Texas and Portuguese technology-based companies create and strengthen interactions

Helping technology-based start-ups grow in the North American and European markets is the aim of the Texas-EU Venture Growth Initiative, an initiative of the UTEN - University Technology Enterprise Network program, part of the UT Austin-Portugal partnership. At the 2015 edition, which took place on April 22 and 23 and was organized by the ^IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, technology companies from Texas and Portugal learned about the opportunities for launching companies, individually or jointly, in Central Texas and the European Union, as well as concrete business development measures.

The event was attended by almost 120 Portuguese and American entrepreneurs, investors, incubator directors and international service providers. It included the Texas-Portugal matchmaking workshopwhich discussed the contributions of incubation and acceleration of technology-based companies, the relationship with investors (national or international) and the relationship with the market to the success of academic-based innovation.

 The Portuguese delegation included entrepreneurs, investors, directors of the main national incubators and accelerators, as well as representatives from both Embassies, Robert Sherman (US Ambassador to Portugal) and Nuno Brito (Portuguese Ambassador to the US). FCT was represented by its vice-president, Pedro Carneiro, and members of the Technology Office.

As part of the International Partnership with the University of Austin (UTAustin-Portugal), funded by FCT, UTEN and the Global Startup Programare today two of the main programs that bridge the gap between early-stage innovations and the market in Portugal. UTEN is a network of universities, technology transfer offices, research centers, incubators and technology transfer professionals that facilitates the acceleration and commercialization of science and technology-based innovations created by researchers in Portugal.

During the initiative, FCT announced the 1st Integrated Conference of International Partnerships with UTAustin, MIT and CMU, dedicated to the theme: Fostering Science & Innovation Ecosystems: Portugal-USA Partnerships, to be held on May 29th in Lisbon.