Web Summit Rio Dispatch: Under the Sun, Research Still Needs a Revolution

A RB Dispatch from Web Summit Rio 2025

When Rio hosts something, it doesn’t whisper. It sings.

From the palm-lined avenues to the electric buzz of Riocentro, Web Summit Rio was more than just a tech conference. It was a celebration - of ideas, voices, and the future being shaped in every corner of the globe.

Over 34,000 attendees gathered this year, and while much of the world focused on funding winters or AI hype cycles, we came with a quieter - but no less urgent - mission to revolutionise how we access and experience research. And under the Rio sun, that mission resonated louder than we expected.

A Small Booth, A Big Idea

We weren’t on Centre Stage.

We didn’t have a neon rocket or a robot dog.

What we did have: a mic, a message, and a simple promise :

‍Let’s make research accessible. Free. Multilingual

And the response? Unforgettable.

Researchers walked over with curiosity. Educators lit up when we played a sample. Developers asked us how to integrate it into learning platforms. And creators - from Brazil to Bangladesh - said, “Finally, someone’s building this.”

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What started as hallway conversations turned into real collaborations.
What began as a startup pitch became a shared movement.

🌎 Research is global. So Are We.

One of our proudest moments came when we played our first-ever Brazilian Portuguese audio brief — a social science study summary, localised and natural, spoken with care.

People paused.

Some nodded.

Some smiled.

Some asked for more... It wasn’t just translation - it was recognition. That their language, their context, their curiosity mattered. That’s why we’re doubling down on multilingual audio this year:

• Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR) - soft-launched at Web Summit Rio

• Spanish - in early testing

• French, Swahili, Hindi - coming soon

Because knowledge shouldn’t have a passport.
Because curiosity lives in every language.

Who We Met (And What They Taught Us)

We went to Rio to pitch. But we mostly listened. And we’re so glad we did.

• A public university professor from São Paulo who said students “tune out academic PDFs” but “tune in to podcasts.”

• A social impact founder from Chile who wants ResearchBunny summaries embedded in their community learning platform.

• A language teacher from Lisbon who asked: “Can my students narrate research papers as an assignment?”

These moments reminded us:

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ResearchBunny is not just a product. It’s a tool for teaching, a platform for learning, and — most importantly — a bridge.

What We’re Taking Home from Rio

All smiles, but also,

‍1. Curiosity Is a Universal Language

Whether in Portuguese, English, or Spanish - the question remains the same: “Can you explain this to me in a way I’ll remember?”

2. Audio Meets People Where They Are

Listening is intimate. It fits into daily life. That’s why research should be heard — while walking, cooking, or unwinding.

3. Tech Conferences Need More Knowledge Tools

Among the dazzling demos and VC-backed dreams, we noticed one gap: very few were focused on knowledge access. We’re here to change that.

What’s Next for ResearchBunny ?

Inspired by Rio, here’s what we’re building toward:

• Multilingual Audio Channels - Listen to research in your native language

• Research Requests - Tell us what paper you want us to cover next

• B2B Integrations - Bring our summaries into your LMS or learning app

We’re not here to replace research.
We’re here to help it reach the people it was meant for.

🧡 Under the Rio Sun, We Saw the Future

       Not just in the startups, or the stages, or the software.

        We saw it in the educator who smiled at our audio clip.
        In the researcher who finally felt heard.
       In the student who said, “I’ll listen to this tonight.”

       Because the future of research isn’t just about publishing.
               It’s about sharing. Hearing. Learning.

                    Let’s build that future together.

Come listen. ResearchBunny is free, forever. For all curious minds, now available in 10+ languages.

Thanks for reading!

And we will see you all in Vancouver, Canada from May 27th to May 30th, 2025 for our next Web Summit!

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