Two years ago, Jon Fath moved his family to Portugal from the Netherlands for the sole purpose of launching a fintech startup there. “This country is full of talent and ambition,” says Fath. “Thank you to Lisbon for such a warm welcome to me, as well as to many other emigrants and entrepreneurs.”
Indeed, it is no surprise that the European Commission has recognized Lisbon as the European Innovation Capital for 2023, while Financial Times.in cooperation with Statista, placed two Portuguese startup centers in the top ten largest startup centers in Europe – including Unicorn Factory Lisboa, which was launched in 2022 and has already supported over 820 startups and helped raise over EUR 1 billion ( USD 1.1 billion).
“Portugal offers unique advantages such as climate, safety and cost of living, which make it an attractive choice compared to Central and Northern European countries,” says Nuno Pereira, CEO of Paynest.
The government has also played a role by implementing policies such as residence visas for entrepreneurs and tax incentives for R&D startups. “This has played a key role in enabling Portuguese startups to make a vibrant transition to the other side after the VC drought that has occurred over the past two years,” says Mauro Frota, CEO of fittech startup Bhout.
Rauva
Before founding Rauva in Lisbon, Jon Fath was the CEO of a startup in Amsterdam, co-founded a logistics company in Frankfurt, and worked for an investment management firm in Beijing. “I decided to start Rauva based on my experiences working with entrepreneurs and co-founding other companies,” says Fath. “I decided to create a one-stop shop to make entrepreneurship accessible to everyone.” Rauva enables entrepreneurs to register their business online in minutes, offering a range of features such as debit cards and invoicing. “In addition, if the company has not yet been formed, Rauva offers this service with the support of lawyers,” says Fath. “Our solution helps reduce the time spent on bureaucratic processes.” The startup, founded in 2022 by Fath and Sam Mizrahi, also recently partnered with researchers to design a faster and more correct credit scoring system using machine learning and quantum computing. Rauva currently has over 3,000 users and has helped create over a thousand novel businesses. rauva.com
Neurospace
There are currently almost 9,900 busy satellites orbiting the planet, and this number is expected to raise by an order of magnitude by 2030. “The risk of collisions caused by space debris is increasing,” says Chiara Manfletti, founder of the Portuguese Space Agency and CEO of Neuraspace. “These collisions can destroy satellites, leading to significant financial losses and disrupting essential services such as banking transactions, the Internet, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and Earth observation. Current manual decision-making processes are inadequate to cope with this scale. Neuraspace solves this problem by using artificial intelligence to analyze various datasets, including radar and star trackers, and automatically predicts potential collisions and suggests evasive maneuvers. This space traffic management platform currently tracks over 300 satellites from satellite operators such as Spire, Nanoavionics and the European Space Agency. Founded in 2020, the startup has raised a total of $27.5 million (£20.8 million). “The grand vision of Neuraspace is to achieve self-sustaining, autonomous space operations,” Manfletti says. neurospace.com
भूत
In 2021, Mauro Frota opened a gym with unique equipment: a sharp punching bag. Developed by Frot and Pedro Barat, the Bhout bag is equipped with an AI processor, biometric sensors and a sharp camera that can track the accuracy, speed and power of each punch. “The idea came to me in a dream,” says Frota. “I lost count of how many iterations I had to go through to achieve this. We created a new product from scratch.” The punching bag is also equipped with a set of lithe rings that set gym-goers into different exercise rhythms. Its core is made of layers of foam and filled with water, imitating the feeling of being punched by another boxer. According to Frot, 20 novel Bhout clubs have already been confirmed in Portugal and Spain. It will also soon start selling the Bhout bag at prices ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 euros ($6,1,000 to $11,000) to customers including LinkedIn and Marriott hotels. In 2023, the fit-tech startup raised a €10 million ($11 million) seed round co-led by Explorer Investments and Lince Capital. bhout.com
MyCareforce
MyCareforce brings the gig economy to healthcare. “Hospitals often lack the staff needed to meet demand and do not have the tools to quickly hire people for additional shifts,” says CEO Pedro Cruz Morais. “We knew a lot of doctors who were using WhatsApp to find extra changes and we realized we could solve this problem with technology.” MyCareforce provides an wise platform that connects nurses with hospitals and clinics, enabling them to submit requests and instantly book available shifts. Launched in 2021 by Cruz Morais and co-founder João Hugo Silva, the platform has over 15,000 registered nurses and collaborates with over 70 healthcare entities, such as hospitals and clinics, in Portugal and Brazil. It raised a €2 million ($2.2 million) round led by Portugal Gateway, Shilling and Demium Capital. mycareforce.co
