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The Essential Guide to the Lisbon Startup Scene

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Lisbon's startup scene

If you are coming to Lisbon to set up your tech startup and you want to know more about the Lisbon startup ecosystem, here you will find what are the best programs and events that you cannot miss!

More, you will have an insider’s viewpoint on the best startups in Lisbon and their success stories as well as the investors and other key players that will help you take your startup to the next level.

First of all, Lisbon was considered the first European Capital of Entrepreneurship for 2015, which reflects the booming startup scene of the city. You’ll find several incubators and accelerators and many other interesting events that will help you boost new ideas and turn them into real success cases.

Check out incubators and accelerators in Lisbon

Lisbon Challenge is our accelerator program, promoted by Beta-i. It’s the most international startup accelerator in Europe, with 3 startups at Y Combinator and 2 at Seedcamp. We have received applications from over 70 countries….

For those who are not familiar, we give you some ideas of what the program is about:

– Lisbon Challenge is a 3-month intensive tech startup accelerator program

- Prototype/product phase:  looking to achieve product-market fit and investment readiness.

– During the program you will have access to over 1000 workshops and mentoring sessions, provided by 200 mentors. Some of the company mentors names include: Google, Airbnb and Uber.

– In the end of the program our partners at Caixa Capital, one Portugal’s best investors, choose a startup to invest (In the past they’ve invested in MagniFinance and Pknoa).

But, besides Lisbon Challenge, Beta-i also organizes several events that shorten distances between startups, the whole community and potential investors. Beta-i has already organized some of the major startup events in Portugal like the Lisbon Investment Summit, Explorers Festival, Silicon Valley Comes to Lisbon, Seedcamp in Lisbon, Startup Weekend and the first TEDx edition in Portugal.

However, there are many other programs and organizations that you should look at as a great complement in your startup journey. 

Startup Lisboa, was founded in 2011, and they have a cool incubator model. They support startups – from tech to commerce and tourism – by providing office space as well as support structure. They have opened and requalified three buildings in Lisbon’s Center, two for tech and other for commerce and tourism. Nowadays they have about 80 startups and 300 entrepreneurs in their offices.

Fábrica de Startups arrived in 2014 with a multiple stage program that promises to help startups in different stages. Furthermore, they are responsible for the acceleration program of Energia de Portugal. They manage the startup campus powered by Banif where are more than 100 entrepreneurs and 42 startups.

Meet the top startups in Lisbon

Moving on in the ecosystem and because you might be eager to read some of the most successful startup stories, we want to introduce you to 6 amazing startups with who you might want to have a talk!

They are already spread over the globe with impressive results! 

Unbabel, founded in 2013 by two co-founders of Beta-i, Sofia Pessanha and Vasco Pedro. Unbabel translates dynamic content such as product descriptions, blog-posts, emails and knowledge centers. They were the first Portuguese startup on Y Combinator and they received €1.4 Million in funding from investors such as: Y Combinator, Google Ventures, Faber Ventures and Caixa Capital.

Zercatto, one of our alumni, is an online community that helps people manage their investment portfolio. Similar to Popcorn Metrics, another Beta-i alumni, Zercatto was able to get funding from Seedcamp.

Uniplaces, is an online marketplace for booking student accommodation with thousands of verified properties. Uniplaces is our alumni from Lisbon Challenge and a great success case. They raised €4.5 million in total and they have grown their team up to 100 people and they’re working with more than 20 countries.

Codacy, is an automatic code review tool for developers. Theywon the Dublin Web Summit Pitch Competition in 2014. They have also been through Seedcamp and are currently incubated by Startup Lisboa.

Talkdesk, has built an innovative software that allows companies to create a call center in minutes. They were part of 500 Startups and at this point they have raised €18 Million in investment. In 3 years, Talkdesk is already working with companies such as Chevrolet, Fitbit or Dropbox.

Who are the main investors in Lisbon? 

As you know, funding is crucial for most startups to grow fast. In the startup successful cases we mentioned earlier, we have already given you some examples but we will highlight some of the best Portuguese investors:

Caixa Capital, is one of ours partners in Lisbon Challenge. They’re a Private Equity and Venture Capital firm part of the banking group Caixa Geral de Depósitos. They have invested in startups such as Unbabel, Movvo, MagniFinance and Uniplaces. Oh and remember, they choose one of the startups from Lisbon Challenge to invest! Will your startup be the lucky one?

Faber Ventures, is a product/venture development company that explores opportunities to build, launch, and scale early stage digital businesses through a hands-on and integrated approach. From concept to market and from startup to scale. Its workbench includes design, software engineering, business modeling, and digital marketing. They have invested in startups such as Unbabel, Hoko Links, Liquid and Get Social.

Portugal Ventures, is a Venture Capital and Private Equity firm focusing its investments in innovative, scientific and technology-based companies as well as in companies from the more traditional Portuguese Tourism and Industrial sectors. At the moment they have €450 million assets under management.

All of this is just a small portrait of the Lisbon startup scene, there are lot of opportunities and events happening just around the corner… Come and see it for yourself.

Did Lisbon get your attention? Want to build a startup in Lisbon? Then, check out our accelerator, Lisbon Challenge (for tech startups looking for growth), and Beta-Start (a pre-accelerator for first time founders). Applications are almost closing so, you better hurry up…

The post The Essential Guide to the Lisbon Startup Scene appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.


Lisbon Challenge: How Does the Selection Process Work?

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Lisbon Challenge Selection Process

Choosing the final startups to join Lisbon Challenge is no easy job. For this edition only, we’ve had almost 400 applications, from over 40 countries and we have to select around 22-25 startups that will be joining us in Lisbon this Fall… But, how does it work? How do we review all the applications and interview the candidates? We hate keeping secrets so, we’ll tell you all about it.

