Two years ago, Jon Fath moved with his family to Portugal from the Netherlands with the sole purpose of launching a fintech startup there. “This country is brimming with talent and ambition,” Fath says. “I thank Lisbon for welcoming me, along with so many other expats and entrepreneurs, so warmly.”

Indeed, it’s no surprise that the European Commission named Lisbon as 2023’s European Capital of Innovation, while the Financial Times, in partnership with Statista, ranked two Portuguese startup hubs in Europe’s top ten startup hubs—including the Unicorn Factory Lisboa, which launched in 2022 and has already supported more than 820 startups and helped raise more than €1 billion ($1.1 billion) .

“Portugal offers unique advantages, such as its climate, safety, and cost of living, which make it an attractive choice over countries in central or northern Europe,” says Nuno Pereira, CEO of Paynest.

Government has played a role too, with policies such as residence visas for entrepreneurs and tax incentives to startups engaged in R&D. “That was instrumental in allowing the Portuguese startups to come across the other side alive, after the VC drought of the past two years,” says Mauro Frota, CEO of fittech startup Bhout.

Rauva

Before launching Rauva in Lisbon, Jon Fath had been a startup CEO in Amsterdam, co-founded a logistics company in Frankfurt and worked for an investment management firm in Beijing. “I decided to start Rauva based on my experiences working with entrepreneurs and co-founding other companies,” Fath says. “I took the plunge to build a one-stop shop to make entrepreneurship accessible to everyone.” Rauva allows entrepreneurs to register their businesses online in a matter of minutes, offering a raft of features like debit cards and invoicing. “In addition, if the company has not yet been created, Rauva offers that service with the support of lawyers,“ Fath says. “Our solution helps reduce the time spent on bureaucratic processes.” The startup, launched in 2022 by Fath and Sam Mizrahi, has also recently partnered with researchers to design a faster and more accurate credit scoring system using machine learning and quantum computing. Currently, Rauva has more than 3,000 users and has helped create more than a thousand new companies. rauva.com

Neuraspace

Currently, there are nearly 9,900 active satellites orbiting the planet, a number estimated to grow by an order of magnitude by 2030. “The risk of collisions caused by space debris is escalating,” says Chiara Manfletti, the founding president of the Portuguese Space Agency and CEO of Neuraspace. “These collisions can destroy satellites, leading to substantial financial losses and disrupting essential services such as bank transactions, the internet, GNSS (global navigation satellite system), and Earth observation. The current manual decision-making processes are inadequate to handle this scale.” Neuraspace addresses this problem by using AI to analyze various datasets, including radar and star trackers, and automatically predict potential collisions and suggest avoidance maneuvers. This space traffic management platform is currently tracking more than 300 satellites from satellite operators such as Spire, Nanoavionics and the European Space Agency. Founded in 2020, the startup has raised a total of $27.5 million (£20.8 million). “The big vision for Neuraspace is achieving self-sustaining, autonomous space activities,” Manfletti says. neuraspace.com

Bhout

In 2021, Mauro Frota opened a gym featuring a unique piece of equipment: a smart boxing bag. Developed by Frota and Pedro Barata, the Bhout bag comes with an AI processing unit, biometric sensors and a smart camera that can track the accuracy, speed and power of every punch. “The idea came to me in a dream,“ Frota says “I lost count of the number of iterations to get there. We were creating a new product from scratch.” The punching bag is also equipped with a set of light rings that nudges gym-goers into different workout rhythms. Its core is made of foam layers and filled with water, mimicking the feeling of hitting another boxer. According to Frota, 20 new Bhout clubs are already confirmed in Portugal and Spain. Soon, it will also start selling the Bhout bag, at prices ranging between €6,000 to €10,000 ($6,1000 to $11,000) to clients including LinkedIn and Marriott Hotels. In 2023, the fit-tech startup raised a €10 million ($11 million) seed round co-led by Explorer Investments and Lince Capital. bhout.com

MyCareforce

MyCareforce is bringing the gig economy to healthcare. “Hospitals often lack the necessary staff to meet demand and they don’t have the appropriate tools to hire people for extra shifts quickly,” says CEO Pedro Cruz Morais. “We knew many doctors who were using WhatsApp to find extra shifts and we realized we could solve this problem with technology.” MyCareforce provides an intelligent platform that connects nurses to hospitals and clinics, allowing them to apply and immediately book available shifts. The platform, launched in 2021 by Cruz Morais and co-founder João Hugo Silva, has more than 15,000 nurses registered on the platform and works with more than 70 healthcare units, such as hospitals and clinics, in Portugal and Brazil. It has raised a €2 million ($2.2 million) round led by Portugal Gateway, Shilling and Demium Capital. mycareforce.co

