Created by the non-profit organization RedBridge, the event will position Portugal as an extension of California’s innovation community and foster connections between startup founders—both those looking to enter Portugal and Portuguese individuals aiming to invest in the United States.
“RedBridge was born with this vision of promoting the growth of an ecosystem that aids the integration of newcomers,” co-founder Filipa Pinto de Carvalho stated.
“We realized there was a need to bridge people coming from outside and the vast talent we have in Portugal, founders and projects that can greatly benefit from these collaborations,” she added.
Conversely, the idea is “to use the bridge to help our founders grow and scale up to California and the United States.”
The event will be moderated by RedBridge co-founder Jonathan Littman and will feature Empowered Startups, Oreo Real Estate Advisors, and AGPC (also co-founded by Filipa Pinto de Carvalho).
The speakers will include Portuguese entrepreneurs João Mota from Void Software, who will travel from Leiria to discuss his experience working with American startups, and Micael Oliveira, a founder of startup Amplemarket residing in San Francisco.
Micael Oliveira expressed that his objective is to discuss the experience of being a founder who started a startup in Portugal and transitioned to Silicon Valley.
“It’s to share that adventure and the evolution of the Portuguese startup ecosystem and then network with people coming from Portugal and others from the Bay Area,” he explained.
Oliveira, who has been in the United States for about ten years, noted that “there are many similarities” between San Francisco and Lisbon and that what the Portuguese ecosystem now lacks is maturity, considering this type of event crucial for strengthening ties.
“More and more American investors understand that investing in Portugal is also possible,” he stated. “Bringing more visibility and creating these connections is beneficial,” he added.
The idea of Portugal as the new California for startups—with stability, talent, and quality of life—is something Filipa Pinto de Carvalho describes as “a beautiful image” but warns against being reductive.
“I think there is a challenge for us to assume who we are as Portugal, as a unique ecosystem, that should not try to be a second Silicon Valley because that is impossible,” she emphasized.
“But we can use these links to learn from the best examples, and the worst to avoid repeating them, and build the ecosystem according to our characteristics,” she argued.
RedBridge’s initiative will include a reception at Shack15 the day before the event to foster connections among investors, founders, and mentors, and a session titled “Portugal Calling” on June 20 to assist those interested in investing in the country.
The nearly 150 registered participants are primarily Americans interested in learning more about the Portuguese ecosystem.
RedBridge was founded in 2022 as a club with “the mission of connecting the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems of Lisbon and Silicon Valley, and more broadly Portugal and the United States.”