Reviewing 400 applications… it’s not a one man's job. 

We go through every single application and that’s a lot of work. Because this can’t be a one man job, we split the applications between our own team. Each application is reviewed by 3 people, so that we don’t base the scores over a single opinion, according to the following criteria:

1. Team

2. Quality of the application (business summary and market potential)

3. Ambition and project scalability

If two out of three people say yes, that startup moves on to the next phase. From here on, we let all those who applied know if they made it through or not. For those who did make it, we schedule the first interviews right away.

The first interviews – tell us more about your startup

For the startups who made it to the second phase they have two interviews: one with a member of the Beta-i team and another one with someone from our network of partners, mentors and entrepreneurs. During these interviews we want to talk about your startup’s potential and ask a few questions about your team and your long-term vision. We love having different opinions and perspectives so that’s why we ask people who are not part of our organisation to come and interview the startups as well. Around 50 people are involved in this selection process…

Once we score the interviews and discuss it, it comes down to up to 40 startups that move on to the final phase of our selection process: the Interview Panel.

The Interview Panel – let’s call the big sharks

As we’ve told you before, we love inviting our network of mentors, partners, entrepreneurs and investors to give us their opinion and for this final phase is no different. We have three full days of interviews with a panel with up to 12 people. In this jury you’ll find some of our Lisbon Challenge Alumni, startup founders from successful companies such as Unbabel, guests from startup organisations and other international accelerators such as Numa Paris, investors and members of the Beta-i team. When all startups are interviewed we go through the results and decide who will be joining us in Lisbon for this next edition.

In the end, it all comes down to big decisions… And big decisions are never easy. But, from what we’ve seen so far, it will be an incredible edition of Lisbon Challenge. We’ll let you know the results soon...

P.S.: Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the updates on Lisbon Challenge and you’ll be one of the first people to know who are the final startups joining Lisbon Challenge Fall’15.

The post Lisbon Challenge: How Does the Selection Process Work? appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.

Your startup is failing and here’s why

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Startups that fail

Failure sucks. Yes, it really does. When you fail to close a round of investment, when you fail your customers with what you’ve promised, when you screw up on your marketing campaign and waste all your money on google ads with very little results, when you tell your friends that your startup didn’t work out… It really sucks, big time. However, it is when you think about why you failed that you realise how important it is…

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett

Entrepreneurship is hard and success doesn’t just come over night. When building a startup, you make mistakes, all the time. Maybe, it’s your first time at managing a team and you screw up by setting the wrong expectations. Failure is inevitable. But truth is, as long as you fail, you’re learning. You learn from your own mistakes and you do it differently next time.

At Beta-i, we’ve came across many entrepreneurs who struggled with several different issues. We interviewed many of them, under a European project called LIFE – Failing Forward, to understand their mistakes and concerns. Our main goal was for failure not to be a tabu. We wanted to know the common mistakes startups in Portugal were making and to let others know about it so that we could all learn from it.

Passion is the key

We’ve spoken to the founders of Mougli, our Lisbon Challenge alumni, by the time they were selling their company. Mougli was the winner of their batch and the first exit of a Lisbon Challenge startup. However, despite the successful outcome, they also struggled with many issues, as all entrepreneurs do. So, what did they learn while building Mougli? And what will they do differently next time? Gaspard and Bruno, built Mougli because they spot a problem that many people had and they felt the need to tackle it. At the time, one of the issues they had was that they wanted to get everything done and they weren’t really focussing on solving the main problem. They also realised they weren’t solving a problem that they felt passionate about, they identified a business opportunity and built a solution for it. Nonetheless, they felt that their main struggle was the team, like in every other startup. “The team is like a couple, you need the perfect match and to agree on the skills needed, the vision, etc.” says Bruno, co-founder of Mougli. When talking about the team, Bruno and Gaspard felt the need for different skills, in the beginning, for example, they didn’t have anyone with a business background. So, in the end, not having the right team and skills can make things more difficult.

So, what happened after Mougli was acquired? Well, Bruno and Gaspard decided it was time for a new adventure. They founded a new startup, called Dayafterday, and embraced their passion for art and creativity by building a platform to discover the content that best suits you.

Not having the right team is a huge disadvantage

We also interviewed Pedro Veloso, founder of Limetree, a Portuguese startup that ended up shutting down because they didn’t have the right skill-set to tackle a B2C product. As Pedro Veloso says: “we didn’t have the ‘Team Market Fit’, if you can put it this way”. Many people talk about the importance of having the right team but, for Pedro, this is not just a matter of people getting along with each other, it’s about having the right skills. Launching a B2C product is tough and if you don’t have the skills you need within your team to go to the market, it gets even tougher. In the end, Pedro Veloso and Limetree couldn’t raise the investment they needed to scale their startup and took the decision to shut it down. “The thing with building a startup is that you believe you’re succeeding. You don’t see failure after failure after failure, you see success after success… until you fail.”

However, despite all the mistakes entrepreneurs make, it’s important to keep going forward, to keep failing forward. Let’s tell these stories and spread it around. Join us at Failing Forward 2015, a startup conference on failure, that will take place this October, in Brussels. All you have to do to learn from other entrepreneurs and listen to their stories on failure, is register here.

The post Your startup is failing and here’s why appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.

The Debt that (almost) all startups pay

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jump

Wazza, our Lisbon Challenge alumni, decided it was time to shut down after almost 2 years. João Vasques, one of its co-founders, writes about what went wrong and what he will do differently next time. This post was originally published on Medium

Life is made of chapters and “everything that has a beginning has an end”. At the time I’m writing this, I have closed an important chapter of my life: my first startup. In other words, it failed. I failed.

