The Hottest Startups in Lisbon in 2024

Two years ago, Jon Fath moved with his household to Portugal from the Netherlands with the sole intent of launching a fintech startup there. “This state is brimming with endowment and ambition,” Fath says. “I convey Lisbon for welcoming me, on with truthful galore different expats and entrepreneurs, truthful warmly.”

Indeed, it’s nary astonishment that the European Commission named Lisbon arsenic 2023’s European Capital of Innovation, portion the Financial Times, successful concern with Statista, ranked 2 Portuguese startup hubs successful Europe’s apical 10 startup hubs—including the Unicorn Factory Lisboa, which launched successful 2022 and has already supported much than 820 startups and helped rise much than €1 cardinal ($1.1 billion) .

“Portugal offers unsocial advantages, specified arsenic its climate, safety, and outgo of living, which marque it an charismatic prime implicit countries successful cardinal oregon bluish Europe,” says Nuno Pereira, CEO of Paynest.

Government has played a relation too, with policies specified arsenic residence visas for entrepreneurs and taxation incentives to startups engaged successful R&D. “That was instrumental successful allowing the Portuguese startups to travel crossed the different broadside alive, aft the VC drought of the past 2 years,” says Mauro Frota, CEO of fittech startup Bhout.

Rauva

Before launching Rauva successful Lisbon, Jon Fath had been a startup CEO successful Amsterdam, co-founded a logistics institution successful Frankfurt and worked for an concern absorption steadfast successful Beijing. “I decided to commencement Rauva based connected my experiences moving with entrepreneurs and co-founding different companies,” Fath says. “I took the plunge to physique a one-stop store to marque entrepreneurship accessible to everyone.” Rauva allows entrepreneurs to registry their businesses online successful a substance of minutes, offering a raft of features similar debit cards and invoicing. “In addition, if the institution has not yet been created, Rauva offers that work with the enactment of lawyers,“ Fath says. “Our solution helps trim the clip spent connected bureaucratic processes.” The startup, launched successful 2022 by Fath and Sam Mizrahi, has besides precocious partnered with researchers to plan a faster and much close recognition scoring strategy utilizing instrumentality learning and quantum computing. Currently, Rauva has much than 3,000 users and has helped make much than a 1000 caller companies. rauva.com

Neuraspace

Currently, determination are astir 9,900 progressive satellites orbiting the planet, a fig estimated to turn by an bid of magnitude by 2030. “The hazard of collisions caused by abstraction debris is escalating,” says Chiara Manfletti, the founding president of the Portuguese Space Agency and CEO of Neuraspace. “These collisions tin destruct satellites, starring to important fiscal losses and disrupting indispensable services specified arsenic slope transactions, the internet, GNSS (global navigation outer system), and Earth observation. The existent manual decision-making processes are inadequate to grip this scale.” Neuraspace addresses this occupation by utilizing AI to analyse assorted datasets, including radar and prima trackers, and automatically foretell imaginable collisions and suggest avoidance maneuvers. This abstraction postulation absorption level is presently tracking much than 300 satellites from outer operators specified arsenic Spire, Nanoavionics and the European Space Agency. Founded successful 2020, the startup has raised a full of $27.5 cardinal (£20.8 million). “The large imaginativeness for Neuraspace is achieving self-sustaining, autonomous abstraction activities,” Manfletti says. neuraspace.com

Bhout

In 2021, Mauro Frota opened a gym featuring a unsocial portion of equipment: a astute boxing bag. Developed by Frota and Pedro Barata, the Bhout container comes with an AI processing unit, biometric sensors and a astute camera that tin way the accuracy, velocity and powerfulness of each punch. “The thought came to maine successful a dream,“ Frota says “I mislaid number of the fig of iterations to get there. We were creating a caller merchandise from scratch.” The punching container is besides equipped with a acceptable of airy rings that nudges gym-goers into antithetic workout rhythms. Its halfway is made of foam layers and filled with water, mimicking the feeling of hitting different boxer. According to Frota, 20 caller Bhout clubs are already confirmed successful Portugal and Spain. Soon, it volition besides commencement selling the Bhout bag, astatine prices ranging betwixt €6,000 to €10,000 ($6,1000 to $11,000) to clients including LinkedIn and Marriott Hotels. In 2023, the fit-tech startup raised a €10 cardinal ($11 million) effect circular co-led by Explorer Investments and Lince Capital. bhout.com

MyCareforce

MyCareforce is bringing the gig system to healthcare. “Hospitals often deficiency the indispensable unit to conscionable request and they don’t person the due tools to prosecute radical for other shifts quickly,” says CEO Pedro Cruz Morais. “We knew galore doctors who were utilizing WhatsApp to find other shifts and we realized we could lick this occupation with technology.” MyCareforce provides an intelligent level that connects nurses to hospitals and clinics, allowing them to use and instantly publication disposable shifts. The platform, launched successful 2021 by Cruz Morais and co-founder João Hugo Silva, has much than 15,000 nurses registered connected the level and works with much than 70 healthcare units, specified arsenic hospitals and clinics, successful Portugal and Brazil. It has raised a €2 cardinal ($2.2 million) circular led by Portugal Gateway, Shilling and Demium Capital. mycareforce.co

