Plans for a new coworking space in Portimão’s former fish market were revealed on the same day StartUp Portimão celebrated its seventh year in operation.
StartUp Portimão celebrated seven years of dedication to entrepreneurship on August 19 in a festive mood at the business incubator facilities within the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (AIA) – Algarve International Racetrack.
Addressing a gathering of entrepreneurs, mentors, collaborators, and well-wishers of the local incubator, Álvaro Bila, the mayor of Portimão, commended the role of StartUp Portimão in fostering entrepreneurship in the Algarve and announced the forthcoming inauguration of a new coworking space on the 1st floor of the old Lota building, with a projected capacity of 16 workstations.
On the occasion, the mayor highlighted the importance of the recently deceased engineer Paulo Pinheiro to StartUp Portimão, “a young man from Portimão who dreamed of building a racetrack in his homeland and who, from the first day, opened the doors of the AIA to the incubator.”
Carlos Araújo, the present head of StartUp Portimão, then outlined the key statistics regarding the initiatives undertaken since 2017, emphasising that 63 projects/start-ups have passed through the incubator, with 40 having graduated and 23 currently in incubation.
Over the last seven years, more than 380 hours of training have been provided, and 250 initiatives have been promoted. StartUp’s facilities have received more than 1,350 visitors, including entrepreneurs, students, partners, mentors, investors, etc.
Start-ups at the Portimão incubator can work with 45 mentors with expertise in various fields to help them grow and succeed. In addition, it has signed partnerships with more than 60 entities.
One of this year’s milestones was the presence of Portimão’s entrepreneurs at Web Summit 2024, where they had the opportunity to publicise their start-ups and at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Australia promoted by GEN. The latter is the largest entrepreneurship network in the world, where StartUp Portimão had the opportunity to present its support guidelines for entrepreneurs and investors.
Carlos Araújo stated, “StartUp Portimão remains vibrant and sought after, particularly by foreign entrepreneurs, predominantly from Brazil, with seven foreign entrepreneurs currently in virtual incubation”.
The event’s programme included the short talk on “Synergies in Entrepreneurship,” hosted by Maria Inês Barra (Faro Avenida Business Centre), who highlighted the initiatives promoted by StartUp Portimão “that include excellent Portuguese and foreign projects, and we have to be open to new synergies if we want to develop the country and the region.”
José Cardoso, a municipal council member, led the event’s closure, which was succeeded by a networking session over drinks, facilitating the creation of new partnerships.