Since I was very young I always liked to build things. I think I was 6 when I went with my grandfather to the train factory he managed. Despite all the big trains and electricty stuff (which I loved), what really impressed me was his passion and how other people respected him. It was that day that, without even being aware, I decided to become an entrepreneur and build something to make him proud.

In September 2013 I quit my job on a top startup in Lisbon, Uniplaces. It was not an easy decision because I made some good friends and really enjoyed working there. However, I felt it was time to jump off a cliff and try to build a plane on the way down. In other words, start a company. I thought I was ready to face everything ahead of me but I was wrong.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master” — Ernest Hemingway

In theory, I was on a good position to start a company: I was familiar with the Lean Startup methodology, having won the first Lean Startup Machine 2012 in Lisbon; had worked in a startup before (UniPlaces) and was a good software engineer. All these factors made me think that I would not make some mistakes first time founders do. Without even realizing, I was underestimating the challenges that were in front of me. How could I possibly have thought about this? What was I thinking? Looking back this was probably the biggest mistake I made.

Lesson #1: Be humble and never underestimate anything.

“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately” — Benjamin Franklin

When we started Wazza, my co-founder was still doing his thesis. I understood how important finishing it was for him, so I gave him time to end it. Due to this, we didn’t work together physically most of the time. I thought I could handle most of work but I was not prepared for an unexpected “guest” — loneliness. I had already experienced it during my master thesis at some point but this time it was a lot more intense. The early days of starting a company are complete chaos and full of doubt. I was lucky to be in Startup Lisboa, a top incubator in Lisbon where I could chat with fellow founders but it was not the same thing. Countless times I felt lost and with no idea were to go next, what to try or not. It was like sailing on the sea on a fishing boat, during a storm, without a compass. Got the picture?

When starting a company it is crucial for founders to work side by side every day. When creating something new, you will feel and be lonely most of the time. Don’t underestimate it like I did.

Lesson #2: The path is darker and lonelier that you think.

“Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last” — Marcus Aurelius

In May 2014, we got accepted in Lisbon Challenge — a top european accelerator program promoted by Beta-i. It was a great experienced where we met other startups, amazing people and tested various aspects of our business model. It was hard work but fun, as life should be. We didn’t ranked well at the end I didn’t analyse it as I should. It was a clear sign we weren’t going in the right direction. However, I was confident that we were going to find a way to succeed. Meanwhile, I got hit by a car and survived. Don’t ask me how, I’m still trying to figure it out.

Lesson #3: Talk less and listen more.

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how” — Friedrich Nietzsche

After almost losing my life in that accident I started to look at things differently. Suddenly, I started looking for a purpose in everything I did and the same applied to my startup. The problem was: I couldn’t see our purpose, our mission. All great companies have a clear mission that they want to see in this world. Think about PayPal, Facebook, Apple, SpaceX, Skype for example. Each and everyone had a big clear mission in order to change a part of this world and they did it. A company without a mission is like a boat without a compass. I realized this after a one week trip on San Francisco and Silicon Valley. It was another sign that we weren’t going the right way.

Lesson #4: Have a clear mission.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning” — Albert Einstein

Nothing was bad though! In September 2014 we got the news that we had won the Vienna Startup award. This award was a project of Pioneers and Vienna Business Agency where they selected two startups from all over the world to come to Vienna and expand their business. We were excited of course, winning is always good! On the months before going to Vienna, I realized we were struggling to sell our payment analytics product to the customer segment we had identified (mobile app developers). Due to this, we agreed that Vienna would be the live or die. In other words, either we get traction and start closing customer or we close the company.

In Vienna we got outstanding support from the Pioneers and Vienna Business Agency. They helped us by opening doors to a new bigger customer segment (payment providers and banks), making introductions to key contacts and giving us relevant feedback and suggestions. Between hundreds of emails and countless meetings I began to see that there was no positive evolution: no one was jumping at us and saying “I need that, I’m going to buy it!”. The time for a decision was coming: continue or close.

Lesson #5: Passion is the fuel. Method is the map.

“If you’re hurt, lick your wounds and get up again. If you’ve given your absolute best, it’s time to move forward” — Richard Branson

After coming back to Lisbon I was clear to me that we hadn’t accomplished our objectives. I had to put my passion and emotion aside and see things in a very objective and analytical way. It was the end of line for Wazza. We had a good product but no clear evidence that things would be better in the future. The way was right in front of us: close the company. Like all big choices in life this was a hard one to make, due to all the history and work I’ve put into it. However, sometimes you need to leave your emotions aside and have the humility and courage to do what is necessary. It hurts but it makes you stronger than you could possibly imagine. True winners are not the ones who never fall but those who fall and rise, again and again.

Lesson #6: It will hurt you more than you think.

“Our greatest glory is not never falling, but rising every time we fall” — Confucius

Founding Wazza was a great experience. I met so many brilliant people, learned so much, in so many different areas that, in spite of the company not achieving the success I had hoped, I won more than I lost. I want to thank everyone that helped me along this path.

For now, I am taking a little break to rest, refocus and think about what I’m going to do next. I’ve fallen this time, but I will rise again wiser and stronger.

Lesson #7: It’s all about the people

TL:RD

#1: Be humble and never underestimate anything.

#2: The path is darker and lonelier that you think.

#3: Talk less and listen more.

#4: Have a clear mission.

#5: Passion is the fuel. Method is the map.

#6: It will hurt you more than you think

#7: It’s all about the people

Bonus lesson

#8: Don’t get hit by a fu***** car! :)

The post The Debt that (almost) all startups pay appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.

