The Next Web, the Amsterdam-based firm behind considered one of Europe’s most recognisable tech occasions, has confirmed it is going to be winding down its occasions and media operations by the top of September following a strategic evaluate.
The Monetary Instances (FT), which took a majority stake in TNW in 2019, confirmed as we speak a call first shared with employees in June. The information was first reported by Amy Lewin, Editor of Sifted, one other FT-backed publication.
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, the Co-founder and board member of TNW, who spoke with EU-Startups simply after the announcement broke, acknowledged: “TNW has been the journey of a lifetime. We began out at a novel second in historical past, simply because the world was shifting on-line and all the things was turning into digital. It was a thrill to not solely witness that shift, however to assist spark and speed up it.”
He continued: “Over time, as digital grew to become the norm, our position felt much less about breaking new floor and extra about celebrating what had already been achieved. I’m grateful we obtained to play our half, and I’m glad we will now shut this chapter with delight.”
Based in 2006 by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Patrick de Laive, The Subsequent Internet (TNW) began as a tech convention with simply 280 attendees in a church in Amsterdam. By 2019, it had scaled as much as host 17,500 individuals and change into a central assembly level for Europe’s startup neighborhood.
Its newest – and now remaining – convention passed off in June this 12 months at NDSM in Amsterdam.
The announcement marks a major turning level for the European startup scene, which has seen TNW develop into greater than only a convention organiser. Alongside the flagship occasion, TNW developed a media publication and operated a coworking house.
Whereas each the media and occasions companies are closing down, the FT confirmed the coworking arm will proceed to “function as common.”
Initially seen as a key European asset for the FT, TNW was praised at the time of acquisition with FT Live Global Publisher Angela Mackay saying: “TNW is a longtime and worthwhile enterprise that produces one of many largest and most critically acclaimed tech startup occasions in Europe. There are clear synergies between TNW and FT Reside, in sharing audiences and delivering the FT’s world class journalism on stay phases in Europe. We look ahead to delivering top notch applications with our new companions.”
However indicators of hassle had been surfacing. The media group at TNW started to shrink after a number of editorial employees left on the finish of 2024, and convention attendance, which reached 10,000 between 2022 and 2024, fell to simply 4,500 in-person attendees this 12 months – lower than half of pre-pandemic ranges.
Although no formal figures have been disclosed on the variety of roles affected, the FT mentioned it has been “supporting them by means of this transition.”
The Covid-19 pandemic noticed TNW pivot to digital codecs, with 20,000 digital attendees becoming a member of in 2021, alongside 4,500 in particular person. However the broader post-pandemic panorama for Tech occasions has been a combined bag.
EU-Startups has adopted TNW’s journey intently for effectively over a decade. Our first piece on the occasion dates again to 2011, once we requested readers: “Will you join the TNW Conference in Amsterdam, in April?”.
With this chapter coming to a detailed, TNW’s exit underscores a broader shift in Europe’s startup ecosystem – a maturing scene the place media, occasions, and community-building face new financial and structural challenges, but in addition new alternatives.
