Founder Opportunities

Founders, startup teams, operators, and ecosystem members who want to attend Web Summit Lisbon without applying to exhibit through the startup programme.

Use Build Up Labs ambassador code LEON20 for 20% off a Web Summit 2026 General Attendee ticket. The ticket includes exhibition-floor access, content across 32 industries, tailored networking recommendations, curated meetups, Night Summit, expert masterclasses, partner perks, and attendee discovery tools.

Portugal-based, technology-focused early-stage startups with a live product and website that want Web Summit preparation, an exhibition presence, investor and ecosystem connections, and international visibility.

Selected startups receive a 50% discount on a Web Summit 2026 ALPHA or BETA package, including three or four tickets, a one-day exhibition booth, startup activations, app and lounge access, event preparation support, and a dedicated Startup Success team. Eligible participants can also compete for a €15,000 Most Promising Startup prize or a €5,000 bootcamp and conference performance prize. Build Up Labs can support founders with the Startup Portugal Recognition process.

Portugal-based academic founders turning research, theses, R&D projects, or proofs of concept into a startup, especially students, researchers, or faculty connected to a national higher-education institution.

€30,000 non-repayable voucher per project, paid 100% in advance after approval, to fund early business creation and validation steps such as incubation, acceleration, company setup, events, marketing, pitch materials, proof of concept, pilots, IP protection, and regulatory or certification mapping.

Early-stage entrepreneurs, informal or newly formalised businesses, SMEs, and startup founders building practical, technology-enabled, or impact-led ventures. The startup track is aimed at teams with an MVP, prototype, or validated concept that are preparing for growth, partnerships, and investment.

Free tailored support through the BYB Ventures or BYB Startups track, including idea validation, prototyping and testing, one-to-one guidance, sales and marketing or growth and traction support, and connections to mentors, partners, investors, and local business networks. The programme also provides access to catalytic-funding opportunities.

Pre-seed and seed startups with an MVP and first traction, especially B2B/SaaS, fintech, AI, future-of-work, productivity, digital-health, and HR-tech teams preparing to raise their first funding round.

Ten selected startups get seven-minute one-to-one meetings with ten investors during an 80-minute online session. Participants may secure investor interest or funding, and the winner receives a fast-track to the final stage of the Pre-Seed to Succeed investment process.

Innovative SMEs established for at least two years in an eligible European country that have a TRL 4-8 solution and want to validate its technical, commercial, legal, or socioeconomic feasibility in a market in Africa, the Americas, Asia, or Oceania.

A fixed €60,000 grant for a six-month market feasibility project with a local counterpart in the target country. The call funds up to 70% of eligible costs, with €42,000 pre-financing and €18,000 after an accepted final report.

Technology startups and scaleups established outside Spain that are preparing to enter the Spanish market and can show innovation, scalability, a capable team, financial viability, and a credible plan to establish operations there.

A free six-month programme with legal and immigration guidance, tailored mentoring and training, investor and corporate connections, visibility, major-event access, internationalisation support, and help establishing the company in Spain. Specific services are assigned according to each selected startup's needs and ICEX's discretion.

Fintechs and startups operating in Portugal that want their company represented in the 10th edition of the annual Portugal Fintech ecosystem report.

The selected company information will contribute to the Portugal Fintech Report 2026, helping map the companies, trends, and insights shaping Portugal's fintech ecosystem and giving participating startups visibility in this year's edition.

International B2B tech founders and growth teams that are serious about entering or expanding in Germany, whether they already have an active buyer, pilot, evaluation, partner, or procurement case or are working to open their first one.

Bi-weekly remote sessions use each startup's real German buyer case to diagnose blockers, map decision-makers, and define one concrete next commitment. Pioniergeist prepares and pressure-tests cases with a fixed cohort of up to four teams and may bring in external sales coaches or experienced founders.

Technical founders, developers, designers, and first-time hackers who want to build and demo an AI-agent or healthcare prototype in Lisbon, either solo or in a team of up to three.

A free one-day hackathon with mentors, founders, and engineers from Lisbon's tech community, plus food, drinks, and swag. The €4,500 prize pool includes €1,500 for each track winner, €500 for each runner-up, and an extra €500 for the overall winner.

Startups and SMEs in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries with a game-changing, high-risk innovation that has completed TRL 5 and is ready for TRL 6-8 activities, strong scale-up ambition, and funding needs that private investors alone will not yet cover.

