Within the earlier episode of Tech Odyssey, we visited Portugal Ventures to see how a public enterprise capital establishment helps early-stage startups in Portugal. This time, we moved additional upstream — to Coimbra, a small metropolis the place college analysis, utilized R&D, and entrepreneurship are carefully related.
Coimbra is best identified for historical past than startups. The town has a inhabitants of round 140,000 and is dwelling to the College of Coimbra, based in 1290. Its historical buildings and tutorial traditions typically outline the town’s picture. However behind that historic setting, a expertise switch system has been quietly taking form.
On the middle of that system is IPN, or Instituto Pedro Nunes, a expertise switch group that originated from the College of Coimbra. In response to Paulo Santos, IPN’s Government Director of Incubation and Acceleration, the group works throughout three primary areas: enterprise incubation and acceleration, utilized analysis, and specialised coaching in administration, entrepreneurship, and expertise.
This construction makes IPN totally different from a standard incubator. Its utilized analysis labs work with SMEs and incubated startups on expertise and product improvement. Every lab is led scientifically by a professor from the College of Coimbra, whereas IPN’s personal group manages day by day operations. In follow, startups can entry not solely enterprise help, but additionally analysis and engineering assets.
Over time, IPN has supported the creation and improvement of greater than 500 startups, together with three that reached unicorn standing, in addition to greater than 30 scaleups. Two of Portugal’s best-known tech unicorns, Feedzai and Talkdesk, are positioned inside IPN’s accelerator system.
IPN has additionally constructed hyperlinks past Portugal. In 2013, the European House Company invited IPN to accomplice on an incubation program for startups utilizing or growing area applied sciences. In response to Santos, this system has supported greater than 60 firms up to now. On this context, “area expertise” can even imply making use of applied sciences initially developed for area to issues on Earth, together with agriculture, water techniques, industrial monitoring, and medical units.
One instance inside IPN is Sensing Future, a Portuguese medical machine firm targeted on bodily and vestibular rehabilitation. Its co-founder and CTO, Luís Ferreira, launched the corporate’s stability rehabilitation station, which mixes a pressure-sensing platform, a cellular cart, and software program.
When an individual stands on the platform, the system reveals how physique weight is distributed between the legs and the way the middle of stress strikes throughout totally different workout routines. The info can then be became studies for docs, clinics, or sufferers. For rehabilitation, this makes stability evaluation extra seen, measurable, and simpler to trace over time.
One other startup, FiberSight, is growing a monitoring system primarily based on fiber optics. CEO Tiago Neves stated conventional monitoring typically requires many discrete sensors, particularly in agriculture or water infrastructure. These sensors may be costly to deploy and preserve, as they require batteries, out of doors energy, or photo voltaic panels.
FiberSight makes use of fiber as a steady sensing line. In response to Neves, its system can detect and measure temperature and humidity throughout kilometers of fiber, with a spatial decision of 1 meter. In water techniques, the fiber will help find leaks. In agriculture, it may be buried in soil to observe totally different crops and soil situations.
The benefit lies in protection. A standard sensor measures a degree; a fiber line can gather information alongside its complete path. Neves stated one fiber can substitute greater than 5,000 discrete sensors, decreasing deployment complexity and price.
Collectively, Sensing Future and FiberSight present how IPN’s mannequin works in follow. One startup is making rehabilitation extra data-driven; the opposite is popping fiber into sensing infrastructure. Each are constructed round particular technical issues and real-world use circumstances.
Which may be Coimbra’s actual energy. It isn’t making an attempt to turn into one other Lisbon or Porto. As a substitute, the town connects a centuries-old college, utilized analysis labs, startup groups, and worldwide companions such because the European House Company. In a small college metropolis, hard-tech entrepreneurship grows via long-term expertise switch quite than startup hype.
Within the subsequent episode of Tech Odyssey, we’ll head to Braga and go to Startup Braga, one other key incubator in Portugal’s innovation panorama.
