Everyone knows Lisbon is the world’s center during the week in November when it hosts the Web Summit. Thousands of people flock to the Portuguese capital eager to be on top of things and find out first-hand what technological innovations promise to change the world, “Websummit is the event where, once a year, we can get in touch with partners and colleagues from all over the world, establish new contacts and find new opportunities for cooperation. All in one place. It’s like a trip around the world, but in Lisbon”, explains Marco Filippi from Volvero, one of the projects selected by Casa do Impacto for the Road2webSummit which, curiously, was not yet part of our Community and which, like Blindtalk, is currently incubated with us.

In the digital age, it is unrealistic not to think of Impact Entrepreneurship from a technological perspective that can enable the generalization and democratization of products and services to different audiences.

Many projects that are part of the Casa do Impacto Community have a robust technological aspect, and their presence at an event like the Web Summit is relevant on several levels. It gives access to information and people that would otherwise be unreachable, brings countries and regions closer together without physical borders, and creates a networking stage the size of which is incomparable to any other.

We recognize the importance of this showcase and create opportunities for our community to enjoy this experience. When we design the prizes, we give to the winners of our programs, we always look for opportunities for them to continue investing in their projects, whether through monetary amounts or access to events and networks of all kinds. A passport to the Web Summit is one of the prizes that the winners of programs such as the Santa Casa Challenge or Impact Journey receive. 2Gether, Circular Foods, and Nó represented the Impact Journey winners in this particular edition. The SCC program podium allowed access to Careceiver, DEMwell, and Scan4MyHealth, “Since we were only exhibitors on the last day, the first few days allowed us to attend some beneficial lectures as well as move around the various pavilions and get to know other solutions and technologies in an edition marked by the AI boom, which was undeniably one of the topics of greatest interest to us. Of the various contacts made, 24 are qualified contacts that will allow us to continue to give visibility to the project and plan and carry out fundamental missing steps, such as certifying the mobile app as a Class 1 medical device.” (Scan4MyHealth).

But we didn’t limit our access to program podiums. This year, Casa do Impacto led the search for ten startups to participate in the #Road2WebSummit, an initiative of Startup Portugal.

The offer allowed 10 Impact projects to receive a 100% discount on the Alpha Pack. As well as receiving the summit access package, they also had access to preparation sessions for the event. These were the ten startups that won the passport:

• > Actif;
• > AQUAINN;
• > Blindtalk;
• > Clube de Autores;
• > Glooma;
• > Kindology;
• > Sempre A Rodar;
• > Spot Games;
• > Volvero.

Djassi Africa promoted a meeting of African and Afro-descendant entrepreneurs, “Afropreneurs” to give them a stage throughout the event and promote representation and equal access to opportunities, visibility, resources, and sponsorship. Our resident Afrikanism Art was one of the startups that were part of the group, and, once again, everybody felt the collaborative spirit of Impact and the will to join forces to go further.

Lisboa Unicorn Capital and Lisbon City Council also brought many projects to the event. Mykor took every opportunity to add value to its work, “The Web Summit exceeded all our expectations. The opportunity to share our project with a wide audience through the PITCH competition was undoubtedly a great experience, listening to the opinions and questions of the juries from different sectors and their valuable feedback. The opportunity we were given to have a stand supported by Lisbon Unicorn Capital, recognized as an Impact Startup, and to present our product to so many international investors, potential collaborators, and fellow entrepreneurs was very enriching. It was crucial to present our product in the Portuguese ecosystem, and the Web Summit was the ideal place, a catalyst for various connections and potential partnerships.”

It’s very positive that Impacto is increasingly present in the Portuguese Innovation Ecosystem. More organizations are betting on these projects whose main objective is to promote social and environmental change globally, not just profit.

Startup Portugal contributed significantly to raising Impacto’s profile at this Web Summit edition. Inês Sequeira, Founder and Director of Casa do Impacto, was invited to take the Startup Portugal stage to discuss “The State and the Future of Incubation and Innovation Communities” and present “Casa do Impacto: “5 years of Impact and Beyond”.

Accelerating a project also involves looking at the ecosystem from a macro perspective that transcends borders of nationality, territory, and language and understanding how services and products can be adapted to different microcosms and to which ones. Taking on different perspectives can open many doors, if only because more people know what’s happening inside them. We always want to see this energy in our community and witness the constant desire to tread pioneering paths, “At the Web Summit – with the decisive support of Casa do Impacto – we negotiated possibilities that will make us greatly accelerate all our plans. It was spectacular!” (Clube de Autores).

The question is: when will there be a pavilion dedicated solely to Impact? There are plenty of projects to fill it. The odes are cheerful if every country attending WebSummit is represented by at least one impact project. We’ve already got a few on the list!

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