5 movies every entrepreneur should watch

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movies

We all need inspiration every once in a while. Apart from working all the time in your product, business model and idea you sometimes get a spare time to catch up on trending articles, check out a few talks and watch a movie. But because entrepreneurs are known to be super passionate about what they do (it’s a trademark) and fascinated by the startup life, you often end up living and breathing the startup culture. For this reason all the articles you read, all the talks you hear and all the movies you watch are in some way related to startups. With this in mind, we have put together a list of movies that you, as an entrepreneur, should watch, to inspire and remind you why you’re doing this in the first place.

Whiplash

If you haven’t seen it yet then please do. This is an inspiring story from a kid who’s dream is to become a world-class drummer. His own dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who’s willing to push him to the limit and make him work even harder to become a better drummer. This is an exhilarating story that every entrepreneur can relate to. Apart from keeping you in the edge of your seat, this movie will be an energy boost to your weekend.

When you’re passionate about what you do, you work harder. Because there are no silver bullets to success, it’s pure hard work.

Moneyball

Are you a baseball fan? No? Well, it doesn’t really matter. This movie is for anyone who’s driven by results and who has to think under a short budget. Moneyball, tells the story of a baseball team’s general manager who has to work on a lean budget and ends up employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players. You can obviously tell why this movie is particularly interesting for entrepreneurs. It’s about achieving great results with very few resources.

Startup.com

This is probably one of the best documentaries for those who want be entrepreneurs. It follows the birth and failure of a new media company called govWorks.com. You can understand the challenges they face while building their own company, from product to business, from raising investment to the relationships between founders. It’s a real perspective on what it’s like to have a startup and it goes against the fairy tale vision that might mislead a few people. Having your own startup is tough, it demands a lot from you and you need to be ready for a war in the trenches. Success is not guaranteed, but failure is the most valuable learning opportunity #FailingForward.

The Pursuit of Happyness

This movie is touching and inspiring. Its’ about the sacrifices you need to make when you’re following a dream. It tells the story of a father who is struggling as a salesman and training to become a stockbroker. He loses everything and still has to care of his son while trying to make it all work. This movie is inspiring to entrepreneurs who sometimes struggle financially and put themselves through many sacrifices in order to make things happen.

Print the legend

A very recent documentary that follows the people racing to bring the hot new 3D printing technology to your home. They document and explore the revolution that 3D printing has brought while talking about the risks of living the American Dream. This is about the different uses of a technology and the consequences of that use. It’s about the startup mindset of thinking that you have to survive. You need to keep pushing it forward and when you actually make it in 3 or 4 years you realize everyone is out there to get you and you’re employing 400 people and feel like you’re not prepared for it. Insightful and realistic, this documentary is a must watch for all those who are starting their own company.

The post 5 movies every entrepreneur should watch appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.

Portugal’s startup scene featured on Forbes

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Portugal's startup scene

The Portuguese startup scene is reaching out to the world. This time, we got featured on Forbes, the world known media publication, on an article about the strong entrepreneurial spirit that has emerged over the last few years in Portugal. Thanks to the potential of Portuguese startups and foreign investments, mostly from the US, Forbes highlights some of the best startups in Portugal such as, Talkdesk, Feedzai, Veniam, PharmAssistant, Cuckuu and Unbabel.

Alison Coleman, the contributor writer for Forbes, explains this strong entrepreneurial spirit and calls for "Portugal’s novo entrepreneurs who have simply spotted gaps in the market, and applied their creative ingenuity to fill them".

Forbes also mentions Lisbon Challenge as a top accelerator amongst "the top five most active programmes in Europe". They also highlight the fact that many startups who have been through our program "have emerged and gone on to join the likes of TechStars, Y Combinator and Seedcamp, while 40% of those coming out of Lisbon Challenge have secured VC investment, increasingly from the US".

Alison Coleman, also highlights the importance of Portugal Ventures as a VC, backed by the government to support entrepreneurship, and Startup Lisboa as a key incubator to provide a further boost.

If this got your attention, you can read the full article here.

The post Portugal’s startup scene featured on Forbes appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.

VIP perks exclusive for Beta-i startup community – TODAY ONLY

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TheBlueHouse

Our friends at The Blue House are opening a unique place in a surf town in Morocco. Their core belief: Great ideas don't come in a board room. They offer retreats, private events and 10-days work sessions where Ricardo Marvão, co-founder of Beta-i, is mentoring.

For regular people, bookings start tomorrow on Indiegogo, but for Beta-i startup community, it starts now, and with exclusive perks and prices.

If you’re part of Beta-i vibrant startup & alumni community and you’re reading this, it means you’re one of the lucky few invited to take part in the launch of this crowdfunding campaign. Also meaning, you get access to exclusive perks. Check out what they got in store for you today (it will disappear tomorrow at 8am).

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-blue-house-where-startups-recharge-creativity/x/5277173?utm_source=betai&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=launch

The post VIP perks exclusive for Beta-i startup community – TODAY ONLY appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.

Meet the 20 startups of Lisbon Challenge Fall’15

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Lisbon Challenge startups

From almost 400 applications and a long selection process that involved around 50 people, it all comes down to this moment. Who will be joining us for Lisbon Challenge Fall’15?

Here are the 20 startups who will moving to our HQ in Lisbon’s city centre for our 3 month acceleration program. Fasten your seat belts as a safety precaution and get ready for a hell of ride. It’s time to meet the startups… From planting trees to flying drones, this edition will be full of surprises.

Attentive

From Portugal, here comes an information assistant for professionals. With Attentive you’ll be able to gather all the relevant information that you need about your clients, leads or industry trends. In other words, it’s just in time information for professionals.

