Two years in the past, Jon Fath moved together with his household to Portugal from the Netherlands with the only real objective of launching a fintech startup there. “This nation is brimming with expertise and ambition,” Fath says. “I thank Lisbon for welcoming me, together with so many different expats and entrepreneurs, so warmly.”
Certainly, it’s no shock that the European Fee named Lisbon as 2023’s European Capital of Innovation, whereas the Monetary Occasions, in partnership with Statista, ranked two Portuguese startup hubs in Europe’s prime ten startup hubs—together with the Unicorn Manufacturing unit Lisboa, which launched in 2022 and has already supported greater than 820 startups and helped increase greater than €1 billion ($1.1 billion) .
“Portugal gives distinctive benefits, similar to its local weather, security, and price of residing, which make it a horny selection over nations in central or northern Europe,” says Nuno Pereira, CEO of Paynest.
Authorities has performed a task too, with insurance policies similar to residence visas for entrepreneurs and tax incentives to startups engaged in R&D. “That was instrumental in permitting the Portuguese startups to return throughout the opposite facet alive, after the VC drought of the previous two years,” says Mauro Frota, CEO of fittech startup Bhout.
Rauva
Earlier than launching Rauva in Lisbon, Jon Fath had been a startup CEO in Amsterdam, co-founded a logistics firm in Frankfurt and labored for an funding administration agency in Beijing. “I made a decision to start out Rauva based mostly on my experiences working with entrepreneurs and co-founding different corporations,” Fath says. “I took the plunge to construct a one-stop store to make entrepreneurship accessible to everybody.” Rauva permits entrepreneurs to register their companies on-line in a matter of minutes, providing a raft of options like debit playing cards and invoicing. “As well as, if the corporate has not but been created, Rauva gives that service with the help of legal professionals,“ Fath says. “Our resolution helps cut back the time spent on bureaucratic processes.” The startup, launched in 2022 by Fath and Sam Mizrahi, has additionally lately partnered with researchers to design a sooner and extra correct credit score scoring system utilizing machine studying and quantum computing. Presently, Rauva has greater than 3,000 customers and has helped create greater than a thousand new corporations. rauva.com
Neuraspace
Presently, there are almost 9,900 energetic satellites orbiting the planet, a quantity estimated to develop by an order of magnitude by 2030. “The chance of collisions attributable to house particles is escalating,” says Chiara Manfletti, the founding president of the Portuguese House Company and CEO of Neuraspace. “These collisions can destroy satellites, resulting in substantial monetary losses and disrupting important companies similar to financial institution transactions, the web, GNSS (international navigation satellite tv for pc system), and Earth statement. The present handbook decision-making processes are insufficient to deal with this scale.” Neuraspace addresses this downside through the use of AI to investigate varied datasets, together with radar and star trackers, and mechanically predict potential collisions and counsel avoidance maneuvers. This house site visitors administration platform is at present monitoring greater than 300 satellites from satellite tv for pc operators similar to Spire, Nanoavionics and the European House Company. Based in 2020, the startup has raised a complete of $27.5 million (£20.8 million). “The massive imaginative and prescient for Neuraspace is reaching self-sustaining, autonomous house actions,” Manfletti says. neuraspace.com
Bhout
In 2021, Mauro Frota opened a health club that includes a singular piece of kit: a wise boxing bag. Developed by Frota and Pedro Barata, the Bhout bag comes with an AI processing unit, biometric sensors and a wise digicam that may observe the accuracy, pace and energy of each punch. “The concept got here to me in a dream,“ Frota says “I misplaced rely of the variety of iterations to get there. We have been creating a brand new product from scratch.” The punching bag can also be outfitted with a set of sunshine rings that nudges gym-goers into totally different exercise rhythms. Its core is made of froth layers and stuffed with water, mimicking the sensation of hitting one other boxer. In response to Frota, 20 new Bhout golf equipment are already confirmed in Portugal and Spain. Quickly, it is going to additionally begin promoting the Bhout bag, at costs ranging between €6,000 to €10,000 ($6,1000 to $11,000) to purchasers together with LinkedIn and Marriott Accommodations. In 2023, the fit-tech startup raised a €10 million ($11 million) seed spherical co-led by Explorer Investments and Lince Capital. bhout.com
MyCareforce
MyCareforce is bringing the gig economic system to healthcare. “Hospitals usually lack the mandatory employees to fulfill demand they usually don’t have the suitable instruments to rent individuals for additional shifts rapidly,” says CEO Pedro Cruz Morais. “We knew many medical doctors who have been utilizing WhatsApp to search out additional shifts and we realized we may resolve this downside with know-how.” MyCareforce supplies an clever platform that connects nurses to hospitals and clinics, permitting them to use and instantly guide obtainable shifts. The platform, launched in 2021 by Cruz Morais and co-founder João Hugo Silva, has greater than 15,000 nurses registered on the platform and works with greater than 70 healthcare items, similar to hospitals and clinics, in Portugal and Brazil. It has raised a €2 million ($2.2 million) spherical led by Portugal Gateway, Shilling and Demium Capital. mycareforce.co
