Entrepreneurship is the process usually associated with the initiative to create new businesses or to implement strongly innovative or transformational changes in existing companies. It is a term widely used in the business environment and is often related to the creation of new companies or products, usually involving innovations and risks. But what is the role and impact of entrepreneurship and associated investment in society? What is the current scenario of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems? How do established companies and newly created startups become successful entrepreneurs?

It was precisely on these very current topics that Altice Labs and V21 – Centro de Incubação Tecnológico de Viseu, joined to share on 17th June 2020 at 11:30 am, the 5th Moving Forward webinar on “Entrepreneurship and Investment“. The session included speakers Luís Reis, Business Startup Developer from Altice Labs, Miguel Fontes, Executive Director of Startup Lisboa, Ricardo Marvão Co-Founder & Board Member of Beta-i, Jorge Saraiva, CEO of Tula Labs, Sérgio Lorga, Director Executive of Vissaium XXI, as moderator. José Couto, president of the Superior Council of Vissaium XXI, closed the webinar.

Miguel Fontes started the session by stating that it is important to have people with talent and willingness to undertake, as “good startups are those that are born with problem resolution, that is, they are led by people with experience and knowledge in a certain area” and the necessary ingredients for a startup to succeed are precisely having the right team on the project. The executive director of Startup Lisboa, also stated that the pandemic has accelerated the opportunities that the digital world creates, in other words, the issue of mobility is no longer a problem, as the location of a company is irrelevant and the focus becomes the product that develops. Thus, he argues that cities in the interior now have a greater opportunity for growth, as it is in them that there is quality of life that allows reconciling personal life with professional life and thus aspiring to a more digitally cohesive country.

Jorge Saraiva, CEO of Tula Labs and investor in other companies inside and outside Portugal, explained his path and work, going through the challenges for the future of his project for a new startup, namely in the ​​education area. He highlined that in order to be successful in each job, it is necessary to show value, especially in the digital market, that is, it is necessary to understand what the customer can value in each solution and contribute that value to it.

For his part, Ricardo Marvão stated that more important than having an investment, is having a client who presents challenges. He hihglined that this time of pandemic crisis, we are experiencing, is the best time for a professional change and for professionals to take risks and all this is due to the fact that this crisis has accelerated the way of living and working, as many projects that were previously planned in order to be executed in the long run, they now had to be converted and executed more quickly, stressing that remote work is certainly a reality that is here to stay.

Luís Reis, explained that the ENTER program is an open innovation program from Altice Portugal, aimed at collaboration with startups, namely technology-based startups, being operated by Altice Labs. Its main goal is to reinforce, through collaboration with startups, Altice Portugal’s competitive advantage in the consumer and business markets and also to improve Altice Portugal’s own operational efficiency, positioning startups as potential partners or as potential suppliers. Afterthe identification and selection of startups, the operationalization of the program is based on a series of collaboration mechanisms, such as, access to pilots with Altice Portugal, business opportunities through the Altice commercial network. However, Luís Reis defends the importance of working with this program on solutions that can be replicated or scaled up by other clients.

After the question and answer session and the message of hope from all the speakers for the coming times, José Couto closed this 5th webinar by pointing out that this was a very enriching sharing moment for all those present, noting that there is an evolution of the entrepreneurship vision, especially among young people, as there are more young people now who want to start their own company in Portugal than a few years ago. However, there is also a high interest of international companies in young highly qualified Portuguese staff to integrate their teams, which can be a risk for entrepreneurship in Portugal.