Videona

Videona, from Spain, promises to change the smatphone's audiovisual world with its video editing app. They have built a new video social network that allows users to share in real time, videos they record and edit using their mobile devices, while taking advantage of the great features they have for recording and sharing high-quality videos.

TimeResQ

TimeResQ is the first international concierge service for vacation home rental travellers. Based in Portugal, TimeResQ provides their users with their needs when in vacation - everything from groceries, beverages, subway tickets, airport transfers, local SIM cards and much more – delivered directly to the user’s foreign holiday destination.

Remidi

Coming from Italy, we have Remidi, a startup that has built a wearable midi glove. What does it do? Well, it’s just the first wearable music instrument that turns your hand into music. And yes, we’re as excited as you are to give it a try.

Sunbirds

Sunbirds are a different kind of bird. They were developed by this french startup and they are solar autonomous drones. Their purpose? To monitor industrial infrastructures, agriculture and disasters management.  

Follow My Travel

Follow My Travel is a community of active travelers who share their recommendations on places to eat, go and stay. They come from Ukraine and they allow their users to follow travelers they trust and create an interesting network through recommendations.

Jetway

Jetway, comes from Russia, and it’s an online marketplace for airlines and their customers, offering the best solutions for organizing charter flights. With Jetway, you can easily book charter flights and you don’t have to pay extra for all the paperwork.

Stellar

Coming from Germany, we have Stellar. Stellar is your daily digest of knowledge. It teaches you the most important concepts in subjects such as Economics, Philosophy, Arts and Physics.

Tiedots

Tiedots is a Spanish startup that has built a web platform that unveils the ideal contacts for your business network at events and provides organizers demographic insights about their audiences.

Quotanda

Also from Spain, we have Quotanda, a student financing platform. Quotanda is basically a lending as a service (LaaS) platform that helps schools and banks manage affordable student financing programs globally.

Jesbee

Jesbee, is a communication platform from Portugal, in which the users can be rewarded for something they do everyday! While chatting or before calling a friend, the user can choose if they want to see or hear every now and then, some advertising. Every time they do, they get credits that can be exchanged for great deals in the Jesbee’s store.

AVOapp

Coming from Moldova, we have AVOapp to give you a cheap roaming solution. How? With a mobile app which allows you to use home mobile numbers abroad without overpaying for roaming. You can make costless outgoing calls, and receive incoming calls on your home mobile number even from landline phones.

Knok

They call themselves the Uber for healthcare. Knok comes from Portugal and they connect doctors and patients in real-time for personal appointments, reducing waiting times in comfort. No more time spent in the doctor’s waiting room.

Ucademics

Also from Portugal, we have Ucademics, the Booking.com for university degrees. Easily search and apply to thousands of universities through their online application platform.  

Treedom

Treedom, comes from Italy and they have a beautiful mission. They are a social-purpose tech startup aiming to fight deforestation by engaging individuals and companies in fun and transparent tree-planting campaigns. With Treedom you can adopt and plant a tree. Each tree is individually assigned to a user, photographed, geo-localized, and made shareable with others.

Channelkit

Coming from Russia, we have Channelkit. Channelkit is a web tool that enables you to collect and organise links, files, images and notes into neat cards forming a visual web knowledge base.

LocName

From Egypt, here comes LocName. LocName, is a new global addressing system (GAS) that aims to solve the world’s addressing problems by allowing every citizen of the world the right to choose their own address. Users will access one of their web or mobile apps, allow it to find their location, then they save that location under a unique personalized name, or LocName.

ifarmacias

ifarmacias, comes from Portugal and their aim is to provide easier and safer access to pharmaceutical care, lowering costs of medication and putting the pharmacist on the user’s phone as an active health coach.

Flawless App

Coming also from Ukraine, we have Flawless App. Flawless is a tool, that provides a better way for front-end developers and UI designers to deliver projects faster by automating routine tasks.

Deliverin

From Denmark, we have Deliverin. Deliverin brings the market to your home. Give them your shopping list and they will get it for you - that's how simple it is. Spend 2 minutes making an order and get it delivered to your front door in 1 hour.
Feeling curious about how these projects will turn out? Come and meet the startups on our Kick-off event on September 25th.

The post Meet the 20 startups of Lisbon Challenge Fall’15 appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.


Web Summit in Lisbon? Here’s reason number 8

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Web Summit in Lisbon

The thought of the Web Summit coming to Lisbon is taking the whole startup community in Portugal by storm. Startup Ship initiated a movement called "Bring the Web Summit 2016 to Lisbon" and announced the 7 reasons for the Web Summit to be in Lisbon, to help convince the organisers of the event to choose the Portuguese capital. We couldn't just look the other way. We want the Web Summit in Lisbon and we're joining the movement... Here's to reason number 8.

8. Portugal is the best country for surfing in Europe

Surfing in Lisbon

Have you heard about the Surf Summit? It is organised by the Web Summit in the west coast of Ireland, right after the big conference. It brings entrepreneurs, investors and professional surfers together for 3 days of surfing and outdoor activities. Well, coincidence or not, Portugal is the best country in Europe for surfing.

Did you know that the world's biggest wave ever surfed by Garret Mcnamara was in Portugal? Oh, wait, and did you know that Garret Mcnamara himself will be attending the Surf Summit this year? That's right, we should bring the Surf Summit to Lisbon and get in the water for some awesome surf.

Not so far away from Lisbon you can find great surfing spots such as Ericeira or Peniche, and even Nazaré, where the huge wave was surfed. However, we don't really recommend to surf in Nazaré in December, unless you consider yourself to be as good as Garret Mcnamara...

