Hello and welcome to another exciting edition of Startupt.co newsletter. This week, we have a good lineup of stories that highlight the dynamic and spirit of Portugal's startup ecosystem. From Granter.ai's remarkable growth, which has seen their user base expand by 68% and revenue soar by 86%, to the launch of Upside Club, a new private community for entrepreneurs, it's clear that our startups are making waves.

Person of the Week: Don't miss our interview with Tocha, a multifaceted entrepreneur and early-stage angel investor. His insights and experiences are sure to inspire anyone in the startup community. Check out his story on our website for a deep dive into his journey and vision.

You Know What? This week, we highlight the significant progress made by Portuguese business schools in the Financial Times Masters in Finance rankings. Institutions like Nova School of Business and Economics continue to shine, reflecting the strength and potential of Portugal's educational landscape in fostering future business leaders.

Hope you'll enjoy reading!

Portuguese business schools make significant gains in 2024 Financial Times Masters in Finance rankings

Image credits: Startupt.co

The Financial Times has released its 2024 Masters in Finance pre-experience rankings, featuring 65 leading business schools from around the globe. This year, Portuguese business schools have shown a progress.

For example, Nova School of Business and Economics remains a standout institution in Portugal, known for its rigorous curriculum and global appeal. In the 2023 ranking, Nova was placed 11th with an average salary of $119,153 and a 59% salary increase. This year, Nova has maintained its strong position, emphasizing its commitment to providing top-tier education in finance.

Read more on our website.

INTERVIEW

Tocha: When we have people doing stuff, stuff happens

Image credits: Tocha

Interview with Tocha — Portugal-based entrepreneur, early-stage Angel Investor, Invest-Community Lead, Podcast host (Bitalk), creative villages builder and much more. Read the text on our website.

Author: Dasha Luibimova

🙋 Upside Club has been launched as a private community for entrepreneurs, following a series of private lunches hosted by founders André Oliveira and his team. The club aims to foster connections among founders and facilitate mutual support. Upside Club will continue to host intimate lunches, nurture discussions on WhatsApp, organize roundtables on topics like hiring, and host an annual retreat later this year. It is positioned as a hub where relationships begin and opportunities arise. Interested entrepreneurs can join via the club's page or through the link.

🙋 Granter.ai has experienced remarkable growth over the past couple of months. Since April, the company has expanded its user base by 68% and increased all-time revenue by 86%, helping customers apply for over €8 million in grants. Key milestones include securing its first approved application with DIG-IN, submitting its first European consortium application led by Startup Lisboa, and launching the Granter Innovation Award to support the top 10 most innovative startups in Portugal in finding funding opportunities. More — Bernardo Seixas' LinkedIn

🙋 The first pitch day of the Media Open Call program by AMCC Test Bed took place at the NOS 5G Lab in Lisbon. Presentations were evaluated by a jury comprising industry experts Ignatius Roberts (Google), Cláudia Maia (Associação Portuguesa de Imprensa), Joaquim Carreira (Lusa), José Alberto (Rock in Rio), Cintia Mano (COREangels), Rita Romão (MATT), and João Tourinho (Portugal Tech Week). Projects were also showcased to an audience of media companies, including Impresa, Público, Media Capital, Medialivre, CNN Portugal, SIC, Google, Expresso, Observador, A Bola, TVI, Jornal de Notícias, O JOGO, Dinheiro Vivo, Diário de Notícias Brasil, COREangels, and BlueCrow Capital. The winners, as voted by the jury, were:
— 1st place - Framedrop.ai, represented by Mário Tarouca
— 2nd place - The Newsroom, represented by Pedro Henriques
— 3rd place - Rede Rua, represented by Callie Wentling.
The second program starts on July 2.

🙋 Thirteen startups joined (🇵🇹) over 2,000 companies from 130 countries and a thousand investors at the Web Summit event in North America, where more than 40,000 visitors are expected. The Portuguese delegation, part of the Business Abroad program, includes Ahau Software, Brandy IM, EdgenAI, Enline, iLof, and iTRecruiter. Goparity, Naoris Protocol, Oddsgate, Synexis, Take Carbon, The Carbon Games, and Wiseworld will also attend the Toronto fair with Startup Portugal and Lisboa Unicorn Capital. These 13 startups have collectively raised around €18m and employ over 200 people.

