Last October, Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas—who previously served as European Commissioner for Innovation—opened the Lisbon Unicorn Factory, a startup accelerator inspired by the successful Parisian Station F. The new tech hub plans to enroll twenty scale-ups every year into an eight-month acceleration program with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs. “We’re now seeing the first wave of successful entrepreneurs starting to give back to the community with their knowledge,” says André Miranda, CEO of Musiversal. With over 2,000 registered startups, Portugal is the European country with the most startups per capita—13 percent above the average. The reasons? “Initiatives like Startup Portugal and corporate-startups matchmaking programs attract international talent, provide funding opportunities, and create a favorable regulatory environment for startups,” says Katya Ivanova, CEO of startup AssetFloow.
Bairro will be part of the first batch of startups at Lisbon’s Unicorn Factory. The delivery firm—founded in 2020 by Ukrainian entrepreneur Artem Kokhan, Milana Dovzhenko and Maksym Gatsuts—has already raised €5.4 M from seed investors like Leonid Dovladbegyan, director of Russian online hypermarket Vprok.ru and Alex Vasiliev, former director of JD.com. The pitch? Enabling brands, producers, and retailers to connect directly with their customers by cutting out the middlemen. “Brands store their products in our strategically located warehouses, and we process orders that come from their website or marketplaces like Uber Eats,” Dovzhenko says. “This means we handle the entire order fulfillment process on their behalf, from receiving orders to picking, packing, and shipping the products to customers.” According to Dovzhenko, Bairro’s software achieves a 98 percent rate of “perfect orders” (orders processed accurately and delivered on time). “This outperforms the current market metrics, which can range from 40 to 60 percent.” She says. “We make it up to nine times cheaper and faster than other solutions in the market.” bairrodirect.com
The Bairro team, Artem Kokhan, Milana Dovzhenko, and Maksym Gatsuts.
One of Splink’s best-selling products is a three-dimensional miniature replica of Cristiano Ronaldo’s jersey made from vinyl, acrylic and biodegradable plastic. Called MyJersey, this collectible also allows football fans to access AR features with their mobile phones—such as touring stadia and dressing rooms, or taking selfies with avatars of footballers from eleven teams, including the Brazilian National team and La Liga’s Atletico Madrid. “We brought something new to a market that’s very traditional in how it makes money, which is either by ticketing and buying and selling players,” says CEO Ivan Braz. “Sports teams can have access to a platform where we gather and analyze the data we are collecting from fans using our AR experiences.” Founded in 2020 by Braz, Dulce Guarda and Hugo Matinho, the startup has raised €8.35m—their seed funding was led by The Riva Group. Next year, they want to prove themselves in the Premier League. “Having [English] teams come to us saying they would like to do business was a milestone.” besplink.com
Musician André Miranda, CEO of Musiversal, didn’t fail quickly: “I spent more than a decade learning how to write music,” he says. “Less than one percent of what I’ve written has been written in real life and virtually nothing has been written correctly. You can believe how frustrating it will have to be. Knowing that many of his fellow musicians faced similar challenges, he introduced music production platform Musiversal in 2018, with co-founder Xavier Jameson. The startup offers creators a subscription that provides unlimited access to professional studio musicians and remote live collaboration, at rates ten times less expensive than popular pay-per-concert rates. “Musiversal is the only company in the world, besides orchestras, that will pay musicians a solid source of income every month,” Miranda explains. “We have a retention rate of our musicians close to 100%. With more than one million minutes of recorded online sessions, Musiversal has raised $4. 8 million from investors, including venture capital corporation Shilling. musiversal. com
Pleez is one of many examples of corporations that have effectively transitioned during the pandemic. Initially focused on creating a smart dine-in menu, the food tech startup, founded in 2020, now offers a platform that aggregates delivery insights and uses device learning to improve restaurant management. With a dashboard, restaurant owners can access real-time sales data, assess the effect of menu changes, and view competitor prices and promotions. The dashboard also offers AI-generated menu images and captions. as well as price and menu recommendations. ” Before, the menu was static,” says CEO Afonso Pinheiro. “You can now take advantage of real-time adjustments and market responses. Restaurants have their delivery channels on autopilot: they just want to cook. Pleez is recently offered in Portugal and Spain and has raised €3. 5 million, as part of an early-stage investment circular led by Berlin-based FoodLabs. trypleez. com.