In other words, the surf's up in Lisbon so, let's not only bring the Web Summit to Lisbon, let's bring the Surf Summit as well.

#LXwebsummit16

 

 

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Portuguese startup PharmAssistant is now called Line Health

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Line Health, Portuguese startup

Our alumni, PharmAssistant, decided it was time for a change. They have just announced that they are now called Line Health and introduced to the world, in an open letter from the CEO and co-founder Diogo Ortega, their new image, product and mobile app. After Uniplaces, Landing.jobs, Petable and Clickly, here comes another major re-branding. Is this the year of re-brandings for startups based in Lisbon?

A new brand for a renewed purposed

White Bg

After interviewing more than 200 patients and health professionals, and after working during 4 months closely to Bayer, the pharmaceutical giant, the founders of Line Health (former PharmAssistant), felt the need to change the way they were facing the problem. As Diogo Ortega puts it, "we realised that we were no longer focused solely on “Pharma” and providing “Assistance”, so our name was no longer up to the challenge." Instead, they decided to focus on a different mission. "Through a series of brainstorming sessions, we understood that our mission was to 'align' all the stakeholders, so that we can help the patient to keep his health 'in line'" says Diogo. And that's how the new name came up, Line Health.

A whole new product: a smart pill dispenser and a mobile app

Smart_Pill_Dispenser_3

Line Health is not just changing their name and image, they are also launching their brand new product: a smart pill dispenser, for those who have to take a lot of pills every day, combined with a mobile app. With this combined solution, Line Health can "effectively help their users to comply with their doctor’s instructions – not only medications, but also measuring vital signs periodically or even walking a certain amount of steps daily" explains the CEO of this promising Portuguese startup.

Watch their inspiring video for the announcement and be part of this by applying to be one of their beta-testers.

 

 

 

 

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Beta-i Awarded Partner of the Year by Portugal Ventures

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Portugal Ventures

Beta-i was awarded Partner of the Year by Portugal Ventures, on the 3rd Open Day of the Portuguese VC. The event, organised by Portugal Ventures, celebrated the Portuguese startup scene with a few discussion panels and talks from the key players within the ecosystem.

Portugal Ventures has been working closely with Beta-i in order to support the best startups, mostly through Lisbon Challenge. Many startups that have gone through Lisbon Challenge have been invested by this Portuguese VC, such as Followprice, BGuest or GuestU. And we bet there are many more yet to come...

Check out their portfolio here and know more about this Portuguese VC.

 

The post Beta-i Awarded Partner of the Year by Portugal Ventures appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.

Portugal As a Privileged Entry Point for Startups into the European Market

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Europe Ahead

Portugal is increasingly becoming known as the place to be in Europe to start a business and that’s not merely because of the sunny weather and cool beaches. There is so much more to this strategic corner of Europe and that’s why we maintain a sharp focus on bringing the best of the best to our accelerators as a starting point for startups to establish themselves in Portugal.

In the most recent report - Doing Business 2015, - which evaluates 189 economies, Portugal is referenced in the top 25. This report assesses 11 areas in the life cycle of a business, factoring in such aspects as starting a business, getting electricity or obtaining credit. Precisely when it comes to starting a business, Portugal is ranked at number 10 which illustrates how easy it is for an entrepreneur to create a business in Lisbon or any other Portuguese city. It is easier than starting up in the UK or even in Germany. This is partly due to the low number of procedures (3 instead of the average 5 in OECD), days spent (2.5) in comparison to OECD (9.2), lower cost (only 2.3 in the same comparison) and the lack of minimum capital required.

There are other positive economic factors that contribute for the above mentioned ranking: Portugal has a current GDP growth of 0,9%, negative inflation of -0,3% with a historically low interest rate which benefits both national and international investment.

Recently one of the trendiest companies within the startup community - Zomato – chose to move its European operation to Lisbon as they found a unique enthusiasm for mobile apps and the ideal geographic location mainly due to the easy access to other European airports. The strong aviation network is actually one of the the reasons frequently pointed out as an important factor for conducting business in Lisbon, along with fair real estate prices (both home and office space), the average level english of the population, the strong entrepreneurial support (incubators and accelerators), investment and venture funding as well as the quality of life and culture of one of Europe´s most ancient countries.

The reduced labor costs and qualified human resources are also often denoted as key factors to developing a business here and that’s also why starting in Portugal is viewed as a strategic entrance into the European Market.

As one of the cheapest countries to live in, in Europe, whilst benefiting from the talent of young entrepreneurs, Portugal has been attracting more and more international investors, as well as becoming a country of interest for hosting top events and gatherings – yes, it’s true that we’re in the running to become the first country to host the Web Summit outside of Ireland.

Startups have plenty to consider when it comes to choosing how to start in Portugal depending on the stage they consider to be at. Participating in local accelerators is one of the best options as it gets entrepreneurs immediately connected to the community, backed up by relevant mentors and linked to the best entrepreneurship organizations.

One such example is Beta-i collaboration with Deloitte Digital in the creation of the first vertical accelerator in Portugal – Deloitte Digital Disruptors. Participating startups will have the unique opportunity to develop a business from an inexpensive, high life-quality city with access to high value clients from all over Europe, including Deloitte’s own network of clients. The two month acceleration program is specifically designed to accompany startups in implementing their solutions directly with big insurance industry players. There are over €100k in perks per team, free office space during the acceleration program and incubation right in Lisbon’s business center with no equity taken.

The first call for applications will close tomorrow and more info on the accelerator can be found at www.deloittedigitaldisruptors.com.