A grant component below €2.5 million for innovation activities, plus €1-€10 million in direct equity or quasi-equity for blended-finance applicants. Selected companies also receive coaching, mentoring, investor and partner access, and other EIC Business Acceleration Services.

Founders and startup teams who want to meet Portugal's entrepreneurship community, find relevant ecosystem contacts, and join the conversation about the next decade of Portuguese startups.

A free hybrid Startup Portugal gathering for ecosystem networking, with in-person participation in Lisboa or Porto, online access via Zoom, and pre-event introductions through the Startup Portugal Meetball community.

Startups, founders, students, researchers, military personnel, and technical builders working on autonomous systems, robotics, GNSS-denied navigation, swarm coordination, or other practical defence and dual-use solutions.

A three-day build environment with defence-industry mentors, expert workshops, hands-on challenge development, European ecosystem visibility, and networking. The programme selects a winning team at each location for follow-on mentoring and an EU-wide pitching competition.

Portugal-incorporated startups that meet at least one size threshold: up to €250,000 in annual revenue, up to €1 million raised, or 2-25 full-time employees.

Three winners share €20,000 in cash prizes (€10,000, €6,000, and €4,000), receive three hours of expert mentoring and national visibility, and represent Portugal in the Santander X Global Award 2026.

National and international startups with a tested, scalable, pilot-ready technology solution, a functional MVP or product already on the market, and the ability to integrate quickly into hospitality operations.

Selected startups co-design and run a real-world pilot with Pestana Hotel Group or Feel Group, supported by Unicorn Factory Lisboa. The free programme offers operational validation, measurable use cases, hospitality-sector visibility, a March showcase, and the possibility of a commercial agreement based on pilot results.

Pilot-ready agrifood startups with a prospective corporate client and a clear proof-of-concept or small-scale pilot that can show a pathway toward commercial activity.

EIT Food can co-finance startup-corporate proof-of-concept work such as sample creation, field trials, functionality and property tests, or efficiency assessments, helping de-risk pilots that could lead to larger commercial collaboration.

Early-stage digital and deep tech startups in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries with a working prototype or proof of concept at TRL 4-5 or above, strong IP ownership, and a real industry challenge to validate with a corporate partner.

Selected ventures can receive up to €250,000 of 28DIGITAL financial support, co-create directly with industry partners, access fundraising assistance, join 28DIGITAL training and mentoring support, and gain visibility across its European innovation ecosystem.

Technology startups and scaleups with an operational product, customer, revenue, or investment traction, and plans to expand into Hong Kong or wider Asian markets within the next 24 months.

Qualified companies can access market-readiness support, targeted networking, and matchmaking with 120+ corporate and investor partners. Shortlisted teams may join virtual pitching, while semi-finalists receive a Hong Kong event booth and eligible travel reimbursement.

Solo founders, teams, and aspiring entrepreneurs building a technology startup, including people still working full-time, who want a structured path from idea validation to an investor-ready company.

The four-month FI Core programme combines company-building sprints, mentor feedback, working groups, office hours, product and customer validation, and fundraising preparation, with access to Founder Institute's global network.

Digital health startups working on prevention, patient empowerment, early detection, AI-enabled diagnostics, clinical decision support, or patient-facing health tools that want visibility with Bayer, healthcare experts, investors, and the Portuguese health innovation ecosystem.

Bayer's 11th STEM4Health edition gives selected startups expert evaluation, pitch and networking exposure with Bayer, investors, healthcare and technology professionals, plus a winner package with Medical Valley mentoring and a Web Summit ticket.

Early-stage startups with outstanding potential that want Web Summit visibility in Lisbon, investor and media exposure, startup activations, and a structured event preparation path with the startup success team.

Selected ALPHA startups receive three Web Summit tickets, a startup profile visible to attendees, investors, media, and partners, a one-day exhibition booth, a printed exhibition board, access to the Web Summit app, Startup Lounge, startup activations, and support from a dedicated startup success manager. Accepted startups can also apply for activations such as PITCH, Startup Showcase, 40 Words, Mentor Hours, masterclasses, roundtables, and investor-to-startup meetings. Startups selected through Build Up Labs' referral route receive 20% off automatically at checkout.

Startups with traction or fundraising momentum that fit Web Summit's BETA route and want concentrated access to investors, media, startup showcases, mentor sessions, and Web Summit's global founder network in Lisbon.

Accepted BETA startups can use Web Summit to build visibility with attendees, investors, international media, strategic partners, and potential customers. The startup programme highlights access to investor-to-startup meetings, Mentor Hours, Startup Showcase, 40 Words, startup masterclasses, PITCH eligibility, the Web Summit app, and startup success support to prepare for the event. Startups selected through Build Up Labs' referral route receive 20% off automatically at checkout.

