Unicorn Factory Lisboa, together with Startup Portugal, will take 178 Portuguese startups to the Web Summit, with artificial intelligence (AI) being the sector highlighted in this edition.
In an interview with Lusa, the executive president of Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Gil Azevedo, revealed that AI has the “main highlight”, with “all ‘startups’ nowadays end up incorporating artificial intelligence in one way or another”.
In addition to AI, Gil Azevedo highlighted the health and education sectors as activities in Portuguese startups represented at the Web Summit, a technological summit that begins on Monday, in Lisbon.
Of the Portuguese companies that will be present, Gil Azevedo revealed that 63 will be taken by Unicorn Factory and 115 by Startup Portugal.
Of the companies led by Unicorn Factory, around 30% are led by women.
The executive president (CEO) highlighted the Lampsy as one of the most promising ‘startups’whose product consists of a smart lamp capable of detecting epilepsy attacks.
Gil Azevedo also said that Unicorn Factory was contacted by 25 international delegations to come to Lisbon and learn about the project and demonstrates positive expectations regarding the event.
“We have more than 25 international delegations that asked us to come and learn about our project, the Unicorn Factory Lisboa project, and get to know the city’s ecosystem and, therefore, in terms of large numbers we have very positive expectations regarding the Web Summit”, he said.
The CEO also argued that the Web Summit will bring great results to the innovation ecosystem in Portugal.
“The first result will be this platform that we will be able to give to Portuguese ‘startups’ to be able to have contacts here at an international level, whether with investors, new markets or international companies”, he stated.
Gil Azevedo also highlighted the importance of the event in affirming Portugal before other parts of the world in terms of innovation and its importance for the economic growth of nations.
“Innovation is increasingly essential for the economic future of countries and, therefore, having an event the size of the Web Summit allows us to highlight Portugal’s role in a very clear way compared to other geographies”, he reiterated.
The Web Summit will take place from the 10th to the 13th, in Lisbon, and expects more than 70 thousand participants.