 

This article was originally published at Fundacity, our supporters on the Deloitte Digital Disruptors' promotion.

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SendGrid in Lisbon – to meet the best startups

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SendGrid in Lisbon

Our friends from SendGrid, the world known transactional email delivery and management service, will be visiting Lisbon to get to know the local startup scene. They are inviting the best startups in town to a happy hour on October 3rd. Join us for a couple of beers and find out how SendGrid was able to grow and reach the unbelievable mark of sending over 18 billion emails a month.

SendGrid started off in 2009 and they've been through the Techstars acceleration program in the US. Since then, they've been able to grow into impressive numbers (more than 18 billion emails sent a month and 260 employees) and implement an inspiring working culture.

"SendGrid Lisbon Startup Happy Hour" kicks off on October 3rd at Museu da Cerveja in Lisbon. All you have to do, if you want to meet SendGrid in Lisbon, is register here until Tuesday.

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Beta-i is bringing Seedcamp to Lisbon

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Seedcamp in Lisbon

To all startups in Lisbon, Seedcamp is going to be here for ICT15, on the 21st of October. This is a huge opportunity for those who want to know more about the investment fund and mentoring program and increase their chances of being accepted. Save the date and join our crew.

At Beta-i, we've been organising for the past few years the "Mini Seedcamp in Lisbon", where startup founders meet some members of the Seedcamp team, to know more about the program and pitch their startup. But, this year, we decided to do things differently... Seedcamp is coming to ICT15 in Lisbon, a major event, organised by the European Commission, where the main players from the European startup scene will be present. We have specifically curated an agenda to talk about the startup ecosystem at ICT15 and Seedcamp will be there to talk with the best startups in Lisbon.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea_x6fQkI0Y[/embed]

If you're interested in increasing your chances of getting into Seedcamp, then this is definitely an event you can't miss. Save the date (Wednesday, 21st of October) and register here.

Many Portuguese startups have been accepted in the program because of this event, such as Codacy, Zercatto and Popcorn Metrics. Are you next?

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The Web Summit is moving to Lisbon

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Web Summit in Lisbon

Web Summit in Lisbon? Yes, the Web Summit is coming to Lisbon, people!

After a long wait (okay, we were feeling a bit impatient), the organisation of the world's best tech conference announced that they're moving to Lisbon in 2016. The conference will be held at MEO Arena and FIL next year.

After a strong movement to bring the Web Summit to Lisbon, initiated by Startup Ship and supported by the whole Lisbon startup community, there's no need to give more reasons for the event to be held here. It's done.

Check the blog-post written by the organisation to announce the decision of moving from Dublin to Lisbon, for more info.

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DoDOC lands investment from Caixa Capital

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DoDoc invested by Caixa Capital

DoDOC, a Portuguese startup who has been through Lisbon Challenge, and most recently Techstars in Boston, has raised €200k from our partners at Caixa Capital. The future is looking bright and promising for this web-based platform that helps pharmaceutical companies bring drugs to the market faster by streamlining regulatory documents, ensuring auditability and compliance.

According to the founder and CEO of DoDOC, Federico Cismondi, this investment will be used to help establish the company's engineering, regulatory and sales team to increase their customer base.

Caixa Capital is known for investing and supporting the Portuguese startup scene and this investment is just another example. They are known for not only investing in emerging startups but also for providing strong links to other major investors across the globe. DoDOC is now joining an extensive portfolio of companies invested by Caixa Capital, such as Uniplaces, Farfetch, Codacy and Unbabel.

 

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Meet the world’s top business schools

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Access MBA Tour

Many of us have considered doing an MBA, but how can you know for sure? You want to learn, get new business opportunities and build a strong network that can help you with your startup, but you don't know which university to choose.

Well, that's where the Access MBA Tour comes in. At this event, organised by the Lisbon MBA, you'll be able to meet thousands of business professionals and representatives from world known business universities. You can get one-on-one meetings to get all your questions answered and see if this is really the next step for your career.

The event will be held at SANA Lisboa Hotel, on the 10th of October. Register here and you'll be carefully matched and selected for individual meetings with the business schools that better fit your expectations.

 

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All the key European acceleration players’ in one place

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EAS_Banner

Lisbon is increasingly becoming the host of the major entrepreneurship related initiatives. For the first time, the main accelerators’ representatives from Europe are gathering in Lisbon on October 19th to join the European Accelerator Summit and discuss the best practices within acceleration as well as to get different point of views the European startup scene. Beta-i, in partnership with NUMA and backed up by the ATALANTA project, is the host of this year's summit.

Our partners NUMA started this event last year and the events’ main outcomes were gathered on a white paper which also became one of the main goals of organizing these kind of events: to research on acceleration and identify key issues that can be further discussed and turned into new best practices for the European acceleration ecosystem.

Last year 120 accelerators gathered to contribute to this discussion, coming from more than 35 countries. This year, we’re already counting on NESTA, Fundacity, F6S, Seedcamp and many many more (see the pic below with all the confirmed attendees). It’s a unique opportunity to get the best of what is being done within acceleration worldwide and exchange best practices with top accelerators’ representatives. This will be an active event, full of collaborative sessions and hands-on activities for attendees to meet and network.

During the conference day we are having Miklos Grof speaking, the founder and CEO of Fundacity (one of the biggest matching platform between entrepreneurs and investors) as well as Christopher Haley, the head of startups and new technology research at NUMA, Amisha Miller from the Kauffman Foundation or even Sean Kane from F6S.

Know more about the event, agenda, speakers and other relevant information check out the European Accelerator Summit website. The attendance is by invitation only so if you would like to participate, reach out to us (natacha.ribeiro@beta-i.pt or ines.dartiguenave@beta-i.pt) and ask for your promotional code. Up to help shaping the future of acceleration?

