Startupt.co

The media about startups in Portugal

Today is April 18, 2024. You're reading Thursday edition of Startupt

Hello! It's Thursday. And you are going to read the flaming pie edition of Startupt. My name is Sergei and I'm a founder and editor of this newsletter. But before to do deep dive in Portuguese startup ecosystem, I have some news. Last week I hired a very first CEO to run the newsletter. Hope he will help us to reach all the goals. Now every Sunday he creates a plan for me for the next week. And my task is to implement it in real world. I mean, all of the ideas he creates (I had to refuse only one CEO's idea — to ask Elon Musk to give us a shoutout on Twitter, I don't feel I could share Musk's beliefs, values and the ways he kills Twitter).

Our new CEO is an agent, based on: AnythingLLM as an environment, Ollama for using Llama2 locally on my desktop + OpenAI GPT4 turbo via API. Pretty cool, yeah? Vamos ver!

If you appreciate our newsletter and our mission to create a dedicated news platform for the startup ecosystem in Portugal, please, share our website — startupt.co — with your friends and colleagues or just forward them this email. Thank you! And now — get back to news.

Have some news? Share with us (it's free!).
Use this forms: if you are startup, if you raised, if your are VC, incubator.

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This sign 🇵🇹 near the source name means that this content is in Portuguese.


💰 Raised

Short list of startups who raised money this week. If you do — tell us about it and get here.


🙋 News from startups

◉ BuildUp Labs develops marketing assistant with AI

Startup studio Build Up Labs announced the launch of a marketing assistant with artificial intelligence, aimed at freelancers and agencies, capable of preparing commercial proposals in seconds.

Source: PME Magazine 🇵🇹

◉ Bhout became the 5th largest investment in Portugal in 2023 globally and the first in the seed category

BHOUT, a gaming company with the essence of a fitness leader, has pioneered the first Boxing Bag equipped with intelligence. By integrating sensors on the bag with 3D computer vision, cutting-edge artificial intelligence, and machine learning, they've created a smarter way to train.

Source: Startup Leiria

◉ Rodrigo Ferreira to talk about his journey and the creation of Blanched

The newest episode of Founder Tales podcast will uncover some insides about Blanched — a job marketplace startup focused on the restaurant industry, aiming to bridge the gap between job openings, both full-time and part-time, and individuals seeking new employment opportunities.

Source: Founder Tales Podcast

◉ Agit, Glooma, and GripWise have been selected by insurance company Fidelidade and Fosun Group for a roadshow in China

Fidelidade insurance company, in partnership with the Fosun group, revealed the eight companies selected for the 6th edition of their Protechting Program, which supports and rewards innovative startups. The chosen companies, Agit, Balvia, eBreathie, Glooma, GripWise, Infinite Foundry, Sensomatt, and i-Virtual, are gearing up for potential pilot phases.

Source: CCILC 🇵🇹

◉ Rauva aims to become the first digital bank for companies in Europe

Rauva, the first Portuguese integrated financial management platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), celebrates its first anniversary with an ambitious vision for the future. The company aims to triple its team and customer base by the end of the year, while striving to become the first digital bank for businesses in Europe, following the signing of an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Banco Empresas Montepio (BEM).

Source: Empreendedor 🇵🇹

◉ Talent Protocol introduces blockchain-based Talent Passport to enhance professional reputation visibility

Talent Protocol is revolutionizing the visibility of human potential by leveraging blockchain technology to create a verifiable, online presence known as the Talent Passport. Built on Base, the Talent Passport allows individuals globally to transfer their professional reputation to the blockchain. Despite appearing similar to conventional apps, Talent Passports function as smart wallets with an account-abstracted experience. To facilitate this, Talent Protocol is utilizing the Account Abstraction Kit from Coinbase Cloud's recently launched services on Base, enabling the creation of new smart wallets.

Source: Talent Protocol

If you have some news about your startup — tell us about it and you'll be there.


🚀 News from incubators and accelerators

◉ The 4th edition of the IncubX took place at Curia, Anadia

Portuguese incubators convened at the Hotel das Termas da Curia Spa Resort in Curia, Anadia, for the two-day 4th edition of IncubX. Set against a roaring 20s theme, approximately 70 Portuguese incubators dedicated their time to strengthening community ties and exchanging expertise and experiences. The event was enhanced by the support from the Câmara Municipal de Anadia.