Oscar

Oscar allows users to publication much than 150 at-home services—from cleaning to unsighted repairs—for a fixed interest and wrong 30 minutes. “The thought came astir aft a atrocious acquisition trying to telephone a plumber to hole my h2o heater,” João Marques, laminitis and CEO of Oscar, says. “After wasting hours contacting aggregate technicians and comparing quotes, I scheduled a work and the technician ne'er showed up. It was evident that an Uber location work was missing.” The platform, which is disposable successful Portugal and Madrid, presently hosts much than 20,000 technicians, which are admitted aft a rigorous enactment process and inheritance check. According to Marques, their yearly gross is presently €12 cardinal ($13.4 million) and increasing 40 percent each quarter. They person raised much than €6 cardinal ($6.7 million) successful a circular led by Lince Capital and Indico Capital Partners. oscar-app.com

Glooma

Francisco Nogueira’s relative was 40 erstwhile she detected a lump successful her chest. “She thought it was nothing, but 3 months later, the lump had not disappeared,” says Frederico Stock, CEO of Glooma. Unfortunately, the lump was a malignant tumor and she had to person a mastectomy. “Francisco decided to make Glooma truthful that women successful the aforesaid concern tin enactment sooner.” The startup, launched successful 2020 by Nogueira and Stock, is processing SenseGlove, a mitt equipped with astute sensors that women tin usage to bash a bosom self-exam. “It tin way changes successful bosom insubstantial implicit clip and notify doctors erstwhile there’s an abnormality,” Nogueira says. According to him, an aboriginal proof-of-concept proceedings showed that the SenseGlove correctly diagnosed crab 88 percent of the time, with a complaint of 12 percent mendacious positives. The startup, which has raised much than €600,000 ($671,000) is present undergoing objective trials with the astir caller prototype. The squad hopes to person FDA-approval by 2025. glooma.pt

Sheerme

“When you request a taxi, you person Uber; erstwhile you request a hotel, you person booking.com, but what bash you bash erstwhile you request a hairsbreadth salon oregon a spa?” asks Miguel Ribeiro, CEO of Sheerme. According to Ribeiro, 85 percent of wellness and quality services necessitate anterior booking, but lone 10 percent tin beryllium booked online. “Sheerme fills that void,” helium says. The level allows users to find, publication and wage for services provided by 7,000 wellness and quality merchants. “We person besides partnered with L'Oréal and created a white-labeled solution called SAL(ON),” says Ribeiro, who founded the level with Karly Alves and Shakil Satar. The startup, which has much than 250,000 users crossed Portugal, Brazil and Spain, has raised a €5 cardinal ($5.5 million) effect circular led by Lince Capital. sheerme.com

Sqill

Sqill is an AI-powered mobile video exertion for societal media brands. “With our societal media suite and with 1 azygous click, anyone tin make amended contented than a societal media expert,” says Afonso Coimbra, co-founder and CEO of Sqill. The level uses AI for a scope of tasks, specified arsenic recommending what to station oregon automatically adding subtitles. Founded successful 2021 by Coimbra, Rui Ascenso and André Perdigão, the startup has raised €2 cardinal ($2.2 million) by GED Ventures. It has clients successful Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the US, including L’Oréal, the online marketplace Worten and the Portuguese shot nine FC Porto. sqill.so

Ubbu

More than 300,000 students successful much than 20 countries person utilized online learning level Ubbu to larn coding and integer skills. “Our level is built for the mundane teacher, adjacent for those with nary coding experience, who relationship for astir 90 percent,” says João Magalhães, CEO and laminitis of Ubbu. “It’s accessible to everyone due to the fact that we privation to trim the barriers to participate the tech market.” Aimed astatine children betwixt the ages of 6 and 12, the level is disposable successful 4 languages and includes Ubbox, a instrumentality that allows projects to beryllium made utilizing a programming connection via blocks. A probe survey by Universidade Nova Lisboa recovered that Ubbu students could amended their mathematics grades by up to 17 percent compared to a power group. Ubbu.io

Paynest

Founded successful 2022 by Nuno Pereira, Paynest is simply a level for companies to negociate their employees’ finances. “Our ngo is to assistance companies code each of the fiscal needs of their employees everyplace portion empowering them to summation greater power implicit their finances,” Pereira says. Features see simplified disbursal management, aboriginal entree to wage and bonuses, fiscal coaching, and entree to fiscal literacy tools. Paynest is presently utilized by much than 30,000 workers from much than 50 companies successful Portugal, Greece and France. It has besides raised a full of €3 cardinal ($3.3 million) from investors specified arsenic Lince Capital and Bluecrow Capital. paynest.co

This nonfiction archetypal appeared successful the November/December 2024 variation of WIRED UK.