The Portuguese capital was recognized as one of the main centers of innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe, according to the Europe’s Leading Start-Up Hubs 2024 ranking, prepared by the Financial Times in collaboration with Statista. This recognition puts Portugal in the spotlight, occupying 6th place in the European ranking, alongside countries such as Germany and Italy.

Among the six entrepreneurship hubs distinguished in Portugal, Startup Braga and Startup Lisboa stand out, which are among the top ten in the ranking. Furthermore, other Portuguese organizations such as BGI – Building Global Innovation, IPN – Instituto Pedro Nunes (from Coimbra), Casa do Impacto and Beta-i are also present on the list of the 125 main innovation centers in Europe.

The evaluation to compose this ranking was based on criteria such as mentoring, infrastructure, legal assistance, networking opportunities and financing, among others. The public invitation to participate involved more than 2,000 European entities, highlighting the relevance and quality of the acceleration and incubation programs developed in Portugal. Gil Azevedo, Executive Director of Unicorn Factory Lisboa, expressed his satisfaction with this recognition, emphasizing the significant growth achieved since 2022.


The list is led by a German accelerator, but the country most represented on the list is the United Kingdom, with 24 distinguished hubs, while Portugal occupies 6th place, with six entrepreneurship hubs, similar to Italy. London is the city with the most distinguished hubs (17), followed by Madrid (5), and Berlin, Amsterdam and Lisbon, each with 4 recognized hubs.

Among the six recognized Portuguese entities, four are established in Lisbon, but the table of Portuguese accelerators is led by Startup Braga, in 7th position, and Instituto Pedro Nunes is the other institution outside Lisbon to appear on the list of the best entrepreneurship hubs from Europe.

Startup Braga:It is the best startup hub in Portugal and ranks 7th in the Financial Times ranking. The Braga startup center was founded in 2014 and is located in the north of Portugal.

Startup LisboaUnicorn Factory Lisbon: It is the second best startup hub in Portugal and ranks 10th in the Financial Times ranking of the main startup centers in Europe in 2024. The startup center was founded in 2012 and has a community of 220 incubated startups. Even so, this position in the ranking does not take into account the results of the Scaling Up Program launched by Unicorn Factory Lisbon at the end of 2022, which already has 32 scaleups that obtained investments of more than 240 million euros and represent 950 jobs.

BGI – Building Global InnovatorsBGI is the third best startup hub in Portugal and ranks 25th in the 2024 Financial Times ranking. The startup accelerator was founded in 2010 and is located in Lisbon.


IPN – Instituto Pedro Nunes, Associação para a Inovação e Desenvolvimento em Ciência e TecnologiaO IPN é o quarto melhor hub de startups em Portugal e ocupa o 44º lugar no ranking do Financial Times. O centro de startups foi fundado em 1991 e está localizado em Coimbra, no centro de Portugal.

Casa do ImpactoO Hub de empreendedorismo social da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa é o quinto melhor hub de startups em Portugal e ocupa o 75º lugar no ranking do Financial Times dos Leading Startup Hubs da Europa em 2024. A Casa de Impacto, que representa 3,2 milhões de euros investidos em startups de impacto, é um dos 61 hubs de impacto reconhecidos entre os 125 a nível europeu. Foi fundado em 2018 e está localizado em Lisboa.

Beta-iA Beta-i é o sexto melhor hub de startups em Portugal e ocupa a 124 posição no ranking do Financial Times. O hub de startups foi fundado em 2011 e está localizado em Lisboa.