Agrifood startups and research teams with TRL 4-7 solutions that can address real company challenges in ingredients, greenhouse optimisation, pet-food drying, circular ecosystems, soil resilience, water treatment, or microalgae ingredients.

The programme connects solution providers with European agrifood SMEs and corporates to co-develop feasibility studies and pilot-ready solutions, giving startups direct customer validation, market credibility, and access to a pan-European agrifood network.

Portuguese-registered deep-tech startups and scaleups with differentiated technology or protected IP, market validation, and a clear intent to enter the U.S. market.

UT Austin Portugal’s Startup2ScaleUp gives four selected companies 12 months of execution-focused U.S. market-entry support, including a dedicated U.S.-based Business Development Manager, lead generation for customers, partners, and investors, weekly touchpoints, monthly pipeline reporting, and access to the Texas/U.S. innovation ecosystem. The programme charges no participation fees and takes no equity.

European SMEs, startups, and research organisations building defence or dual-use technologies, especially teams with AI, cyber, quantum, energy, surveillance, digital, hardware, advanced materials, or other deep tech that can be adapted to defence applications.

The EDF 2026 work programme allocates about €1B to collaborative defence R&D, including dedicated EUDIS non-thematic SME calls. SME-led research actions can fund projects up to €4M and SME development actions up to €6M, with business coaching support to help move R&D results toward defence products and market entry.

Portuguese technology startups legally incorporated for less than six years, especially teams with innovative industry 4.0/5.0 solutions in robotics, automation, industrial software, maintenance, manufacturing, composites, moulds, or related industrial technology.

Three selected startups receive free participation in the HubTech space at 360 Tech Industry Lisboa on 26-27 Nov 2026 at Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, with exposure to industrial companies, engineers, managers, decision-makers, official event channels, and the Tecno Metal magazine.

Investor-backed European founders and startups preparing to expand into North America and looking for structured market-entry support, ecosystem access, and guidance from Toronto Business Development Centre.

Market-entry programme support for founders expanding into North America, with a focus on helping European companies understand the market, build local connections, and prepare for commercial expansion.

Early-stage AI startups building the next generation of communications, customer engagement, developer tools, automation, or AI-enabled business workflows, especially teams already using or able to use Twilio.

Recognition as one of 30 honorees, potential co-marketing opportunities with Twilio, additional marketing/prize opportunities for strong demos, possible showcase in TwilioWorld, and consideration for invite-only Founders Connect Fellowship opportunities.

Women-founded or women-co-founded early-stage deep tech startups in EU Member States or eligible Horizon Europe Pillar III Associated Countries, especially teams preparing to move from validated technology toward market readiness.

€75,000 equity-free grant funding plus personalised business development support, mentoring, training, expert guidance, matchmaking, networking, and help bridging toward other EIC funding and support schemes.

Early-stage and growth-stage founders, startup teams, operators, investors, and ecosystem builders who want a Lisbon-based event for practical learning, founder networking, startup visibility, and investor conversations.

Two days of talks across three stages, workshops and panels, startup showcase access, summit community access, and pass options that can include founder-only meetups, investor networking sessions, pitch competition eligibility, startup directory listing, or a startup booth.

Portuguese startups, SMEs, and eligible national entities needing advanced compute resources.; best for AI, simulation, scientific-computing, and compute-heavy startups.

CPU / GPU hours and storage on advanced computing infrastructure.

Startups and SMEs supported by EIC, EIT, KICs, MSCA or related European innovation programmes that can host a 3-6 month innovation internship; also relevant for researchers, graduates and EIT talents looking for startup exposure.

Access to specialised research and innovation talent without financial burden for hosting companies, AI-assisted matchmaking with company needs, and practical knowledge-transfer between research and startup execution.

Startups and companies with retail-relevant concepts, technologies, or operational solutions that need a controlled environment to test with a major Portuguese retailer.

A practical route to validate concepts quickly, collect operational feedback, and explore collaboration with retail-sector partners instead of only attending a networking event.

Entrepreneurs from startup to scale-up who want a structured European hub for training, networking, mentorship, funding visibility, and market-expansion resources.

Access to online training, workshops, webinars, MOOCs, community features, mentor and investor marketplace, funding and visibility resources, and learning paths for business growth.

Startups and SMEs with smart-home solutions in energy efficiency, security, accessibility, home automation, immersive entertainment, connected-device management, or adjacent connected-living use cases.