Source: Startup Portugal

◉ "Solutions Exhibition" opens at Casa da Luz Museum in Funchal, featuring Startup Madeira as partner, runs until May 3rd

Startup Madeira is the local partner for the "Solutions Exhibition," an event created by SnowBall Effect, an organization founded in 2019 in France. The exhibition aims to showcase global initiatives based on their social, environmental, and cultural impact. The solutions presented are accompanied by audio narrations from the creators of each idea, enhancing visitors' understanding and making the exhibition more interactive, dynamic, and immersive.

Source: Startup Madeira 🇵🇹

◉ Meet the experts. Startup Portugal introduces two more experts for SimConf

Christine Esserman (partner at Accel) and Kai Zenner — head of Office and Digital Policy Adviser for MEP Axel Voss (EPP group) in the European Parliament.

Source: Startup Portugal

◉ Aplication for Fintech House Summer Academy is open

The Fintech House Summer Academy offers a unique opportunity to dive into a five-week consultancy project with one of The Fintech House companies. Participants will tackle pre-defined challenges ranging from Internationalization and Distribution Strategies to Digital Marketing. Learn more about the Summer Academy and how to apply for this transformative experience.

Source: Fintech House

If your incubator or accelerator have some news — tell us about it and get here.


🏢 General startup related news

◉ Revolut expands in Portugal with new Lisbon offic

Four years after launching in Matosinhos, British fintech Revolut has opened a new office in Lisbon. Located on Rua Alexandre Herculano within a WeWork coworking space, the office can accommodate 60 employees. This expansion aligns with Revolut's growth strategy in Portugal, where it employs approximately 1,300 people, with 250 based in the Lisbon region. An official from Revolut confirmed the opening, underscoring the company's commitment to enhancing its presence in the country. And still no news about PT50 IBAN.

Source: The Portugal News

◉ Web Summit Rio kicks off with 1,000 startups and record Portuguese participation

On the Portuguese side, there are 31 startups linked to the areas of software solutions, metaverse, artificial intelligence and blockchain, among others, in a record participation.

Source: Diario de Noticias 🇵🇹

◉ Portugal's new government sees economy growing by 1.5% in 2024

Portugal's new centre-right government forecasts the economy to grow by 1.5% in 2024, maintaining the previous administration's prediction from November and marking a slowdown from last year's 2.3% growth, according to a recent document. The government also projects this year's budget surplus to be 0.3% of GDP, a decrease from 2023's surplus of 1.2%, as outlined in the Stability Programme for 2024-28 submitted to parliament. This comes despite the Bank of Portugal's more optimistic forecast of 2% growth for 2024.

Source: Investing.com

◉ Discover the profile of PME Leader 2023 in the North region

In the 2023 edition, Leading PMEs from the North region represent 33.8% (3,846 companies) of the total distinguished companies. These companies had a turnover of more than €19 billion, exports of more than €4.5 billion and are responsible for around 36% (134,273) of jobs in 2022.

Source: IAPMEI 🇵🇹

◉ Iberdrola invests in GED TECH Seed to support Portuguese startups

Iberdrola Renováveis Portugal has made a notable move to bolster the Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem by investing in GED TECH Seed, a fund aimed at supporting local startups with scalable and promising business models. This investment underscores the company's dedication to innovation and sustainability, focusing on fostering the development of emerging companies that excel in technology and environmental impact.

Source: Empreendedor 🇵🇹


⏩ What else? In brief

🎪 Where to go next week

Speak with... Rodrigo Fernandes

📆 Date: April 23
📍 Venue: SITIO.co Work Alto São João - Parada Alto de São João 17-A Porta E, 1900-053 Lisboa
💁 Host: Startup Grind

Game Break | Apr. 2024

📆 Date: April 18
📍 Venue: Gaming Hub | Av. da República 18, Piso 4
💁 Host: Startup Lisboa

SaaStock Local Lisbon

📆 Date: April 24
📍 Venue: Fintech House Lisboa, Av. Duque de Loulé 12, 1050-093 Lisboa
💁 Host: Sito.pt. Fintech House and SaaS-HQ

ICP.Hub - Web3 Builder CoWork Day

📆 Date: April 19
📍 Venue: ICP Lisbon Hub
💁 Host: ICP Lisbon Hub


🛠️ Useful Tools For Startups

Let us know what tools help you run your startup: hi@startupt.co.

That's all for today! See you next week. And don't forget to check your email on Monday — you'll find "7 questions for 1 startup". This time we'll talk to Inkspot co-founder..

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