Skip links

Lisboa's platform to support startups and scaleups

About us

What we do

We are facilitators. We are daily committed to connecting the founders with people and entities that matter to their business, facilitating access to investment, mentors, strategic partners and potential customers.

Our support structure includes mentoring, linking to strategic partnerships, access to investment/funding, a valuable and extensive list of perks and benefits - including learning activities and office hours with experts -, and a community based on knowledge and sharing. Our community is our greatest asset.

We encourage the founders to look for what is best around the world to boost their growth. Some members have teams abroad developing new markets, some participated in recognized accelerators like 500 Startups, TechStars and YCombinator, and we're proud of it.

01

AIEL

2011

AIEL - Associação para a Inovação e Empreendedorismo de Lisboa was founded in 2011 by the Municipality of Lisbon, bank Montepio and IAPMEI (Portuguese Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation), and is a result of the will of the citizens, having been one of the most voted ideas in the 2009/2010 Participatory Budget of the City Council.

02

Startup Lisboa

2012

We are a private non-profit association and until now have been working as a business incubator, supporting the creation of companies and entrepreneurs in their first years of activity, under the brand of Startup Lisboa.

03

Unicorn Factory
Lisboa

2022

Unicorn Factory Lisboa is the umbrella brand launched in 2022 that aggregates and expands our operations along the entire value chain to have a strong economic impact, namely with the Scaling Up Program, the Soft Landing Program and through innovation-focused hubs.

Create a world-class ecosystem in Lisbon, supporting founders to start, scale and become global

Unicorn Factory Lisboa acts along the entire value chain to have a strong economic impact on the City of Lisbon

Future Pipeline

Education programs and partnerships with universities

Startup

Ideation, acceleration and incubation programs at Startup Lisboa

Scaleup

Scaleup acceleration programs and international scaleup attraction

Specialization

Synergies and networking in vertical hubs with critical mass

Unicorns

Community Engagement & Give-back

Let’s talk.