Portugal startup with redoubled ambitions at the 2nd Web Summit in Rio de Janeiro

Startup Portugal’s chief executive told Luca he has “big ambitions” for Portugal’s participation in the second web summit in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

“Therefore, the big ambitions concern not only the growth of the conference, the quality of the participants, but also the growth of the Portuguese delegation,” said Luse António Díaz Martins, referring, on the one hand, to the record participation of Portugal. in the 2nd edition of the “Wonderful City” Web Summit, but also to the growth of this event.

Until Thursday, the Riocentro in Barra da Tijuca will host more than 30 thousand participants from at least 100 countries, more than 1,000 “start-ups”, about 600 investors and 600 speakers in a structure supported by more than 210 partners and 400 volunteers. According to the organization.

This is a significant increase from the first event last year, which was attended by 21,000 people.

“They are expected to make the most of the growing visibility that the Web Summit provides. During these days they will be able to establish contacts with investors, clients and other local and international agents present at the conference, taking important steps in their internationalization”, emphasized the Portuguese in charge of this non-profit organization with a Statute of Public Enterprises.

On the Portuguese side, there are 31 startups present, after the previous event had 25 Portuguese startups, which is the second largest foreign delegation after the United States.

Regarding the giant Brazilian “continental” market and the opportunities it opens, the Portuguese official recalls that it is “a natural place for the internationalization of Portuguese companies”, but “it is still a complex market with many peculiarities”.

In his view, Brazil’s growing and sustained interest in the country “as a gateway to Europe” is just one of the advantages that Portuguese startups can take advantage of.

“Learning lessons from previous internationalizations of Portuguese companies into Brazil that did not go as expected” is beneficial for these new companies, as is the investment that Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro, has made “in entrepreneurship, in an environment that there has never been a soft landing for Portuguese startups in this country before.

Regarding the Portuguese delegation, António Díaz Martins emphasized that “it has a very diverse composition: from software development, artificial intelligence, metaverse, health technology, green technology to sports technology and others.

“They are undoubtedly at the forefront of the best global trends in these areas and best represent the entrepreneurial dynamism of our country,” he assured.

Of the 31 startups, 12 are participating in the Business Abroad technology summit and employing more than 260 employees, already attracting “investment from venture capital and angel investors for a total of more than 13 million people.” euros,” Startup Portugal detailed in a statement.

31 Portuguese startups at Web Summit Rio are ambi.careers, Biometrid, Dizconto, Enline, Frontfiles, Health4All, Hoopers, Hortee, Greenmetrics.ai, InAppStory, Infinite Foundry, Interpretica, iTRecruiter, Keeptip, Marvin AI, Mediaprobe, Modatta, My Data Manager, Mycareforce, Naoris Protocol, Networkme, Propel, SheerMe, Splink, SpotGames, Surf Eye, Tokenwised, uBits, Vawlt, Wiseworld, Zizu.

Cape Verde is another Portuguese-speaking country represented by three startups (RiftOne, Health360 and Fit CV) in the event, which takes place from Monday to Thursday in Rio de Janeiro.

The technology event, which began in Ireland in 2010, began taking place in the Parque des Nations area of ​​Lisbon in 2016 and will remain in the Portuguese capital until 2028. The company also registered, in addition to Rio de Janeiro, expansion into the Middle East thanks to the Qatar Web Summit, which took place in early 2024.