Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas said this Wednesday that Fábrica de Unicórnios has already managed to attract eight international companies, acknowledging that Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is also “interested in getting involved.”
Carlos Moedas addressed national and international journalists on the second day of the Web Summit technology conference, which will last until Friday at the Parque das Nações in Lisbon, recalling that a year ago he presented the intention to create a Unicorn Factory, a “central project” for the municipality of Lisbon in recent months.
“The city of Lisbon has already attracted international unicorns who have decided to open an office in the city or have representative offices in Lisbon. We have already managed to attract eight well-known international companies,” said Carlos Moedas, accompanied by adviser Diogo Moura and Gil Azevedo. , from Startup Lisbon.
Asked by an Irish journalist about Ryanair’s interest in Fábrica dos Unicórnios, Carlos Moedas acknowledged that the Irish company was “interested in getting involved,” according to what CEO Michael O’Leary relayed to him during the company’s twentieth anniversary celebrations. in Portugal.
“We know we can count on each other. We are developing a way for you to participate, we will announce the details soon,” the mayor explained, without giving further details.
For his part, Gil Azevedo explained that over the past ten years, Startup Lisboa has supported 150 companies, 40 per year, “an investment of 35 million euros per year” with external financing, and that the goal is to climb “100 million in year”.
Meanwhile, this Wednesday, Sensei became the first “expansion” (companies that are growing rapidly and planning international expansion) to join Unicorn Factory, a software platform and “hubs” to support start-ups and “expansion” that opened the nominations this week.
Sensei is a “startup” that uses artificial intelligence to create offline stores and develops “computer vision”-based technologies for the retail sector.
The seventh edition of the web summit has over 70,000 attendees, 2,630 start-ups and companies, 1,120 investors and 1,040 speakers.
Originating in Ireland in 2010, the tech event began in Lisbon’s Parque das Nações in 2016 and will remain in the Portuguese capital until 2028.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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