The biggest decentralized innovation festival in Portugal will take place from the 12th to the 22nd of November, gathering several free events across many Portuguese cities.

Portugal Tech Week, the largest decentralized innovation festival in the country, which aims to become one of the largest in the world, returns for its second edition and has already launched its first version of its events schedule, announcing the first 40 events in the program, as well as the first curators and ambassadors of the festival.

From November 12th to the 22nd, the global technology community will turn its focus to Portugal, where it will host events such as Web Summit, Hacker X Porto, Climate Tech Lisbon, and Product Weekend Porto, among many other initiatives. Most of these events offer free access and are spread across the national territory.

Since its announcement, this initiative has garnered the support of 25 institutions, including municipal chambers and organizations that promote local entrepreneurship, across 12 districts. In just three weeks since its launch, the festival has seen a fourfold increase in its user base, with over 11,500 unique users accessing its online platform.

In 2022, during its inaugural edition, Portugal Tech Week featured over 100 events across 9 cities, involved 90 organizing entities, attracted 2,500 platform users, and generated 5,300 page views. Additionally, the initiative received support from 14 stakeholders within the local ecosystem and earned recognition from the European Commission in the “Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition” category. This year, these figures have already been surpassed.

This year, the organization anticipates that over 200 events will be featured on the festival’s official agenda. To achieve this goal, the project has garnered the support of its curators and ambassadors, a new addition compared to the previous year. Currently, 10 curators from various sectors, including AI, sustainability, coding, fintech, future of work, healthtech, and venture & investment, have been confirmed, along with 8 ambassadors representing regions such as Lisbon, Fundão, Guimarães, Aveiro, Madeira, and the Azores.

Curators, as experts in diverse industries, will oversee events related to the festival’s eight major topics. Ambassadors, individuals with significant local influence, will be responsible for attracting events to their respective cities. Anyone interested in actively participating in this initiative can apply by filling out the form available on the website.

“We are extremely excited about the prospects for this edition, which has already surpassed the proposed objectives and last year’s figures by a significant margin. As this is the second edition, people are starting to recognize the brand and the value of the initiative, aiming to establish itself as a pivotal week for connecting individuals interested in investing in innovation and advancing technological and human development. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the curators and ambassadors who have volunteered to bring various events within their respective verticals,” revealed Mário Rosa, one of the managers of the Portugal Tech Week project.

The objective is to foster a culture of cooperation, mutual assistance, and decentralization, leveraging major events like the Web Summit, which brings together individuals from around the world who share a passion for innovation, technology, and business.

As in the previous edition, any entity can submit their event free of charge, provided it is related to the themes of the initiative, especially in the technology and innovation sectors.

Events in various formats that promote networking, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration are welcome. Once these criteria are met, approved events will be included in the official Portugal Tech Week agenda and promoted across its various platforms, thereby increasing visibility and attracting more participants to these initiatives.

This initiative is led by the 351 Portuguese Startup Association, the largest startup community in Portugal, with more than 1500 members. It is organized by several volunteers and enjoys the support of numerous local stakeholders, including official entities, chambers, and organizations that promote entrepreneurship in various districts.

Some of these include Startup Portugal, Lisbon Unicorn Capital, Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Hub Creativo do Beato, Startup Lisboa, ScaleUp Porto, Uptec, Porto Tech Hub, Algarve Tech Hub, Fintech House, Nova SBE, Setup Guimarães, Startup Braga, Startup Leiria, IPN, Startup Madeira, Tagus Valley, Move to Fundão, BGI – Building Global Innovators, Fábrica de Startups, Beta-i, ESOP, LISPOLIS, Tecmaia, and international companies like Ioasys (technology development partner) and EU Digital Skills & Jobs Coalition.

The first names confirmed as curators/ambassadors of Portugal Tech Week are:

• Curators: Carlos Palminha (Programming), David David Magboulé (Healthtech), Filipa Carvalho (Investment & Entrepreneurship), Filipe Portela (AI), Gerardo Lisboa (Programming), Inês Sequeira (Sustainability), Jorge Pimenta (Healthtech), June Ann Bolneo (Future of Work), Mariana Gorjão (Fintech), Pedro Oliveira (Web3) and Rita Vilas-Boas (Investment & Entrepreneurship).
• Ambassadors: Irina Konova (Lisbon), Filipe Cordeiro (Ponta Delgada), João Rosado (Lisbon), Micaela Vieira (Funchal), Plínio Chaves (Aveiro), Rui Pinheiro (Guimarães) and Toni Barreiros (Fundão).

Organizations interested in submitting events and experts who would like to be curators or ambassadors can submit their requests through the festival’s official platform: www.portugaltechweek.com. The project is also accepting volunteers, using this form.

About the 351 Portuguese Startup Association
The Portuguese Startup Association is the largest and most active startup community in Portugal, with more than 1500 members. It is responsible for 10 projects, including Portugal Tech Week, an initiative that aims to consolidate Portugal as one of the main global hubs for technology and innovation.