Oscar
Oscar allows users to book over 150 home services – from cleaning to roller blind repairs – for a flat fee and within 30 minutes. “The idea came after a bad experience when I tried to call a plumber to fix my water heater,” says João Marques, founder and CEO of Oscar. “After wasting hours contacting multiple technicians and comparing quotes, I made an appointment for service, but the technician never showed up. It was obvious that Uber’s home service was missing.” The platform, which is available in Portugal and Madrid, currently employs over 20,000 technicians, who are hired after a demanding selection process and background checks. According to Marques, their annual revenue is now 12 million euros ($13.4 million) and growing by 40 percent every quarter. They raised more than €6 million ($6.7 million) in a round led by Lince Capital and Indico Capital Partners. oscar-app.com
Gloma
Francisco Nogueira’s cousin was 40 years ancient when he felt a lump in his chest. “She thought it was nothing, but three months later the tumor was not gone,” says Frederico Stock, Gloom’s CFO and COO. Unfortunately, the tumor turned out to be malignant and a mastectomy was necessary. “Francisco decided to create Glooma so that women in the same situation could act faster.” The startup founded in 2021 by Nogueira and Stock is developing SenseGlove, a glove equipped with sharp sensors that women can employ to self-examine their breasts. “It can track changes in breast tissue over time and notify doctors if abnormalities occur,” Nogueira says. According to him, an early proof-of-concept study showed that the SenseGloves correctly diagnosed cancer 88% of the time, with a 12% false positive rate. The startup, which has raised over €1.3 million ($1.4 million), is currently undergoing clinical trials with its latest prototype. The team hopes to obtain FDA approval by 2025. glooma.pt
Sheerme
“When you need a taxi, you have Uber; if you need a hotel, you have booking.com, but what if you need a hair salon or spa?” – asks Miguel Ribeiro, CEO of Sheerme. According to Ribeiro, 85 percent of wellness and beauty services require advance reservations, but only 10 percent can be booked online. “Sheerme fills that void,” he says. The platform allows users to search, book and pay for services provided by 7,000 health and beauty sellers. “We also partnered with L’Oréal and created a solution under our own brand called SAL(ON),” says Ribeiro, who founded the platform with Karly Alves and Shakil Satar. The startup, which has more than 250,000 users in Portugal, Brazil and Spain, has raised a €5 million ($5.5 million) seed round led by Lince Capital. sheerme.com
Onion
Sqill is an AI-powered mobile video editor for social media brands. “With our social media suite and one click, anyone can create better content than a social media expert,” says Afonso Coimbra, co-founder and CEO of Sqill. The platform uses artificial intelligence for a number of tasks, such as recommending content to publish and automatically adding subtitles. Founded in 2021 by Coimbra, Rui Ascenso and André Perdigão, the startup raised €2 million ($2.2 million) from GED Ventures. It has clients in Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the US, including L’Oréal, online marketplace Worten and Portuguese football club FC Porto. sqill.so
Ubbu
Over 300,000 students in over 20 countries have used Ubbu’s online learning platform to learn coding and digital skills. “Our platform is designed for teachers who work every day, even those who have no coding experience, which constitutes about 90 percent,” says João Magalhães, CEO and founder of Ubbu. “It is available to everyone because we want to reduce the barriers to entry in the technology market.” Aimed at children aged 6 to 12, the platform is available in four languages and includes Ubbox, a tool that allows you to create projects using the block programming language. A study by Universidade Nova Lisboa found that Ubbu students could improve their math grades by up to 17 percent compared to the control group. Ubbu.io
Paynesta
Founded in 2022 by Nuno Pereira, Paynest is a platform for companies to manage their employees’ finances. “Our mission is to help companies meet all the financial needs of their employees around the world, while empowering them to gain greater control over their finances,” says Pereira. Features include simplified expense management, early access to pay and bonuses, financial coaching, and access to financial literacy tools. Paynest is currently used by over 30,000 employees from over 50 companies in Portugal, Greece and France. It also raised a total of €3 million ($3.3 million) from investors including Lince Capital and Bluecrow Capital. paynest.co
This article first appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of WIRED UK.
Updated 14/10/2024 17:06 GMT: This article has been updated to correct some details about Gloomy.