Technical validation, real-user insights, specialized support, access to smart-home testing resources, and acceleration support with NOS, Sonae MC, and UNION context.

startups in Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving Cloud Computing, Digital Twins, AI / Machine Learning. Challenge owner: Grupo MCA.

Significantly reduces BIM design and modelling time, improves consistency between technical solutions and digital models, increases engineering and design productivity, optimizes cost and performance and supports scaling projects across geographies.

startups in Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving SaaS, AI / Machine Learning, Data & Analytics. Challenge owner: Grupo MCA.

Reduces bid-preparation time, increases tender success rate, improves operational efficiency, reduces errors, makes better use of internal knowledge and history and increases the ability to scale participation in international tenders.

startups in Health, Manufacturing & Industry, Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving SaaS, Cloud Computing, Data & Analytics, APIs / Integrations, ERP / Enterprise Systems. Challenge owner: TMG Automotive.

Reduces spare-part search and identification time, lowers material-selection errors, increases maintenance-team autonomy, reduces machine downtime and improves out-of-hours operational efficiency.

startups in Health, Manufacturing & Industry, Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving Data & Analytics, Data Infrastructure / Data Engineering, Internet of Things (IoT), APIs / Integrations, Robotics / Automation, Industry 4.0, Hardware / Embedded Systems, ERP / Enterprise Systems. Challenge owner: TMG Automotive.

Improves automatic start/end tracking for each roll, links materials to real production parameters, increases data quality and traceability, supports quality and efficiency analysis and reduces manual logging.

startups in Health, Manufacturing & Industry, Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving Data & Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), APIs / Integrations, Robotics / Automation, Industry 4.0, Hardware / Embedded Systems, ERP / Enterprise Systems, Supply Chain Tech. Challenge owner: TMG Automotive.

Increases accuracy and reliability of inbound data, improves stock control and production planning, reduces manual errors and admin rework, integrates weighing into operations without reducing efficiency and scales across materials and logistics contexts.

startups in Manufacturing & Industry; with solutions involving AI / Machine Learning, Data & Analytics, Data Infrastructure / Data Engineering, Internet of Things (IoT), APIs / Integrations, Robotics / Automation, Industry 4.0, Hardware / Embedded Systems. Challenge owner: AAC Têxteis.

Improves production traceability and data reliability, reduces manual control processes and identifies technologies with industrial application potential.

startups in Health; with solutions involving SaaS, AI / Machine Learning, Data & Analytics. Challenge owner: Clínica Santa Madalena.

Reduces no-show rates, increases clinical schedule occupancy, improves absence prediction, enables faster reassignment of available slots, reduces operational disruption and improves the patient scheduling and confirmation experience.

startups in Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving AI / Machine Learning, Data & Analytics. Challenge owner: Grupo ACA.

Improves predictability of construction timelines and costs, identifies planning deviations earlier, supports site teams with data-driven decision tools and increases efficiency while reducing operational risk in complex projects.

startups in Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving Cloud Computing, Digital Twins, AI / Machine Learning, Data & Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), APIs / Integrations, Robotics / Automation, Industry 4.0, Hardware / Embedded Systems, Sustainability / Climate Tech, Mobility / Smart Cities. Challenge owner: MEXT.

The expected benefit is to identify water-related solutions that support more efficient, resilient and circular water management across infrastructure and operations. Selected solutions should improve visibility over water use, reduce avoidable losses, enable reuse opportunities and support better resource planning, generating sustainability and operational value for more resource-efficient, future-ready infrastructure.

startups in Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving AI / Machine Learning, Data & Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT). Challenge owner: Grupo ACA.

Improves real-time visibility over construction progress, supports safety monitoring, automatically identifies potential non-conformities, reduces manual site-inspection effort and gives operations teams more frequent, structured information.

startups in Construction & Real Estate; with solutions involving Cloud Computing, Digital Twins, AI / Machine Learning, Data & Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), APIs / Integrations, Robotics / Automation, Industry 4.0, Hardware / Embedded Systems, Supply Chain Tech, Sustainability / Climate Tech, Energy Tech. Challenge owner: MEXT.

The expected benefit is to identify waste-to-energy solutions that support circular, resilient and low-carbon infrastructure and operations. Selected solutions should reduce landfill or low-value treatment, valorize waste into useful energy outputs, lower emissions and environmental impact, improve energy resilience and resource efficiency, create circular business models around waste and energy, and support sustainability and decarbonization goals.