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US vs Portugal – Do you believe in your startup?

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Startups in Portugal and San Francisco

Lisbon Challenge Spring 2015, U.S. Roadshow - San Francisco

The departure day was approaching at a fast pace. No, not again!!!
Not again, the bums on the streets.
Not again, the poverty,  the bumpy roads.
Not again, the never ending flights, the race against the clock to be at every meeting on time, to apologize for every hiccup.

Not again....

The flight took off and we were on our way to the home of the free and the land of the brave.

Landed in Philadelphia airport, connected to the wireless network and saw the first messages. "The hostel does not allow us to check in, they want full payment!!!"
And the party begins!!!
Called the hostel to inform them that I am arriving late and since we already had a down payment they can consider first night fully paid.
The receptionist kept on repeating the same record "No one checks in until all fully paid".
After a while with no success "Can you please let me speak with the manager".
Took a deep breath and started the conversation with a smile requesting for a "one time exception - let the startups check-in and I will resolve the rest of the payment on my arrival". It worked. :)

For those who don´t know, as opposed to Portugal, in America the prices are without VAT and 11%-20% tips are compulsory.
This always pisses me off, you never know exactly how much you will pay, until you get to the cashier, plus add the tip to it.

Why do they do that and what effect does it have on the Americans?

There was something that I realized was common to all the places I have been to. The people are more positive than in Portugal.
After all you are greeted with a handshake, as opposed to a warm fluffy Portuguese kiss.
I wanted to check out this positive tendency, so in order to spark it up, here are some tips that can make the whole difference:

  1. Put a nice smile on your face,
  2. Connect on a personal level (avoid help requests without context or without explaining the situation)
  3. Wherever you can squeeze in a joke, just do it.

P.S: If everything fails, call the manager and repeat steps 1-3.

And the results:
Waiters - the service just exceeded all expectations.
Uber drivers - wow what a service. [Side tip: whatever you want to know or do, Uber drivers can help.]
People in the street - extremely friendly and helpful.
Security guards - serious at first, one joke turns them into your friends.
Everyone (suited or not) is approachable.

 Yosemite incident

On the last day, we had the chance to visit Yosemite Park and after a long hike I jumped into the water... 2 minutes later I hear a lady screaming "SIR, GET OUT OF THE WATER NOW!!!!". Even though I told her that I am coming out, she continued to come towards my direction.

Oh no, will I have to pay a fine????

As she came closer blabbering in a serious tone that got softer and softer and more apologetic,   I slowly realized that she was concerned for my safety, not to  get drifted away in the current. She started explaining the signs of current in the water and that someone was extremely injured the some days earlier.

Then the smile came and all was good. :)

It is amazing how each service person that I met during the visit seemed like they are happy to do their job, from the top level positions to the low ones, and I remembered our visit at BlackBox.
Fadi Bishara, founder and CEO of BlackBox, mentioned the differences between the European and the American mentality towards startups.

He said that one of the main difference is that the Americans BELIEVE.
They believe that they can make it, no matter what the odds are. And you know what, even when things go wrong,  at least they tried.

I wonder how the startup ecosystem in Portugal would change if we just start BELIEVING more.

Would there be more innovation?
Would investors invest more and provide more trust in the capabilities of the teams to succeed?
Would the economical situation be better?
And the big question is why don't they believe?

On my flight back to Portugal I saw a movie were a american football  team with no chances of winning any competition ends up winning the championship....

I bet some of you are thinking "haha, typical American movie - Rambo, Rocky, Commando.... etc.".
Hold that thought one second !!!

Imagine passing through childhood to adult, being exposed to these movies on a permanent basis.
Would you believe more?

How about when you make your first waiter job, and the size of the tips are aligned to the level of service that you provide.
Isn't this a signal saying that the harder you work the more you gain?
Would that make you believe more?

These are 2 simple examples of some differences that has positive affect on the american mindset.

What kind of movies or series did you grow up on?
Can you detect any kind of systematic signalling that make you believe in yourself?

I also have the perception that most American movies are cliché, but could it be that this is the main contributor to the intrinsic drive for huge success?

Ask yourself this, DO YOU BELIEVE?

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We’re bringing TechCrunch to Lisbon during EAS

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TechCrunch in Lisbon

We’re all set. After closing all the details, we’re excited to have the first TechCrunch event in Lisbon, on October 19th, sponsored by Aptoide. If you want to meet Mike Butcher, Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch, and pitch your startup, you better save your spot before tickets run out.
So, what is happening exactly? We’re having TechCrunch in Lisbon for a Meet-up and Pitch Off on October 19th. We’ll have a few drinks with a beautiful view over Lisbon at Silk Club, talk about business, hear some amazing pitches and network.

Register here to attend the event before we run out of tickets.

If you want to pitch just follow Mike's instructions:

"I will pick Eight or nine companies to pitch for a total of about 45 mins. Contestants will have two minutes to pitch (NO SLIDES) and 3 minutes of questions from myself and local judges. The event will be in English. The winner will get a table at TC Disrupt Startup Alley in TechCrunch Disrupt London and the runner-up will get two tickets to the event. If you’d like to pitch at the event email mike AT techrunch.com, subject line “LisbonCrunch” with this info:

• Startup Name

• Website URL

• Contact Email

• CrunchBase Profile URL

• Describe your startup in 75 words or fewer

• Founders' bios in 75 words or fewer

• Have you launched?

• Got funding and from who?

We’ll email you telling you who has been selected to pitch. (If you DON’T get a confirmation email that you’re pitching, then you're not pitching.)"

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