Portugal hosts international startups competition

Portugal will play host to one of the largest international startup competitions.

The Lisbon and Cambridge-based Building Global Innovators accelerator (BGI) will organise the ‘Get in the Ring’ world competition for the first time which will involve around 200 cities, including the Portuguese cities Abrantes, Angra do Heroísmo, Braga and Fundão.
The four Portuguese municipalities partnering in this competition will feature entrepreneurs implementing pilot-projects in each of the districts, each project meeting a challenge set by them and linked to urban mobility to foster innovation, environmental sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint in the lives of citizens.
The prospective startups selected will then go on a preparatory programme led by mentors from BGI and the incubator Vodafone Power Lab before making a proposal to the municipality with which they will have individual meetings. Later on the choice will be made by the local councils.
“The best startups in each challenge will compete to try and convince not just the local councils but also the external judges and the public on 9 June. Later on four finalists will have to compete among themselves for the title of national winner and the opportunity to represent Portugal in the World Final of ‘Get in the Ring’ state the organisers.
The event will receive applications up to 16 May and is sponsored by EIT Urban Mobility, the EU’s mobility innovation network.
“This is an initiative to stimulate young entrepreneurship and will contribute to putting Braga on the map as a Living Lab meaning that knowledge is rooted and applied at a regional level. It will also enable Braga to be seen as a City of Knowledge,” says the Braga councillor Miguel Bandeira.