Web Summit, RDS Photo: © Michael Fisher

The main hall at the RDS complex in Dublin was a hive of activity during the Web Summit. Presentations being made on various stages. I immediately noticed the stands of some major players in the world of business: Microsoft, PayPal, Verizon, Bing and a host of others including media players such as the Irish Times and RTÉ. But walking through to the next hall is where I found the real activity and what I thought was the most interesting part of the event.

Presentations in the Startup Village Photo: © Michael Fisher

This was the Alpha Startup Village. No large stands as in traditional exhibitions. Instead, each exhibitor was standing beside a board which had a poster with the name and some details of the company and on the wooden shelf underneath, there was room for one laptop. This is where new companies are born and bred. These exhibitors are young entrepreneurs all with different apps to promote and looking for investment. Much of their time here is spent networking and when two of them separately stopped me for a chat (seeing my media badge), I was happy to speak to both companies about their stories.

Gaylord Roukine of ilooove.it Photo: © Michael Fisher

Interested in mountain climbing? Then Gaylord Loukine from Namur in Belgium has just the app for you: http://climbing.ilooove.it/ is designed to help climbers around the world to share their passion for the sport, to discover new spots for climbing and also to make new friends in what they hope is an inspiring way.

Bastien Sannac of meludia.com Photo: © Michael Fisher

The other app I was introduced to promises a new perspective to help you understand music. Bastien Sannac is the founder of http://www.meludia.com/login which employs twelve people and is based in Paris.