Top 20 impact startups – Lisbon
2021-08-18
Confido
12 minutes
In the final instalment of our startup tour of Europe, we’re finishing up our trip in sunny Portugal.
Portugal’s startup ecosystem might be in an earlier stage than some of the other locations we’ve investigated, but it’s still home to a range of amazing businesses.
While Portugal has produced tech unicorns like Farfetch, Talkdesk, Outsystems, Feedzai and Remote, the VC startup ecosystem has seen slower growth than other EU tech hubs.
According to Tech Crunch, domestic VC capacity went through a period of great scarcity through 2016-18, but this has greatly improved in 2019-20. And international VCs, including nearby Spanish ones (K Fund, Kibo, Conexo Ventures, etc.), are taking an interest in the ecosystem.
For this deep dive, we’re setting our sights on Portugal’s bustling capital city of Lisbon.
Here are our top 20 Lisbon-based impact startups...
Climate action
About: Circular Economy Portugal is a not-for profit organisation which aims to support the transition to a circular economy in Portugal: a society without waste. By promoting sustainable production and consumption, waste is either prevented or used as a resource. To achieve real impact, they take action and set up projects with potential to make a business case out of sustainability.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Blue Oasis Technology are providing ocean recovery and revitalisation solutions by building large scalable engineered reef structures. These structures will prevent coastal areas from erosion, stimulate coral and marine growth helping in absorbing carbon, generating oxygen and stimulating biodiversity.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Agristarbio offers an advanced system for processing biosolids from urban, industrial and agroindustry. They produce high-performance fertilizer, recycling all nutrients and carbon with zero subproducts, thus avoiding the breaking of the carbon cycle and returning it to the land.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
Aquaponics Iberia - Fish n' Greens
About: Aquaponics Iberia is a team of consultants and trainers specialized in Aquaponics and Sustainable Aquaculture. Aquaponics is the food production technique that combines aquaculture with hydroponics (plant cultivation on water), in a closed and dynamic system where fish waste nourishes plants, which in turn purify water for fish to grow healthily. They create productive ecosystems that use organic and environmentally sustainable methodologies.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Tesselo help organisations manage their land resources more efficiently using satellite imagery and artificial intelligence. This intelligence enables businesses to become smarter and greener.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
Sustainable cities & transportation
About: Amal aims to empower refugees and support their smooth transition into a new life in Lisbon by creating job opportunities that are rooted in the refugees' identity. The soap they produce is consciously made from highly natural ingredients to ensure a genuine enriching touch on your skin, our largest organ. They want to take care of our body's natural energy, nurturing it with what it deserves: natural, non-cruel and energizing ingredients.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: The REFOOD mission is to rescue food, feed people and include the entire local community, co-creating a more just, caring and sustainable society. REFOOD is an independent, sustainable movement - 100% volunteer-driven, democratic, and guided by citizens and organized in local communities. It is dedicated to rescuing good food and feeding people in need through the inclusion of the local community.
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Live Electric Tours is a new self-drive experience with 100% electric vehicles. Their vehicles are the only ones that are equipped with free wi-fi, GPS audio guide and a camera that lets you share the whole experience live with family and friends through social networks. They want to enable more sustainable tourism and cleaner cities.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Live Electric Tours has raised a total of €1m in funding through one round. This was a Seed round raised in August 2018.
Edtech
About: ubbu is a computer science and programming platform created for kids. They are all about making young minds ready for the future by turning them into logical thinkers, problem solvers and skilful conscious citizens — all while having fun. To make all of this happen, they rely on an extensive curriculum, diverse challenges and a tool where anyone can create amazing projects.
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: SPEAK believe in a world where anyone can feel at home in the city where they live! SPEAK is social tech startup that connects migrants, refugees and locals through a language and culture exchange program, helping them to feel integrated in the city where they moved to. It breaks barriers, promotes multilingualism, equality and democratizes language learning.
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Play Your Future is an innovative e-learning model to train the sport professionals of tomorrow. The digital platform provides quality content on the world of sport to all young sports enthusiasts who are looking for education and orientation. This content is accessible through a game-based mechanism that eases the learning process, enhances user engagement, measures their competencies, and offers them concrete job opportunities.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: AKTO | Play Your Future has raised a total of €300k in funding over one round. This was a Pre-Seed round raised in March 2019.
About: Thorly help non-technical people to leverage technology and data in their daily lives. Learn and stay competitive in a rapidly changing world in a light, fun and effective way through online, gamified or hands-on courses.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
Healthtech
About: Virtuleap is a health and education VR startup that aims to elevate the cognitive assessment and training industry with the help of emerging technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Their Enhance VR brain training app offers a daily cognitive workout of short, intense and fun games designed to help test and train your cognitive functions. Enhance also offers a broad variety of different tools and data packages to analyse collected user-data of the people in your organization as they improve their cognitive skills.
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Virtuleap has raised a total of $1.1m in funding over seven rounds. Their latest funding was raised in December 2020 from a Seed round.
About: MyCareforce is the digital platform that connects professionals to shifts available in different healthcare institutions. Say goodbye to the stress of unfilled shifts. Post your needs and find available nurses. This allows you to access qualified and motivated professionals to provide the best care for your patients.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: In June 2021, MyCareforce raised €100K in a Pre-seed Investment Round from Think Bigger Capital. Learn more about their plans for the funding, here.
Mental health
About: WeCareOn aims to make health and well-being services increasingly accessible to everyone, demystifying preconceived ideas and individual fears. It is a unique platform in Portugal in this area, bringing you the knowledge and guidance of professionals in psychology, psychiatry, nutrition, personal trainer and coaching. This is through online sessions, using videoconference/video calling, voice, chat and email. With WeCareOn, accessing these services is faster, easier, more flexible and more private.
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Nevaro support strong mental health through prioritizing science-based innovation: understanding the brain and connecting its pieces through physiological and behavioural biomarkers and gamified experiences.
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Hug-a-Group believe in the impact of their community. Their focus is group therapy, where you are in contact with people who are going through the same issues as you and with a psychologist specialized in this type of intervention - all through their app.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
Employee benefits and wellbeing
About: Skoach is a virtual coach on Slack and Teams to help people be their best at work and consequently build healthy team cultures. It transforms the way teams work, through weekly on-the-job challenges that build good habits.
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Colmena helps you take care of your team all year round. With their flexible benefits plans, you can invest in the health, education, and current and future financial stability of your teams and families. This includes Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Pension Plans, Social Passes and much more.
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Learninghubz is a modern workplace learning hub that comes with very best and most relevant library of online videos and online courses for your people development. Reach your L&D goals faster and with less effort. Deliver the type of experience and content that motivates your people for a new learning culture of continuous self-development, sharing and action!
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Learninghubz has completed one funding round. This was a Grant round raised in September 2016.
We want to do everything we can to help support these fantastic businesses and the work they’re doing.
If you belong to a tech for good startup and want to have a chat about how we could scale your Product or Tech teams, do get in touch at contact@confidotalent.com.
Have we missed your favourites? Let us know on Twitter or LinkedIn, we’d love to hear from you!
Funding information taken from Crunch Base.