Empowered Startups Increasing Investment in Portugal
Empowered Startups was front and centre at the recent Startup Capital Summit in Coimbra, where stakeholders from every…
Empowered Startups was front and centre at the recent Startup Capital Summit in Coimbra, where stakeholders from every sector of Portugal’s Startup network gathered to share knowledge and discover opportunities. Portugal’s largest national event for venture capital, innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology transfer showcased leaders, innovators, and investors, providing countless benefits to those in attendance. Empowered Startups was well represented by President Chris Lennon, members of its Portuguese leadership team, and multiple entrepreneurs who have come to Portugal via its HQA Visa Program. Lennon was a speaker in one of the day’s featured panels, offering his expertise and answering questions on the topic of “Internationalization: Distance doesn’t matter” before an engaged crowd at the Convento São Francisco.
“Events like the Startup Capital Summit serve as an incredible opportunity for our investors to quickly immerse themselves in the country’s business community and explore prospects for further investment into Portugal. These are accomplished businesspeople looking for attractive investment opportunities, and they are finding them thanks to our expansive Portuguese network and talented team,” explained Lennon.
“Empowered Startups has been bringing direct investment to Portugal’s startup ecosystem and higher education institutions for more than half a decade through our HQA Visa Program. As the program continues to mature and expand throughout the country, the dividends it is bringing to Portugal are growing quickly.”
President Chris Lennon
Government Support for Startups
Over 1,500 people representing various sectors of the Portuguese startup environment attended the one-day conference in Coimbra. Decision makers from universities, professionals from startup incubators, and members of the Government of Portugal joined numerous investors and entrepreneurs in sharing ideas and opportunities to catalyze further growth in an already healthy startup community. Secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira, delivered public support on behalf of the recently elected government, ensuring those gathered in Coimbra that startups are an integral component of a more prosperous and cohesive Portugal.
Startups in Portugal are “great catalysts for change, challenging established conventions, bringing new technologies, transforming, more than the industry, an entire sector or set of sectors, some even with a very traditional basis, but which today are projected to a highly technological future,” stated Ferreira. He added, “We need a Portugal that is truly interconnected between the different dimensions of the economic and business world, from universities to technological innovation centers and companies.”
HQA Visa Program Delivers
Ferreira’s words very much describe what Empowered Startups’ HQA Visa Program continues to provide for Portugal. In addition to the direct investment that every HQA participant contributes to the Portuguese economy, the business acumen of the proven entrepreneurs who qualify for the program is advancing more than just the companies they found. Staff at Portuguese universities and polytechnics are elated with the knowledge transfer these high-impact entrepreneurs are delivering to their students, whether it be through collaborative work on R&D projects or via guest lectures in the classroom. Such value-added benefits of the HQA Visa Program create greater opportunities for researchers and students to remain in the smaller communities in which most of these higher education institutions exist, thus strengthening the country’s interior and promoting territorial cohesion.
Empowered’s established network of partner institutions will expand this week when the Canadian multinational adds another Portuguese university, the 14th to join an already impressive roster. Several R&D projects have been funded through the HQA Visa Program at schools in Empowered’s network in recent weeks with several more announcements on the horizon. To date, Empowered Startups has brought more than 70 internationally funded projects to Portuguese institutions and over €4 million of direct investment to Portugal through its HQA Visa Program as part of its commitment to deliver 25 internationally funded projects to at least 10 universities or polytechnics over a three-year period.