In its first version, Bloq. it was a smart locker where other people could simply safely purchase items in outdoor public spaces, but then Covid hit. Founded by Miha Jagodic, João Lopes, and Ricardo Carvalho in 2019, Bloq. it now offers smart lockers. directly to logistics and retail corporations. “We offer hardware, software, operation and know-how to enable corporations to create smart locker networks for their end customers. This allows delivery corporations to deliver their packages cost-effectively and more efficiently. The startup has installed more than 1,000 smart lockers across Europe, for clients such as online marketplace Vinted and multinational logistics DHL. blog. it
While studying biomedical engineering at university, Diogo Tecelão challenged through a professor to develop a device that could help other people with chronic cough, a symptom that affects 700 million adults. “I was frustrated because there was no equipment available,” Tecelão says. He encouraged us to start spending our afternoons brainstorming and prototyping. “The result is a portable patch that patients can place on their abdomen, so they can track cough patterns and triggers. C-mo Medical Solutions, introduced in 2020 through Tecelão & Co. -Founders Miguel Andrade, Filipe Valadas, Alexandra Lopes, Sara Lobo and Nuno Neuparth, have raised €4. 8 million in an early-stage investment circular led through Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. c-mo. solutions
During his tenure as manager of the hostel, Ricardo Figueiredo noticed that his visitors had a common request: “Every traveler who arrives early or has a flight at the end of the day asks the same question: what can I do with my luggage?In 2019, in combination with co-founders Diogo Correia and Hugo Fonseca, he introduced a luggage pickup, garage, and drop-off service called LUGGit. Through its platform, users can have a driver pick up their luggage anywhere to deliver it to them later. in a convenient location. ” Our project is to offer a baggage-free experience from start to finish,” says Figueiredo. “We are building a long-term project where other people will pick up their luggage at their homes before they travel and get it at their destination address. “The company operates in Portugal and Spain, in collaboration with hotel corporations such as GuestReady and Sonder. luggit. app
José Costa Rodrigues, CEO of proptech startup Relive, likes to describe his company as the “Y combinator for genuine real estate agents. “Relive is a brokerage platform that helps individual genuine real estate agents and boutique agencies run their businesses, giving them access to marketing. leads, monetary information, personalized content, among other features. “We created a platform to help genuine real estate agents locate more clients, be more effective on a day-to-day basis, and close more deals,” says Rodrigues. Co-founded through Rodrigues, Sérgio Ferrás, and Henrique Brás in 2021, the startup was incubated through the Techstars accelerator, raised $1. 2 million under Shilling’s leadership, and has already expanded to Texas, United States Unidos. revivre. pt
Without cameras or sensors, AssetFloow can inform stores how shoppers are behaving at their points of sale. Using only anonymous sales knowledge and digitized store plans, AssetFloow’s AI platform creates a store’s virtual dual, generating customer heatmaps and adventures, as well as recommendations. in product placement and promotional campaigns. ” Understanding the in-store shopping adventure is the key to spotting sales anomalies,” says Katya Ivanova, CEO. “Our solution has proven its ability to stumble and adapt to changes in customer behavior, resulting in a 30-day increase in inside sales and a 90% relief in control costs. The startup, founded in 2021 by Ivanova and Ricardo Santos, currently has a presence in 335 points of sale in Portugal, the United Kingdom, Italy and Brazil. . Assetflow. com
Since appearing on this list in 2022, HRtech startup Coverflex has raised a €15 million Series A led through Paris-based SCOR Ventures and has grown more than 400% year-over-year, serving more than 100,000 workers from more than 3,600 clients. , adding corporations such as Santander, Bolt, Emma and Revolut. La startup, founded in 2021 through Luis Rocha, Miguel Santo Amaro, Nuno Pinto, Rui Carvalho and Tiago Fernandes, also recently introduced a virtual meal voucher service in Italy and will expand to the Spanish market this year. Coverflex offers companies a worker payment platform that makes it easy for HR managers to design bespoke pay packages and other beneficios. coverflex. com
This article appears in the January/February 2024 issue of WIRED UK magazine.
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