TNW
TNW (The Next Web) logo
Website type
Technology news
Available inEnglish
HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
OwnerTekpon
Websitethenextweb.com Edit this at Wikidata
CommercialYes
Launched10 June 2008; 18 years ago (2008-06-10)[1]
Current statusActive

TNW (The Next Web) is a website and annual series of conferences focused on new technology and start-up companies in Europe.[2][3] As of 2026 TNW is owned by the Romanian SaaS company Tekpon.[4] The Next Web company was established in 2006 by co-founders Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Patrick de Laive in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and a technology news website of the same name was started in 2009.[2][5] For some years, the site was a recognised tech news sitie, and TNW's reporting was sourced by Wired, Mashable, and the Huffington Post, among others.[6][7][8][9]

On 5 March 2019, the Financial Times purchased a majority stake in TNW.[3][10] In 2025, TNW announced it would shut down its events and media operations, holding its last conference in June, while its coworking business continues to operate.[11] In December 2025, Tekpon bought the company, saying they would maintain the website and continue events.[4]

According to de Laive, it took one year for thenextweb.com to reach 100,000 monthly visitors, and at June 2016 it was getting 8 million to 10 million monthly visitors.[2]

Conferences

TNW Conference
StatusActive
GenreTechnology and Business
LocationAmsterdam
CountryNetherlands
Inaugurated2006
FoundersBoris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Patrick de Laive
Attendance17,500 (2019)
Websitethenextweb.com/conference

Speakers at TNW Conferences have included Gary Vaynerchuk, Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, and Robert Cailliau.[12][13]

In 2017, The Next Web's Amsterdam conference came under fire for making misleading statements, and having a lack of transparency about paying presenters for speaking appearances, and for having a gender gap in the number of its male and female presenters, and a gender pay gap in their compensation.[13]

In 2020 the event was fully online and for their 2021 event they held a hybrid and smaller event because of COVID-19 restrictions in the Netherlands.

See also

References

  1. ^ "thenextweb.com – WHOIS, DNS, & domain info – DomainTools". whois.DomainTools.com. WHOIS. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Thomas, Aby Sam (12 June 2016). "Staying on top of Generation-T: The Next Web co-founder Patrick de Laive". www.Entrepreneur.com. Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b Gross, Anna (5 March 2019). "FT acquires majority stake in The Next Web". www.FT.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b Lawrence, Cate (9 December 2025). "Tekpon's bold bet: Why a SaaS marketplace bought TNW without seeing the numbers". Tech.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2026.
  5. ^ "Top 6 takeaways from The Next Web". OpenCampus.NewSchool.edu. The New School – Open Campus. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  6. ^ Thompson, Rachel (26 January 2018). "Here's why your Instagram and Facebook feeds are looking bare this morning". Mashable.com. Mashable. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Security news this week". Wired. Wired. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  8. ^ Emerson, Ramona (4 January 2012). "Silicon Valley Ryan Gosling: 'Hey Girl' meme goes tech". www.HuffingtonPost.com. Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Google's new podcast app for Android comes built into Search and Assistant". Firstpost. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  10. ^ Davies, Jessica (5 March 2019). "The Financial Times buys The Next Web to beef up live events business". Digiday. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  11. ^ Lewin, Amy (5 September 2025). "The Next Web conference shuts down". Sifted. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  12. ^ "HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands". www.CES.tech. Consumer Electronics Show. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  13. ^ a b Ehrenkranz, Melanie (15 March 2017). "The 'Next Web' tech conference is under fire for stiffing speakers". www.Mic.com. Mic. Retrieved 14 October 2020.

Further reading