Last Friday, at our weekly TGIF (you should come!), I spent some time talking with Lisbon Challenge teams. We exchanged some feedback about the program, and at a certain point one of the founders mentioned it to me: “I feel like you really care”. And I thought about it for a minute and realized – we really do.
Lisbon Challenge is Beta-i’s flagship accelerator program, and one of the most recognized programs in Europe. It inherited Beta-i’s people-centric approach – we are “humaniacs” at heart and we convey our approach in Lisbon Challenge program as well.
Lisbon Challenge’s people-centric approach
The people-centric approach is not about just about caring about the founders (which we do!), is about how a human-centric perspective applies to their business in order for it to be the best it can be.
In the 10 weeks of the program, we contaminate the founders with this human-centric perspective and help them better understand and develop:
Who are you building a solution for
The starting point of a good startup is the will to solve a problem you identify – and also the will to know the people whose problem you’re solving. That means gaining a deeper knowledge of your audience through an ethnographic mindset in order to find a product/market fit.
Who are you building a solution with
The road is hard – but you won’t be doing it alone. The culture you build for your company will be determinant to the success of it. The core values you choose and the expected behaviors that embody them will be your guide to decision making, hiring people, dealing with users and other business partners, so building a culture from scratch is the foundation of a winning team.
Who you are as an entrepreneur
Having a startup is probably the toughest business there is. You’ll be constantly challenging your own assumptions, facing inconvenient truths and constant “no’s”. Our methodology is focused not only on growing your business but also in preparing you to transform difficulties into learnings and to see problems as opportunities. As your business grows, so will you – we’re here to get you ready to face the demands of different startup stages.
In the words of Eduardo Sette Câmara, our Head of Acceleration:
“The legacy we’re trying to build with Lisbon Challenge is to find and help founders that can build their companies while taking into consideration everyone that revolves around them.”
What does our people-centric approach mean? Here's what Eduardo Sette Camara, our Head of Acceleration had to say!
Publicado por Lisbon Challenge em Sexta-feira, 24 de maio de 2019
By the end of the video, Eduardo lets us know that as long as founders put in the work, we’ll always be here, doing our best to help them. And if you ask any other Lisbon Challenge alumni, you’ll realize it’s true.
The Portuguese startup and Lisbon Challenge alumnus, 360imprimir, just closed a round of $20.4M in investment.
At Beta-i, we are proud to see their success, as they were one of the first startups that joined one of the earliest editions of our acceleration program – Lisbon Challenge. Like Pedro Rocha Vieira, Beta-i’s founder and CEO, put it:
When we decided to launch Lisbon Challenge, the idea was to empower a new generation of entrepreneurs and companies, in order to give these actors the ideal tools to compete in the global digital market. 360imprimir was one of the first startups that went through this process, and it is with great pride that we have noted its success story ever since. Naturally, the fact that they have now raised an investment of €18 million is due, in the first place, to their great management, vision and execution. But I’d like to believe that part of this success also came from the training Lisbon Challenge gave them, of which Uniplaces, Eggy, Attentive, Knok, Impraise, Sparkl or Eat Tasty are also good examples. I hope that this round will open new horizons for them, but I believe that it will also allow them to contribute actively to the ecosystem, fueling a kind of virtuous cycle that Lisbon Challenge helped to start.
Sérgio Vieira, CEO and co-founder, also praised Beta-i for the work done in the portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem, highlighting the role that Lisbon Challenge played: “For us, as an early stage startup LC gave us the opportunity to see other groups with different realities and different solutions to problems that were ours too. Moreover, the mentoring and pitch sessions played an important role in self-evaluation and communication positioning.”
“Since LC we have observed closely the role of Beta-i in the Portuguese ecosystem and praised their effort to keep pushing the startup scene to the next level – this also happened with 360imprimir.”
Created in 2013, 360imprimir is an e-commerce platform focused on the clients’ (SME’s and independent professionals) do-it-yourself method and delivery of quality and low-cost of printed communications. Operating on a fabless model, the company differentiates through technology: it has an intelligent aggregation software, that ensures the best prices in the market for their clients.
