About in GEN Portugal

Lisbon

The Global Entrepreneurship Network’s (GEN) story in Portugal began in the early years of Portugal’s startup community with its angel investor community. The Associação Portuguesa de Business Angels (APBA), together with SEDES – a Portuguese civic association for economic and social development – led the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2009 as Portugal’s founding GEW host organizations. The launch was endorsed by President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, lending high-level government support from the outset. In its first full year of data in 2010, GEW Portugal mobilized 50 partner organizations across 100+ activities, reaching nearly 5,000 participants – a strong foundation for a campaign that would grow significantly over the years.

By 2012, GEW Portugal had expanded to 40 partners, 50 activities, and 17,000 participants, with continued presidential endorsement from President Cavaco Silva alongside ministerial engagement from the Minister of Agriculture and Sea and the Secretary of State of the Sea. The campaign – known locally as “Semana Global de Empreendedorismo” – continued to grow throughout this period, maintaining consistent momentum even as Portugal navigated the economic challenges of the early 2010s. In 2016, GEW Portugal was relaunched with renewed energy, hitting a record 130 events with the endorsement of Portugal’s President, marking a turning point for the campaign. The same year, the Portuguese government announced the launch of Startup Portugal, a national strategy for entrepreneurship co-founded by Maria Miguel Ferreira, signaling a more deliberate and coordinated approach to building the country’s startup ecosystem.

Portugal’s entrepreneurial transformation during this period was significant. As GEN President Jonathan Ortmans wrote in 2018, Portugal had undergone an “entrepreneur-led economic turnaround,” with Lisbon emerging as one of Europe’s most dynamic startup cities. The arrival of Web Summit in Lisbon – one of the world’s largest startup events – in 2016 further cemented this trajectory and created a natural anchor point for GEN’s activities in the country. GEN and Startup Genome have since used Web Summit as a platform for their partnership, with the Startup Genome Ecosystem Leadership Forum taking place alongside the conference during GEW. 

GEN’s leadership in Portugal has evolved through several phases. Paulo Andrez, a prominent angel investor and President Emeritus of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN), served as GEN Portugal chair and has been a key figure linking Portugal to the global entrepreneurship ecosystem as he has grown in stature in the field. In 2018, Andrez traveled to Paraguay on behalf of GEN to advise Paraguayan policymakers and investors on developing angel investor networks – demonstrating how Portuguese ecosystem leaders have contributed to GEN’s global mission well beyond their own borders. Ana Barjasic was subsequently announced as acting managing director to guide the development of GEN Portugal as a formal affiliate. Barjasic, who also serves as a GEN Global Leader and later joined the European Innovation Council board, helped professionalize GEN’s operations in the country and has since gone on to be a leader in Europe. Luis Matos Martins subsequently took on the role of GEN Portugal’s managing director, leading the organization through an ambitious period of program delivery.

Under Matos Martins’ leadership, GEN in Portugal collaborated with partners across the country to support a number of programs through a joint consortium. A travelling roadshow crossed 35 territories and supported the biotech, agri-food, culture, and creative sectors. The campaign considered the needs of individual municipalities, addressing challenges including unemployment and underemployment, and connecting institutions to youth camps and entrepreneurial school programs. Of note was the development of guides and workbooks for founders and investors in partnership with Portimão, Câmara Municipal, Startup Portimão, and Territórios Criativos.

Portugal has also been active in the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), organized by GEN since 2019. Our Watch Leads (OWL), a Coimbra-based construction and real estate technology startup led by Pedro Resende, reached the EWC Global 100 in 2025 and pitched for a share of the $1 million prize pool at the Global Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Francisco Moreira Tenente, CEO of 3DWays, a Portuguese 3D printing and additive manufacturing company, is a member of the GEN Starters Club, a global community of talented founders whose startups have been battle-tested through GEN’s competitions and programs. In 2025, GEW Portugal featured a global student competition in Porto in partnership with BUSINET, further extending the campaign’s reach to the next generation of entrepreneurs. 

Portugal’s deep connection to angel investing and early-stage capital has been a defining characteristic of its relationship with GEN. Both the Portuguese Business Angels Federation (FNABA) and the Associação Portuguesa de Business Angels (APBA) are members of GEN’s Global Business Angels Network (GBAN). Pedro Bandeira of CORE Angels and FNABA has been an active participant in the GBAN community, and Paulo Andrez’s expertise on government-supported business angel co-investment funds – drawing on case studies from Portugal and across Europe – has been shared extensively through GBAN’s knowledge-sharing programs.

GEN maintains working relationships with various Portuguese ecosystem stakeholders, including Startup Portugal, the APBA, FNABA, Startup Barreiro, the European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA), and municipal partners such as Startup Portimão and Câmara Municipal de Portimão.

GEN’s leadership led by Jonathan Ortmans have been active personally in Portugal over the years, visiting more than 5 times and most recently in April 2024 at the invitation of Rui Braga (Municipality of Barreiro) to help chart a renewed strategy for GEN in Portugal with partners such as Startup Portugal, Investors Portugal, Turismo de Portugal, Portugal Ventures, 351, Tec Labs, LISPOLIS,  ANJE, Unicorn Factory Lisboa, UPTEC and others.  GEN’s presence in Portugal is poised to deepen further – building on the country’s transformation from a crisis economy to one of Europe’s most promising entrepreneurial ecosystems.