<h3>Startup accelerator Unicorn Factory Lisboa has launched its 
inaugural Scaling Up programme, which will help several startups 
embark upon an eight-month journey to grow and scale towards 
unicorn status.</h3>
“Innovation is not an idea; innovation is a process,” declared Carlos 
Moedas, mayor of the city of Lisbon, speaking about Unicorn Factory 
Lisboa during Web Summit 2022’s Opening Night.
Unicorn Factory Lisboa is a startup accelerator located in Lisbon. 
It provides scaleup-phase startups with resources, mentorship, 
and networking opportunities.
It’s closely associated with Startup Lisboa, which has been in operation 
since 2011, supporting more than 460 startups that have gone on to 
raise €410 million and create more than 5,000 jobs.
What is unique about Unicorn Factory Lisboa is its focus on 
scaleups. These startups have typically already obtained seed 
funding, or have a product or service in operation, a team in place 
and a clear growth trajectory, but need that extra boost to get 
them to the next level.
The Lisbon mayor – who worked on innovation for five years in 
Brussels – announced initial plans for the accelerator at Web Summit 
2021. Now that Unicorn Factory Lisboa has launched, startups in 
the scaleup phase will be able to join the program in early 2023.
This eight-month acceleration programme – with 28 investment 
funds and more than 30 corporate partners supporting it – is 
designed to help startups with a minimum viable product (MVP) and 
help them grow and scale until, ideally, they reach unicorn status.
“They will meet the unicorns that are [already] in Lisbon; the 
executives of those unicorns. They will have mentoring with the 
big tech companies,” explained the mayor.
Is 2023, then, shaping up to be a good year for startups in Lisbon? 
Perhaps yes. This is, after all, the city where – as Carlos put it – 
“the impossible meets the possible”.
<h4>For more insight into Lisbon’s startup scene and beyond, download Web Summit’s <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17jWgE4ph59U6UBI0Z35YtESZOaiHmiTP" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Portugal Insights</a> report now.</h4>
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<a href="https://flic.kr/p/2nWYBkP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Main image</a> of Carlos Moedas, mayor of the city of Lisbon, on Centre Stage during Day 2 of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen McCarthy</a>/<a href="websummit.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Summit</a> (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY 2.0</a>)

Up close image of Carlos Moedas, Mayor, City of Lisbon, on Centre stage at Web Summit 2022

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