Portugal-relevant startup grants, vouchers, prizes, accelerators, and founder funding opportunities in one place.
5 current opportunities
Funding guide
Use this page when you are building from Portugal, expanding through the Portuguese ecosystem, or looking for programmes where a Portugal link improves your fit. Each opportunity includes practical notes on eligibility, benefits, and founder stage.
Current opportunities
5 opportunities shown.
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.
Apply by 16 Oct 2026, or earlier if all available spots fill. Applicants must be Portugal-based legal entities with a valid NIPC, a live website, a developed brand and their own technology product or connected hardware. Startup / Scaleup Recognition is required, except for startups incubated in a certified RNI incubator that have already started the recognition process. Companies must have under 10 years of activity, although Web Summit may reject companies older than five years. Consultancies, agencies, subsidiaries of large companies, public companies, and startups that already bought Web Summit 2026 ALPHA/BETA access are not eligible. Selected teams must pay the remaining 50% package fee within 10 working days and showcase physically at Web Summit.
Incorporated startups and SMEs planning national or European patent applications, EU plant variety protection, or geographical indications for craft and industrial products. Portuguese SMEs can apply through EUIPO.
Partial reimbursement of eligible IP costs: 75% of national and European patent fees, with separate caps of €1,000 each, and 50% of European patent drafting and filing services, capped at €1,500. Plant variety applications and examination receive 75% reimbursement up to €1,500; craft and industrial geographical indications receive 50% support up to €2,000.
Apply to EUIPO by 4 Dec 2026, subject to available funding. Obtain the grant and voucher before activating it for eligible services and claiming reimbursement. Patent and plant variety vouchers must be activated within one month, extendable by one further month; geographical indication vouchers are valid for six months. INPI currently marks Voucher 1 (IP Scan/IP Scan Enforcement) and Voucher 2 (trademarks and designs) temporarily unavailable, so do not assume those costs are currently supported. Verify the selected voucher's live availability and detailed rules before incurring costs.
Early-stage startups from any sector that are ready to pitch in English to investors, industry leaders, and an expert jury, and can attend the Lisbon regional final in person.
Ten selected startups pitch at Nova SBE. The regional winner earns a place at START Summit in St. Gallen on 18–19 Mar 2027 and the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco, where finalists compete for a $1 million investment prize.
Apply by 11 Oct 2026 using the startup application form. Applicants provide company, team, funding, revenue, problem, and industry information and upload a PDF pitch deck of up to 10 MB; a product-demo link is optional. Selected founders must be available to pitch in person at Nova SBE in Carcavelos on 22 Oct 2026.
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.
Apply through the Build Up Labs referral link with a business email address. Web Summit assesses applicants for high potential and programme fit; the 20% discount is applied only after selection, at checkout. PITCH is open to ALPHA and BETA startups exhibiting at Web Summit that have received less than €5M in funding to date and have not had a discernible change in business model in the last three years.
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.
Eligible Portuguese entities with pre-commercial innovation projects.
Founder guidance
We include grants, vouchers, prizes, accelerators, investor-access programmes, and public/private calls where Portugal-based founders or Portugal-linked startups are a clear fit.
It depends on the programme. Some calls require a Portuguese legal entity, while others accept international teams if the project is implemented in Portugal or has a relevant Portuguese partner.
The full Founder Opportunities page shows everything we are tracking. This guide highlights the Portugal-relevant funding options so you can decide faster.