Oscar

Oscar allows users to book more than 150 at-home services—from cleaning to blind repairs—for a fixed fee and within 30 minutes. “The idea came about after a bad experience trying to call a plumber to fix my water heater,” João Marques, founder and CEO of Oscar, says. “After wasting hours contacting multiple technicians and comparing quotes, I scheduled a service and the technician never showed up. It was obvious that an Uber home service was missing.” The platform, which is available in Portugal and Madrid, currently hosts more than 20,000 technicians, which are admitted after a rigorous selection process and background check. According to Marques, their annual revenue is currently €12 million ($13.4 million) and growing 40 percent every quarter. They have raised more than €6 million ($6.7 million) in a round led by Lince Capital and Indico Capital Partners. oscar-app.com

Glooma

Francisco Nogueira’s cousin was 40 when she detected a lump in her chest. “She thought it was nothing, but three months later, the lump had not disappeared,” says Frederico Stock, CEO of Glooma. Unfortunately, the lump was a malignant tumor and she had to have a mastectomy. “Francisco decided to create Glooma so that women in the same situation can act sooner.” The startup, launched in 2020 by Nogueira and Stock, is developing SenseGlove, a glove equipped with smart sensors that women can use to do a breast self-exam. “It can track changes in breast tissue over time and notify doctors when there’s an abnormality,” Nogueira says. According to him, an early proof-of-concept trial showed that the SenseGlove correctly diagnosed cancer 88 percent of the time, with a rate of 12 percent false positives. The startup, which has raised more than €600,000 ($671,000) is now undergoing clinical trials with the most recent prototype. The team hopes to receive FDA-approval by 2025. glooma.pt

Sheerme

“When you need a taxi, you have Uber; when you need a hotel, you have booking.com, but what do you do when you need a hair salon or a spa?” asks Miguel Ribeiro, CEO of Sheerme. According to Ribeiro, 85 percent of wellness and beauty services require prior booking, but only 10 percent can be booked online. “Sheerme fills that void,” he says. The platform allows users to find, book and pay for services provided by 7,000 health and beauty merchants. “We have also partnered with L’Oréal and created a white-labeled solution called SAL(ON),” says Ribeiro, who founded the platform with Karly Alves and Shakil Satar. The startup, which has more than 250,000 users across Portugal, Brazil and Spain, has raised a €5 million ($5.5 million) seed round led by Lince Capital. sheerme.com

Sqill

Sqill is an AI-powered mobile video editor for social media brands. “With our social media suite and with one single click, anyone can create better content than a social media expert,” says Afonso Coimbra, co-founder and CEO of Sqill. The platform uses AI for a range of tasks, such as recommending what to post or automatically adding subtitles. Founded in 2021 by Coimbra, Rui Ascenso and André Perdigão, the startup has raised €2 million ($2.2 million) by GED Ventures. It has clients in Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the US, including L’Oréal, the online marketplace Worten and the Portuguese football club FC Porto. sqill.so

Ubbu

More than 300,000 students in more than 20 countries have used online learning platform Ubbu to learn coding and digital skills. “Our platform is built for the everyday teacher, even for those with no coding experience, who account for around 90 percent,” says João Magalhães, CEO and founder of Ubbu. “It’s accessible to everyone because we want to reduce the barriers to enter the tech market.” Aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 12, the platform is available in four languages and includes Ubbox, a tool that allows projects to be made using a programming language via blocks. A research study by Universidade Nova Lisboa found that Ubbu students could improve their math grades by up to 17 percent compared to a control group. Ubbu.io

Paynest

Founded in 2022 by Nuno Pereira, Paynest is a platform for companies to manage their employees’ finances. “Our mission is to help companies address all of the financial needs of their employees everywhere while empowering them to gain greater control over their finances,” Pereira says. Features include simplified expense management, early access to salary and bonuses, financial coaching, and access to financial literacy tools. Paynest is currently used by more than 30,000 workers from more than 50 companies in Portugal, Greece and France. It has also raised a total of €3 million ($3.3 million) from investors such as Lince Capital and Bluecrow Capital. paynest.co

This article first appeared in the November/December 2024 edition of WIRED UK.