🙋 Portuguese startup Sioslife announced (🇵🇹) on Wednesday the launch of the first social network for the elderly in Portugal, Spain, and Brazil, reaching over 16,000 users across more than 600 institutions. The platform is exclusively accessible through Sioslife's interactive digital inclusion systems, including tablets and computers, which are already in use in these institutions.

🙋 The 351 Portuguese Startup Association announces an open call for its new mentorship program, inviting mentors, investors, and corporates to support the growth of startups. This founder-to-founder initiative will provide startups with valuable feedback on securing investments and achieving sustainable growth. Participants will be matched with corporates and potential clients, receiving comprehensive ecosystem support, with investors getting detailed reports on performance and execution. The program, launching in 3 to 4 weeks, promises minimal time investment from partners. Join this exciting initiative to help foster innovation and growth in the Portuguese startup community. More info — here.

◉ Unicorn Factory Lisboa has opened applications for its Innovation Summer School, a two-week program designed for aspiring entrepreneurs aged 14 to 18. The initiative aims to nurture innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, offering participants the chance to work on real-world business challenges under the mentorship of experts from New York and Lisbon. The program includes hands-on experience from brainstorming to prototype development, culminating in pitching their solutions. The next bootcamp kicks off on July 1 in Porto.

◉ Call Leiria Crescimento aims to invest in innovative projects with high growth potential in strategic sectors within the CIMRL region—Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Leiria. The initiative targets companies headquartered in or planning to establish operations in the region, focusing on seed, startup, and later stage ventures (Series A, B, and C). Emphasizing exports, value chain progression, green transition, and digital transformation, the investments range from €250,000 to €1.5 million. More information — here (🇵🇹).

◉ Startup Portugal has partnered with France Digitale to launch the second edition of Leading European Tech Scaleups (LETS24), a comprehensive map of innovative European companies generating over €10 million in global annual turnover across borders. Companies are invited to apply for a chance to gain international press coverage, enhanced social media presence, and exclusive visibility opportunities at FDDAY on September 18th in Paris.

◉ Startup Essentials, a free ignition program by Build Up Labs, is here to help with your business idea to develop into startup. This 4-day, in-person course is tailored for aspiring founders and entrepreneurs, featuring workshops on idea validation, business models, and sales. The program concludes with a Demo Day, where participants can present to key players in the ecosystem, including investors and mentors. (Apply here and more info)

📺 As innovation increasingly aligns with environmental sustainability, companies like PRIO and UpValue are leading the way. PRIO's national network for biofuel production from waste and UpValue's comprehensive range of green business solutions are prime examples of this trend. Tune into the latest episode of 10 X Forward for an in-depth look at these groundbreaking initiatives. (Watch here)

📚 In the corporate world, managers often oscillate between two states: enjoying their work and feeling overwhelmed by stress. Challenging projects can be exhilarating, but even light workloads can become burdensome when stress takes over. The key to understanding this fluctuation lies not in the work itself, but in the attitude one brings to it. This insight is highlighted by British philosopher Alan Watts' statement: “I assume that maybe you are not serious, but sincere.” This distinction between seriousness and sincerity offers a new perspective, suggesting that a sincere, playful approach to challenges can be more effective than tension and struggle. Let’s delve into the difference between these two modes of being and discover the life-changing benefits of sincerity. (Read here)

🎧 Revisiting the sixth episode of Idea to Startup—an episode with thousands of listens and an almost 100% consumption rate. Entrepreneurs have limitless potential, but limited capacity. How should you prioritize in the early stages? How can you stand out? This episode offers a framework to help you focus on the tasks that maximize your startup's chances of success. (Listen here)

⏩ What else? In brief

• Sifted reached out to three investors to identify the energy storage startups (outside their portfolios) that are catching their attention (Sifted)
• Web Summit, the acclaimed global technology events organizer, is launching a new flagship event in North America, to be held in Vancouver in May 2025 (Forbes)
• Anthropic introduces Claude 3.5 Sonnet, their most intelligent model yet, outperforming competitors on key evaluations at twice the speed of Claude 3 Opus and one-fifth the cost (Anthropic)

🛠️ Useful Tools For Startups

• Audos: A tool (co-pilot, if you like hype words!) that may help you to start and run your business.
• BioSite: Helps you create a simple personal website with all links about you in one place.
• CodeWP.ai: Tool that helps code WordPress plugins, using AI
• Reply.io: Will help ypu automate sales outreach, using... AI, right.

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".