With a business based on technology – from the platform and its many mechanisms to the technology made available to production and logistic partners -, the company will continue to invest in technology and R&D.
In rapid development context like ours, we have to be one step (or two!) ahead of the challenges, so that we may be enablers of the market. 360imprimir is a tech and innovative company, so we’re always updated on the most recent trends in Performance, Scalability, Automation, Artificial Intelligence or Augmented Reality. It’s our DNA and what makes us unique. – Hugo Neto, Chief Technology Officer at 360imprimir
This investment will also give 360imprimir the chance to extend their product range with 20.000 new products and enter 17 new markets.
The company hopes their path will be an inspiration for other portuguese businesses to follow:
“360imprimir is the proof that every company can achieve success if the idea is different and adds value to customer experience. So yes, we believe that our path inspires other entrepreneurs to develop great and innovative ideas.” added the CEO.
José Salgado, CO-founder and Chief Growth Officer at 360imprimir, will also be at Lisbon Investment Summit to speak on a panel that is of interest to all startups following in their footsteps – Scaling Up: Tips and Tricks to Go Global. Get your tickets to LIS here.
The European Maritime Day (EMD) is the annual two-day event during which Europe’s maritime community meet to network, discuss and forge joint action. It targets maritime professionals, entrepreneurs and ocean leaders.
This year the event will take place on 16-17 May 2019, and it will have a special feature: Pitch Day for Bluetech Accelerator applicants.
The Event
European Maritime Day gathers all the stakeholders of the maritime economy in one place, to join together in discussing the future and finding plans of action to ensure healthy, fruitful and sustainable use of ocean resources.
The events’ themes range from sustainability (with talks on climate action, bioeconomy, and sustainable tourism in coastal areas), to innovation in maritime activities, like shipping and energy production (with panels on different techs – AI, Big Data, etc – and how they can bring new advantages and resources in these activities).
The event will include a workshop on Port Tech Clusters, powered by Bluetech Accelerator, that will explore the role of ports as hubs connecting sea and land and striving to maximize efficiency and support international supply chains. The panel will include Guilhermina Rego (President of Port of Leixões, Portugal), Christine Cabau (CEO / Présidente du Directoire Port of Marseille Fos, France), Carolien Vat-Sandee (Director/ Co-founder at PortXL – World Port Accelerator) and Xoan Martinez (CEO of Fishing Accelerator), and will be moderated by Ruben Eiras, Director General of Directorate General of Maritime Policy of the Ministry of the Sea (Portugal)..
Pitch Day
Bluetech Accelerator is in its selection phase and one integral part of it will happen at EMD. In Pitch Day, Bluetech Accelerator applicants will pitch for the program partners, who are selecting the startups that will join the program. This pitching session is open to all attendees of EMD, which gives these startups the opportunity to be known by some of the biggest players in the maritime industry in Europe.
With startups pitching both online and some opting to join the event for a live pitch, it’s set to be an inspiring event for the development of the blue economy.
The morning dawned rainy in Lisbon – the kind that makes you wanna stay on the sofa all morning, but for our Lisbon Challenge teams that was not an option – they just got to the busiest part of the challenge.
Lisbon Challenge wraps up today its Product Phase. After Validation Phase – where the teams worked on improving their understanding of the problem they are trying to solve and (re)validating their customers (how they feel, interact and behave around this problem in the) – they started Product Phase, where they went on to work through how their products deliver the benefits that solve those problems.
Turning Pains into Gains
The product phase focuses solely on the startup’s solution. Are they delivering the benefits their customers require? It’s all about taking the pains identified during validation phase and the benefits that solve them and turning them into product features that deliver what the customers want.
But more than just features (and having the right features), it’s about understanding and building a journey through the product that takes them straight to core value.
Taking a page from Andrew Chen’s Engagement Wall and “next feature fallacy”, the teams focus on understanding what is working and why, and also what they should just stop doing, instead of just building new things. So, it’s about weeding out the unnecessary stuff and getting as close as possible to the #nobullshit product that makes users fall in love with it.
