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Braining’s pitch, a solution that uses Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support patients in stroke rehabilitation, was the winner of the Best Pitch award at Pitch Day, the event that marks the end of the 12th edition of the School of Startups at UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto.
In three minutes, Nuno Almeida, founder of Braining, presented the concept of his project to the audience and a panel of judges: a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that combines VR and AI to offer both stroke survivors and healthcare professionals a personalised solution for rehabilitation.
The award was handed by Francisca Vieira Matias, a member of the jury and representative of the Santander Foundation, a partner in this edition of the School of Startups. The jury also included João Miguel Dias (Armilar), Rodrigo Dahl (Super Bock), Sérgio Rodrigues (COREangels), Orlando Rocha (Miew) and Filipa Pontes, representing Vodafone Business, an organisation that also supported this edition of the School of Startups.
WAVENG, which created a wave energy converter for renewable energy, won the ‘Best Impact Project’ honour, awarded to the business idea with the greatest chance of making an impact on the market. The idea centres on harnessing wave energy with its Pivoting Wave Energy Converter (PWEC), designed for efficiency and low environmental impact, as well as reduced production costs compared to existing technologies.
During the Pitch Day, 12 of the 22 projects from the 12th edition of the School of Startups took to the stage. This acceleration programme created by UPTEC offered participants “(…) 3 months of many challenges and the development of skills linked to the entrepreneurial path”, stressed Raphael Stanzani, UPTEC’s Entrepreneurship Programme Manager. Throughout the programme, participants had access to practical workshops and one-to-one mentoring that allowed their business ideas to evolve: “we were able to see projects move forward with pilots, sign collaboration protocols, qualify for test-beds and attract clients”, adds Raphael.
The award for Best Evolution, which highlighted the progress of one of the business projects throughout the programme, went to Plástica Sonora, a Portuguese artist agency focused on representing women and non-binary people in the world of electronic music. The project, which also includes a radio show platform, aims to fill a gap in the market by adding social value and justice to the music industry.
UPTEC’s accelerator programme has already supported more than 500 entrepreneurs and over 200 business projects, resulting in more than 70 new companies. Applications for the next edition of the programme are now open, with an early bird discount, at www.escoladestartups.org.