The 351 Portuguese Startup Association, Portugal’s most active startup community, is proud to announce reaching 1,600 members, engaging 76 volunteers, promoting 88 initiatives and events, and impacting 23,100 people in 2023.

In its annual impact report, the Association highlighted a year of significant growth. The year 2023 was a milestone, showcasing the Association’s consolidation and its supportive role in entrepreneurship through various programs like the Perks’ Program, the Community Fund, the VC Slam, scholarships, the Eléctrico Pitch, and numerous other initiatives.

A key highlight was the expansion of the community, particularly in the 351 Startups Slack channel, which grew to 1,600 members, including 681 new join requests, with 251 approved.

Throughout 2023, 76 volunteers contributed to over 88 initiatives and events. This included 47 internal initiatives, like Portugal Tech Week with 14 volunteers, Coworking Thursdays with 12 volunteers, and 29 people supporting community initiatives like Startup Grind Lisboa and CreativeMorningsLX.

Coworking Thursdays proved to be a flagship event, occurring 49 times across Lisbon and Porto. It attracted 1,692 registrations, with many attendees participating in multiple events.

Startup Grind Lisboa and CreativeMornings LX also made significant impacts. Each hosted 8 events, attracting 832 and 761 registrations respectively, averaging over 95 attendees per event.

However, Portugal Tech Week was the most extensive initiative, drawing 18,000 unique users to its platform. It included more than 220 events across 10 cities, with the support of 27 entities from the Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The Association received numerous accolades in 2023, underscoring its growing significance in fostering national entrepreneurship:

• The Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy (YEPA) recognized the Association as a key driver of entrepreneurship in Portugal.
• The European Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition acknowledged Portugal Tech Week as a significant commitment.

• Association leaders Elisa Tarzia, and Isabel Carapeta, and Board of Directors members Carolina Amorim and Marta Palmeiro were nominated and won in four different categories of the Portuguese Women in Tech Awards.

Notable partnerships in 2023 included an alliance with Techstars, enabling the hosting of the Techstars Startup Weekend and Techstars Community Leaders Academy in Portugal. The new partnerships also mark the year 2023.

In November, during Portugal Tech Week, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed at Brazil’s official stand at the Web Summit with SEBRAE (the Brazilian entity that promotes entrepreneurship in the country) to exchange opportunities for internationalization and support for entrepreneurship in both locations.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Brazil’s SEBRAE during Portugal Tech Week at the Web Summit, fostering entrepreneurial support and internationalization opportunities in both countries.

The Association’s mission to support the Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem included impactful programs:

• Over 300 startups applied for the Santander X Awards, co-hosted with 351 Startups, offering mentoring and a €30,000 prize.
• The Electrico Pitch, in collaboration with Carris and Santander Portugal, attracted 79 startups in less than 48 hours, allowing 12 to pitch to investors on Lisbon’s iconic streetcar.
• Launched in August 2023, the Startup Perks Program offered over €700,000 in discounts and access to 20 tools for startups, receiving over 80 applications by year’s end.
• The Lisboa Community Fund, created with Lisbon City Council and Lisboa Unicorn Capital, supported 13 communities, including the “FuckUp Nights” Lisbon chapter.
• The Numvem initiative, aimed at building a better cloud ecosystem in Iberia, developed in partnership with the Spanish Startup Association and ESOP

During Portugal Tech Week, VC Slam connected 37 startups with top venture capital funds, aiding their growth and providing valuable feedback.

In 2023, the Association gained significant media attention, with 31 news stories, 3 opinion articles, and 2 interviews with President Fernando Jardim.

“This year has undoubtedly been a milestone in the growth and positioning of 351 Startups, and a step in the right direction towards fulfilling our mission as the main entity supporting startups in the Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem,” reveals Cíntia Costa, responsible for Communication in the Association’s leadership team. “2024 promises to be a year of great achievements, following on from the work done so far. We intend to launch paid plans for members, hold 5 editions of the Techstars Startup Weekend, 2 editions of the Techstars Community Leaders Academy, increase the impact and scale of Portugal Tech Week and maintain the efforts to boost and implement initiatives and events already in place in previous years,” she reveals.

The full report detailing all work, initiatives, and future plans of the 351 Portuguese Startups Association is available here.

About the 351 Portuguese Startup Association
The Portuguese Startup Association is the largest and most active startup community in Portugal, with over 1600 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.