Oscar
Oscar permits customers to guide greater than 150 at-home companies—from cleansing to blind repairs—for a hard and fast charge and inside half-hour. “The concept happened after a nasty expertise attempting to name a plumber to repair my water heater,” João Marques, founder and CEO of Oscar, says. “After losing hours contacting a number of technicians and evaluating quotes, I scheduled a service and the technician by no means confirmed up. It was apparent that an Uber house service was lacking.” The platform, which is on the market in Portugal and Madrid, at present hosts greater than 20,000 technicians, that are admitted after a rigorous choice course of and background test. In response to Marques, their annual income is at present €12 million ($13.4 million) and rising 40 % each quarter. They’ve raised greater than €6 million ($6.7 million) in a spherical led by Lince Capital and Indico Capital Companions. oscar-app.com
Glooma
Francisco Nogueira’s cousin was 40 when she detected a lump in her chest. “She thought it was nothing, however three months later, the lump had not disappeared,” says Frederico Inventory, CEO of Glooma. Sadly, the lump was a malignant tumor and he or she needed to have a mastectomy. “Francisco determined to create Glooma so that ladies in the identical state of affairs can act sooner.” The startup, launched in 2020 by Nogueira and Inventory, is growing SenseGlove, a glove outfitted with good sensors that ladies can use to do a breast self-exam. “It will possibly observe modifications in breast tissue over time and notify medical doctors when there’s an abnormality,” Nogueira says. In response to him, an early proof-of-concept trial confirmed that the SenseGlove appropriately recognized most cancers 88 % of the time, with a charge of 12 % false positives. The startup, which has raised greater than €600,000 ($671,000) is now present process medical trials with the newest prototype. The staff hopes to obtain FDA-approval by 2025. glooma.pt
Sheerme
“While you want a taxi, you will have Uber; once you want a lodge, you will have reserving.com, however what do you do once you want a hair salon or a spa?” asks Miguel Ribeiro, CEO of Sheerme. In response to Ribeiro, 85 % of wellness and sweetness companies require prior reserving, however solely 10 % may be booked on-line. “Sheerme fills that void,” he says. The platform permits customers to search out, guide and pay for companies supplied by 7,000 well being and sweetness retailers. “Now we have additionally partnered with L’Oréal and created a white-labeled resolution known as SAL(ON),” says Ribeiro, who based the platform with Karly Alves and Shakil Satar. The startup, which has greater than 250,000 customers throughout Portugal, Brazil and Spain, has raised a €5 million ($5.5 million) seed spherical led by Lince Capital. sheerme.com
Sqill
Sqill is an AI-powered cellular video editor for social media manufacturers. “With our social media suite and with one single click on, anybody can create higher content material than a social media professional,” says Afonso Coimbra, co-founder and CEO of Sqill. The platform makes use of AI for a variety of duties, similar to recommending what to publish or mechanically including subtitles. Based in 2021 by Coimbra, Rui Ascenso and André Perdigão, the startup has raised €2 million ($2.2 million) by GED Ventures. It has purchasers in Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the US, together with L’Oréal, the web market Worten and the Portuguese soccer membership FC Porto. sqill.so
Ubbu
Greater than 300,000 college students in additional than 20 nations have used on-line studying platform Ubbu to be taught coding and digital abilities. “Our platform is constructed for the on a regular basis trainer, even for these with no coding expertise, who account for round 90 %,” says João Magalhães, CEO and founding father of Ubbu. “It’s accessible to everybody as a result of we need to cut back the limitations to enter the tech market.” Aimed toward kids between the ages of 6 and 12, the platform is on the market in 4 languages and consists of Ubbox, a device that permits initiatives to be made utilizing a programming language by way of blocks. A analysis research by Universidade Nova Lisboa discovered that Ubbu college students may enhance their math grades by as much as 17 % in comparison with a management group. Ubbu.io
Paynest
Based in 2022 by Nuno Pereira, Paynest is a platform for corporations to handle their staff’ funds. “Our mission is to assist corporations tackle all the monetary wants of their staff in every single place whereas empowering them to achieve better management over their funds,” Pereira says. Options embrace simplified expense administration, early entry to wage and bonuses, monetary teaching, and entry to monetary literacy instruments. Paynest is at present utilized by greater than 30,000 staff from greater than 50 corporations in Portugal, Greece and France. It has additionally raised a complete of €3 million ($3.3 million) from buyers similar to Lince Capital and Bluecrow Capital. paynest.co
This text first appeared within the November/December 2024 version of WIRED UK.
