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Solutions with applications in health, rehabilitation and medical emergency, tools for education and culture, or environmental and sustainability management technologies will be presented on 29 January at 2.30pm in the UPTEC Asprela I Auditorium. At the Pitch Day, an event that marks the end of the School of Startups, an acceleration programme run by UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto, 12 projects will have three minutes to present their business ideas.
Among the business projects chosen to present are an online platform for setting educational goals for teachers and students, a discount card for local businesses for residents and travellers in the city of Porto, a gamification platform for museums, a solution that uses Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support patients in stroke rehabilitation, and a manufacturer of natural and organic cosmetics.
In addition, the UPTEC event will also feature presentations by a talent agency for Portuguese artists, an AI-powered solution aimed at improving the recovery of post-operative patients, a converter of wave energy into renewable energy, a cloud platform created for endodontics professionals, a sustainability management software for companies, a communication platform for emergency response teams, and a laboratory specialising in drugs created using microgravity.
The event will also feature an interview with two members of the UPTEC community: António Rocha, founder of Smartex and João Guimarães, founder of Intuitivo, both winners of the best pitch award at the Web Summit Startup Competition in 2021 and 2024, respectively.
On Pitch Day, the selected participants will present their project to a jury made up of Francisca Vieira Matias (Santander), Marisa Gomes (Vodafone Business), João Miguel Dias (Armilar), Rodrigo Dahl (Super Bock) and Sérgio Rodrigues (COREangels). In addition to the prize for best pitch, there will also be a prize for best evolution, highlighting the entrepreneurial project’s progress throughout the programme, and for best impact project.
The 12th edition of the School of Startups saw the participation of 22 projects that for three months had the opportunity to take part in practical workshops on topics such as market analysis, differentiation, pricing strategy, intellectual property and pitch training, as well as individual mentoring with industry experts and access to UPTEC’s workspaces. The initiative was supported by Vodafone Business and the Santander Portugal Foundation, which awarded inclusion grants to women entrepreneurs and people of African descent.
Over the course of 12 editions, UPTEC’s acceleration programme has supported almost 500 entrepreneurs and more than 200 business projects, resulting in 70 companies. The startups that have passed through the Startup School – such as Smartex, Addvolt, Wisecrop, B-Parts, Summary, FAHR 021.3, among others – have raised more than 65 million euros in investment.
Entry to the School of Startups Pitch Day is free, but subject to registration via this link.