[ HQA PARTNER INSTITUTIONS & TYPES OF PROJECTS ]
The HQA Visa Program program gives qualified entrepreneurs the ability to establish their own company in Portugal while making an investment in an R&D project in collaboration with a government supported research facility (a Portuguese university).
Below is a sample of the types of projects & universities we work within the HQA Visa Program
| Universidade Do Algarve | Universidade De Evora | Universidade De Aveiro | Politecnico De Leiria |
| Biomedicine | Management | Environmental & Marine Sciences | Engineering Technology |
| Marine Sciences | Language | Higher Ed Policies | Agricultural Sciences/Biosciences |
| Arts, Communication & Humanities | Sociology | Construction (Risk & Sustainability) | Life/Health Sciences |
| Electronics | Art History | Didactics & Tech in Teacher Ed | Social Sciences/Humanities/Business Sciences |
| Tourism | Health Research | Mathematics | Health Demographic Change and Well-being |
| Archaelogy | Political Science | Digital Media & Interaction | Food security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry |
| Adult Education | Social Sciences | Health Tech & Services | Marine Sciences |
| Sustainability | Mathematics | Psychology | Maritime & Inland Water Research |
| Human Behaviour | Earth Sciences | Languages, Literature & Cultures | Bioeconomy |
| Optoelectronics | Green Chemistry – Clean Tech & Processes | Mechanical Tech & Automation | Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy |
| Telecommunications | Marine & Environmental Centre | GeoBioSciences | Smart, Green and integrated transport |
| Health Tech | Agriculture | GeoTechnologies | Climate Action, Environment, Resource efficiency and raw materials |
| Computer Science & Informatics | GeoEngineering | Inclusive, Innovative and Reflective Sciences | |
| Philosophy | Communications/tele tech | Information and Communication Tech | |
| Aesthetics of Music | Biomedicine | Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology | |
| Cultural Studies | Electronics & Informatics Engineering | Advanced Materials | |
| Economics | Ethnomusicology | Advanced Manufacturing | |
| Design, Media & Culture | Processing & BioTechnologies | ||
| Nanostructures, Nanomodelling, Nanofabrication | |||
| Chemistry & Tech | |||
| Governance & Public policies |
Become the Best
We educate and empower founders to build market offers and business models that empower their ideas to become the best in the world. We guide them through the rigours of Lean StartUp and Horizon Methodology, and cycle through the validated learning process of build-measure-learn.
Connect with the Best
We select entrepreneurs from around the world with the best innovative and scalable concepts to startup in Portugal, with international reach. We are skilled at assisting entrepreneurs in de-risking their projects, increasing their speed to market, and enhancing the overall prosperity of the Portuguese ecosystem they are entering.
Sell Internationally
We build startups that define and aggressively pursue revenue goals on this equation: My startup will sell $X of Y product to customers A, B, C in N number of countries in M number of months.
[ PARTNERS ]
Our valued partnerships provide transnational entrepreneurs with opportunities to deepen the foundations and extend the reach of their ventures.
Politechnic of Leiria
Our partnership with the Politecnic of Leiria offers entrepreneurs access to innovative research in sea basin technologies.
University of Évora
Our partnership with the University of Évora provides entrepreneurs with access to state-of-the-art expertise in Industry 4.0 solutions.
BEP
Our partnership with BEP provides start ups with ready access to top tier researchers, according to their business needs.
University of the Algarve
Our partnership with the University of the Algarve provides entrepreneurs with access to pan-Mediterranean collaboration opportunities.
[ PORTUGAL NEWS ]
Portugal Has Been Named the World’s Fourth Best Country For ExPats…And We Aren’t Surprised.
Expat Insider 2022 just ranked Portugal 4th out of 52 destinations overall for Expats. Honestly, we aren't surprised. Between the climate, tax advantages, general quality of life, opportunities, education system, and expedient immigration programs for executives like...
Empowered Startups’ HQA Visa Program Growth Featured in Sul Informação
Evora, Portugal, June 26, 2022 —Empowered Startups' massive growth and new office in Portugal has been featured in Sul Informação. Empowered serves as the delivery expert in Portugal’s newest path to citizenship for investors and entrepreneurs, the HQA Visa....
Golden Visa vs. HQA Visa vs. D7 Visa
We get quite a few questions about how Portugal's HQA Visa program differs from a Golden Visa. To be honest there are quite a few differences but it really boils down to 3 main differences - Processing time, cost, and the activities associated with the visa....
[ ADVISORS ]
The following professionals generously offer their perspectives on our plans. We are grateful for the influence they continue to have on our projects.
Paulo
Bandeira
Executive Director, STARTUP LAB – SRS Advogados
Hugo
Barros
Director , CRIA – University of the Algarve
Alex
Rodrigues
Entrepreneurship & Investments Officer, Brigantia-EcoPark