future event participation
For a first-time appearance, the results exceeded expectations — and now we’re entering the following stages with renewed confidence, strong momentum, and a clear roadmap for Web Summit 2025.
