Future of Web Apps

What Future of Web Apps does

Future of Web Apps (FOWA) is a conference and event business operated by Carsonified, a privately held UK company headquartered at 19c Charles Street, Bath, England. Founded in 2006, FOWA organizes multi-day technology conferences aimed at web and mobile developers, designers, and start-up founders, with events staged across London, San Francisco, and Miami between 2006 and 2008. The company also runs adjacent event brands covering web design (FOWD), mobile (FOM), and online advertising (FOOA), in addition to "Carson Workshops." Headcount is reported at 11-50 employees.

The core product is the flagship FOWA conference series, in which speakers from high-profile web companies (e.g., Google, Yahoo!, Flickr, Mozilla, Amazon, WordPress, TechCrunch) deliver sessions on emerging web technologies and business models to audiences of European and US start-ups and industry experts. The supporting "Conference in a Box" product packages session videos, slides, and bonus footage onto DVDs sold to non-attendees and used as team education resources. Distribution is purely physical: in-person event attendance and postal DVD fulfillment. There is no evidence of software-as-a-service delivery, API exposure, or proprietary platform technology beyond standard event production.

FOWA monetizes through three revenue streams: ticket sales for live conference attendance, sponsorship packages sold to companies seeking visibility in the web industry, and one-time DVD sales of recorded sessions. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The customer base spans individual developers, designers, and entrepreneurs as ticket buyers, with enterprise sponsorship deals forming a separate B2B revenue line. Geographic coverage spans the United Kingdom and the United States, but no data is available on operations, revenue, or events after March 2008.

Name

Future of Web Apps

Legal name

Carsonified

Website

https://futureofwebapps.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Future of Web Apps (FOWA), organized by UK-based Carsonified, is a conference series serving web developers, designers, and start-up founders through events in London, San Francisco, and Miami, with sponsorship sales and a Conference in a Box DVD product.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tech Conference Events

NAICS

Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer & Public Shows (B2C) Organizers (THAHABAC)

Keywords

• Tech conference events
• Web app conferences
• Developer networking events
• Startup industry conferences
• Web industry meetups

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Conference Tickets: Attendance fees for the Future of Web Apps conference events held in London, Miami, and San Francisco
2. Conference in a Box: DVD product sales containing videos of sessions, slides, resources and bonus footage from past events for those who cannot attend in person; also used as team education resource
3. Sponsorship Opportunities: Companies can sponsor FOWA events to gain visibility in the web industry

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Future of Web Apps (FOWA) is a multi-day conference series for web and mobile developers, designers, and entrepreneurs that showcases successful web technologies and business trends through talks by industry pioneers. Events are held in major cities including London, San Francisco, and Miami, with revenue derived from attendee ticket sales, sponsorship packages, and a complementary Conference in a Box DVD product containing recordings of past sessions.

Product overview

Future of Web Apps (FOWA) operates as a conference/event company offering a single primary product—the annual FOWA conference series—and a complementary Conference In A Box DVD product. The company also organizes related events including Future of Web Design (FOWD), Future of Mobile (FOM), and Future of Online Advertising (FOOA), all under the Carsonified brand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Future of Web Design: A related conference series focused on web design.
• Future of Mobile
• Future of Online Advertising
• Conference In A Box

Products and services

• Future of Web Apps (FOWA) Conference

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Direct peers

• Web Summit: Major tech conference operator running large-scale events (Web Summit, Collision, RISE) across multiple cities. Directly comparable business model: B2B/B2C tech conferences with ticket sales and sponsorship revenue, targeting similar developer and entrepreneur audiences.
• Le Web (Paris): Long-running European tech conference founded by Loic Le Meur, focused on internet and digital business. Highly comparable as a European tech conference targeting entrepreneurs, developers, and web industry professionals.
• Collision Conference: Major tech conference now operated by Web Summit, focused on startups and developers. Directly comparable business model and audience, and historically positioned as a competitor to events like FOWA in the European/US tech conference ecosystem.
• The Next Web (TNW Conference): European-based tech media and conference company operating TNW Conference in Amsterdam. Closely comparable as a web/tech industry event targeting developers and entrepreneurs with sponsorship and ticket revenue.
• TechCrunch (Disrupt Conference): Operates TechCrunch Disrupt, one of the most prominent startup/tech conferences globally. Same target audience (developers, founders, entrepreneurs), similar revenue model (tickets + sponsorships), and comparable speaker-driven content strategy.
• Smashing Conference: Web design and development conference with European editions (Freiburg, Barcelona). Comparable niche focus on web professionals with speaker-driven content and ticket/sponsorship revenue model.
• An Event Apart: Web design and development conference series for designers and developers. Closely comparable content focus (web industry best practices) and similar professional-attendee model with sponsorships and ticket sales.

Broad incumbents

• O'Reilly Media (Conferences): Operates multiple tech conferences (Velocity, OSCON, Strata) targeting developers. Similar audience (web developers and tech professionals) with comparable content library monetization through books and videos.
• SXSW: Massive annual conference/festival covering tech, music, and film. Overlaps with FOWA in the interactive/tech tracks but operates at much larger scale and broader scope, targeting similar web industry attendees.

Emerging players

• FWD50: Government digital and technology conference. Adjacent to FOWA in the web/digital technology conference space, but focused on public sector digital transformation rather than commercial web development.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FOWA
• YouTubeflickr.com/photos/fowa
• Facebookfacebook.com/FOWA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/future-insights

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Future of Web Apps