UT Austin Portugal program promotes two entrepreneurship initiatives

The UT Austin Portugal Program is promoting two training initiatives in the field of entrepreneurship. Registration for the online course "Entrepreneurial Foundations" is open until October 15, and the first edition of TechLaunch kicked off on September 19.

Researchers, students, teachers, and professionals interested in developing entrepreneurial skills are the target audience for "Entrepreneurial Foundations," a five-week intensive course. It will begin on November 5 and will be taught by Mellie Price, an experienced entrepreneur and Executive Director for Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin (McCombs School of Business).

This training aims to offer a practical and strategic approach to the process of creating and developing innovative projects. Participants will learn the mindset, language, and frameworks that facilitate opportunity assessment, framing the value of science and technology, and effective collaboration with industry—all in a pragmatic, real-world-oriented format.

The course will be taught in English and is free of charge, subject to prior registration. Further information, including structure, content, and registration process, is available on this page.

TechLaunch is another initiative of the UT Austin Portugal Program, whose first edition is currently underway, consisting of an intensive technological entrepreneurship program. Its goal is to evaluate the commercialization potential of technological projects developed by Portuguese entrepreneurs.

The initiative is led by instructors certified by the National Science Foundation, under the I-Corps™ initiative, internationally recognized for its practical approach to innovation. The trainers for this edition—Aprille Busch, Weston Waldo, and Jessica Fleenor—bring with them extensive experience as entrepreneurs.

Over the course of more than a month, eleven Portuguese deep tech teams from academic institutions, research centers, and companies will participate in a training program that combines online sessions with an in-person component, scheduled for November in Austin, Texas. This phase will include customer discovery activities and will culminate in a final pitch, where teams will present their proposals to experts and potential investors.

During the program, participants will be challenged to conduct interviews with potential customers and business partners, with the aim of validating the feasibility of transforming their technologies into commercial products or services.

More information about TechLaunch and future editions is available on this page.

The promotion of technological entrepreneurship is one of the pillars of the UT Austin Portugal Program, which is developed under GoPORTUGAL – Global Science and Technology Partnerships Portugal. This initiative, promoted by FCT, aims to strengthen Portugal's international position in science and technology by creating collaborative networks with leading institutions such as the University of Texas at Austin.