by Carolina Santos | Dec 7, 2017 | Investors, Startups
After 10 weeks of intensive work and mentorship, the eight startups from Lisbon Challenge found out which ones were getting an investment, but there were no winners or losers, because even the ones who weren’t invested have already closed their first pilots and are ready to make their baby startups grow.
It is not typical for an Investor’s day to be at a brewery but it turned out to be the perfect scenario. They walked to the stage full of confidence and nerves, we could feel their dry mouths while they were pitching and if we could guess their heart rates were racing like crazy. The smile of relief each one of them had while leaving the stage, after asking several questions from investors, was priceless.
They did what they were mentored to do and all of them delivered flawless pitches and made everybody proud. It was good to see that those eight teams became friends, kind of a family and that what an acceleration program is also about.
Yesterday Luvotels, Sparkl and Placeme found out they were being invested. Luvotels got 50k, Sparkl also got 50k and Placeme got 75k, a surprise to all but mainly to those who got it. The ones who weren’t invested are going to continue to work hard towards their goal and we know they are going far.
Today the office is quieter and emptier than it used to be and we all already miss them. The good thing is there will always be another Lisbon Challenge.
Follow the footsteps of these startups and get 10K in 10 weeks.
by Carolina Santos | Dec 6, 2017 | Startups
For those who are not familiar with the PyData Meetup we’ll explain it: it’s a program from NumFocus, a non-profit in the United States that supports and promotes world-class, innovative and open source scientific computing. It started as a workshop in 2012 with prominent individuals in the community willing to deliver tutorials and discuss the current state of the Python Scientific Stack. The event was a huge success and it spread all over the United States and Europe.
Until recently Portugal did not have the event so Sílvio Rodrigues, from Jungle.ai, decided to ask for permission to NumFocus and started having it at Beta-i in a partnership with Microsoft – which provides the food. It’s on its way to the 3rd edition and shows no signs of slowing down…on the contrary.
The free event outgrew the auditorium on the second floor and moved to a bigger one on the 8th floor, also in Beta-i, and that is where is taking place on December 13 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. with speakers from Uniplaces and EDP.
Unlike what people may think it is open to everyone, not only developers or data scientists, it is for everyone who has an interest in learning as well as networking, recruiting or even be recruited.
The meetup usually sells out in one day but for all of those who could not secure a spot the event is always live streamed and there will always be another one, you just have to be faster the next time. And by the way, if you are a data scientist looking for a new challenge you may want to speak with Jungle.ai, they may have what you’ve been looking for all along and you never knew.
by Carolina Santos | Nov 30, 2017 | Startups
It was 7 a.m. last Tuesday when the eight startups from Lisbon Challenge took the train to Aveiro. Waiting for them they had Adriana Costa, Director of IEUA – Incubadora de Empresas da Universidade de Aveiro, and Cândida Cardoso, Manager of Incubation Services, who drove them around the main touristic sights of the city.
Adriana Costa showing the Creative Science Park to the Startups.
Today more than ever all partnerships are important and the one between Lisbon Challenge and IEUA has just now begin to grow. The truth is: the ecosystem involves the whole country, it does not start or end in Lisbon and working together with other accelerators can benefit both parties because there’s an exchange of knowledge that is crucial both to startups and accelerators.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the Creative Science Park which will be inaugurated on 2018 and where some of the startups will have the privilege to work and grow as well as be close to companies such as Bosch, Nestlé or Altice and, at the same time, close to the university.
The startups pitched to investors from Red Angels, Best Horizon and LC Ventures – all of them are going to be on Investor’s Day on December 6 – to practice for the big day, get some feedback and to start growing on the investors.
Parkio and Monitor Fish with our investor Pedro Falcão.
There was still time to meet PET Universal, a software for vets and IEUA alumni as well as 3D printer labs from BEEVERYCREATIVE, also an alumni. And, of course, a trip to Aveiro would not be complete without some “ovos moles” and other typical sweets.
Now it is time to prepare for the most important pitch of their lives, wait for the grand opening of the Creative Science Park, pack their bags and grow their business in Aveiro.
by Carolina Santos | Nov 23, 2017 | Startups
It is not every day that you get the chance to have two Google mentors giving your startup insights on digital strategy, and when you have them for two intensive days, that it is even better!
That is exactly what the eight startups from the 8th edition of the Lisbon Challenge got. For an intensive two days, José Ramón Saura, a CTO focused on digital marketing and Maria Isla who works at Hackity (read her piece on that day here) and focus on digital strategy flew from Spain to help startups to market their business.
Eight weeks into the challenge, the Startups are getting ready for Investor’s Day on December 6. Both José and Maria found startups “willing to listen and to learn and eager to grow their business”.
The mentors taught the startups how to identify their target, their interests in order to create a digital strategy and achieve their goals. There is an explicit need of knowing where and why a startup wants to go that will save them time and money. For two days all eight startups forgot about the hard work it is to launch a startup or a product and focused on a marketing and communication plan because the truth is: even a CEO reads the news.
José said he was impressed by these early-stage startups due to their “interesting projects, shifting through different technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning”, and by how they all are “talented and gifted”.
What impressed Maria the most on Lisbon Challenge comparing to other acceleration programs is the fact that this one gathers “people from different countries”, which in Maria’s opinion is the secret to learn and grow because “if you want to go global you have to know other markets, create connections, share knowledge, work with different people” and more than ever this is important in the startup world. Lesson’s learned and now fingers crossed that they will all thrive.
by Carolina Santos | Nov 14, 2017 | Startups
techcare, a program developed by Novartis in partnership with Deloitte Digital and Beta-i, started its Bootcamp this week with 11 ambitious startups willing to make a difference in the health ecosystem.
Until November 17 all startups have the opportunity to develop their proposals and work towards new tech solutions alongside Novartis professionals and affiliated healthcare experts.
For Cristina Campos, general-director of Novartis Portugal, the selection phase of the program was “extraordinary”, underlining that this initiative is “the right way to cooperate in the creation of solutions for the health sector”.
And the selected startups to reach this goal are:
• Alcove an #loT digital care service which monitors, enables and provides emergency response to help older and disabled adults remain independent in their own homes;
• Amiko is an upgrading respiratory care with Quantified Medicine;
• Biotechspert is able to quickly connect anyone to a key opinion leader or expert access every sector of the life sciences;
• Care Across is a web platform which is a universal meeting point for cancer patients and caregivers, providing them with reliable information, psychological
support, medical guidance and access to interactive tools.
• InforMed.pro helps pharma deliver better educational content to doctors;
• LibHeros connects patients with health professionals, promoting and optimizing the organization of care for patients at home as well as the journeys of professionals;
• MedicSen is a smart diabetes management: chatbot app + predictive A.I. + Needle-free smart patch (insulin).
• NeuroPsycad which provides clinicians (neurologists, psychiatrists, and neuroradiologists) with patient personalized reports helping them make early and accurate diagnoses of various neuropsychiatric disorders;
• Promptly is an online platform to collect and analyze scientifically standardized data regarding healthcare outcomes reported by patients, allowing them to know, keep track and compare their outcomes with the standard of care;
• TonicApp, a software platform to increase productivity of medical doctors;
• UpHill develops SaaS to manage and analyze healthcare workforce learning and training.