A Mentorship Driven Program
As their Lisbon Challenge journey takes them closer and closer to a product-market fit, the teams are lucky to have a strong network of mentors, who have been through the same processes and similar experiences as entrepreneurs themselves. They stepped up to the challenge to give serious, honest and helpful feedback to our teams.
Rita Ribeiro da Silva, from SKOACH, detailed the challenges of the phase:
This has been, so far, the most challenging phase. The problem with creating a product is that there are many opportunities and you have to decide on what exactly do you want to choose, and where you want to focus. And the temptations are huge, and sometimes it’s hard to keep the focus on creating a product that is focused and having a focused message of what it is. It’s hard to keep it simple.
The team, who is tackling the challenge of high employee turnover with a solution that enables high-performing teams through gamified change of individual behavior, has taken full advantage of the mentors’ advice:
“I would say that the best advice has been from people who have used products that have tried to solve the same problem, and we’ve got some feedback about the pitfalls, the mistakes that they made, and that’s helpful so we don’t… do them (laughs)”, completed João Ferreira, also from Skoach.
What’s next
Next up, the teams will focus on finding the right metrics, messaging and channels for their product. But for now, we celebrate the end of the phase and the great group of mentors that imparted some of their knowledge and experience, with the incredible Beta-i community experience – this time delivered through the feature of brazilian-style-mouth-watering-BBQ.
These energy startups are all alumni from open-innovation programs powered by Beta-i. We’re proud to see their achievement, as we were of the collaborations and projects they worked on while in the programs. They were distinguished in the categories of Intelligent Grids, Innovative Mobility and Energy Efficiency.
Free Electrons Alumni
ADAPTRICITY AG
Category: Intelligent Grids
Country: Switzerland
Adaptricity offers data driven grid analytics tools and services that enable distribution system operators to better understand grid behaviour, leading to smarter grid planning and asset management. The highly automated, intuitive system allows for better investment decisions requiring less engineering time.
Chakratec has developed a special energy storage device – a kinetic battery with unlimited charge cycles, 100% DoD, instant reaction that is sustainable. They aim to speed up battery charging through a unique floating flywheels suspended in mid-air by magnetic levitation technology.
envelio provides the software as a service solution Intelligent Grid Platform (IGP) to make grid operators ready for the future. By digitising and automating essential grid planning and operation processes, the IGP is a key component for the implementation of smart grids and the integration of distributed generation.
Equota’s services cover both the energy supply and the demand side, including energy efficiency optimization, operation & maintenance monitoring, carbon emission management, energy planning, electricity trading services, micro-grid services and other technology solutions in the industrial chain.
Description: Hygge Power combines smart sensors, tier-1 lithium ion and AI to create the next-gen storage that people want in their homes/offices. Real-time data is collected and transmitted to an encrypted repository to integrate energy partners & Hygge’s own web-based dashboard.
OneWatt, focuses on predictive maintenance for industrial motors. They use their Embedded Acoustic Recognition Sensor (EARS), machine learning, and frequency analysis to detect and predict motor faults before they occur.
Relectrify is an Australian start-up enabling uniquely capable, affordable and sustainable battery storage. They have developed advanced battery control solutions that give used batteries, including from EVs, a second life as energy storage in solar homes, businesses and the power grid.
WePower is the next generation green energy procurement and trading platform. Their platform is a one-stop-shop solution that provides companies with tools to help in understanding electricity consumption patterns, finding a best fit renewable electricity producer, contracting with them digitally and then monitoring generators.
Odit-e develops software for supervision and decision support, dedicated to distribution system operators. Odit-e builds an empirical model of low voltage electrical networks from smart meter data without using physical characteristics.
Enerbrain aims to revolutionise the market of non-residential Building Energy Management Systems thanks to its groundbreaking IoT innovation. Their solution make inefficient nonresidential buildings into smarter and more sustainable ones by using innovative IoT sensors, actuators and learning algorithms.
