What if Covid-19, setting aside the humanitarian and public health tragedy, could be a business opportunity? O Bootcamp of Online Acceleration, organized by Startup Portimao, starts on the 21st of April and, in addition to being the «first initiative of its kind» in Portugal, will give «future perspectives» on the current pandemic. The event is attracting entrepreneurs from across the country.
This Bootcamp, which will take place on the 21st and 22nd of April and the 4th and 5th of May, had already been «scheduled for a long time», but the current pandemic has changed the organization's face.
"It was going to be in person, like what happened in years past, but, with all this issue, what we did was to adapt", he explains to Sul Informação Teresa Preta, CEO of Territórios Criativos, one of the partners of Startup Portimão, which is a business incubator located at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
Thus, «we suggest that the municipality maintain the Bootcamp, but taking into account what is being the panorama of entrepreneurship on a global scale: people are reinventing themselves and not giving up. And we decided, based on this, to keep everything, but move to online format», he adds.
The main themes of this initiative aimed at entrepreneurs remain: Smart Cities (the main area of the projects incubated at Startup Portimão) and the Sustainable Development Goals, but Covid-19 also entered the equation here.
“We will have a panel on Covid-19 on May 4th (9:30 am), but we won't talk about the negative issues. We want to give perspectives for the future, showing how we can see this as an opportunity», says Teresa Preta.
It's just that, as happens in the minds of many entrepreneurs, this Bootcamp he also saw in difficulties a way to grow.
«As it will be online, we are taking advantage of the fact that companies can participate without travel costs, for example. We are having many applications from the Algarve, but also from other regions, such as Alentejo, Lisbon and Porto, and that is very funny. So far, we have at least 30 subscribers», explains Teresa Preta.
With this, considers the CEO of the company Territórios Criativos, «Startup Portimão, which is already known nationwide, will strengthen its position».
According to the Portimão Chamber, the mentor of this business incubator, the idea of Bootcamp, which will help companies make business models, is to «identify startups and projects linked to the incubator's areas (Smart Cities) that, in some way, improve the lives of those who live, work or visit cities».
The objective is also that «entrepreneurs develop sustainable and “future” businesses – that contribute to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals».
The days 21 and 22 of April and 4 of May will be, according to the municipality, «moments of virtual networking e talks of current and useful topics for the development and acceleration of business, namely in terms of finance, marketing, approach to investors, risk mitigation, pitch training, and Covid-19 challenges, among others, being also addressed the Startup Academy Plan, a visual and intuitive tool designed by Creative Territories for the development of the business plan».
For Teresa Preta, «today, if we want to develop a startup, we have to take into account the two main themes of this Bootcamp: at Smart cities and the SDGs'.
In all the Bootcamp, otherwise, the speakers will be entrepreneurs, investors and business consultants with "vast experience".
On April 22nd, some of the talks will be open to the general public, who will be able to follow the following presentations online: “Startup scaling up and risk mitigation” and “How to approach an investor”, with Paulo Andrez, president of Toys R US Iberia Holdings and EBAN – European Business Association Network , “The entrepreneurial track”, with André Abreu, CEO of Sensaway, startup incubated at Startup Portimão, “Finance 4 Startups”, with João Pereira, professor at IPAM and Porto Business School and director at Portugal Ventures and “Marketing 4 Startups”, with Maria Loureiro de Lemos, CEO and co-founder of Eat.Drink .Discover.
On May 5th, a conference open to the public will take place, with the theme “The future of Smart Cities”, which will be attended by Cláudia Leitão, former Secretary of State for the Creative Economy of Brazil, Pedro Neves, consultant for UNECE – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, António Bob Santos, from the National Innovation Agency, and José Maia, founder of GMT Hospitality.
Applications for entrepreneurs who want to participate in this Bootcamp must be done by 12:00 noon on 17 April, through this link. Also on that date, at 22 pm, the 00 projects selected for participation will be announced.
One of the objectives of Startup Portimão is, according to the Portimão Chamber, «to draw closer to schools and universities, considered to be players fundamental in creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem. In this sense, the bootcamp will have the participation of students from ISMAT – Instituto Superior Manuel Teixeira Gomes and the School of Hotel and Tourism of Portimão, program partners.
For Teresa Preta, expectations for this event are “high”.
“In today's reality, there are demoralized entrepreneurs and our mission is also to counteract that”, he concluded.
To consult the complete program of the initiative, click here
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