A digital publication about all things startup in Portugal

Adamastor Logotype

Adamastor Weekly

Week 14

Knowledge in Motion

CR

Carlos Resende

Expert Evaluator at the European Commission and Co-founder of Founder Institute Portugal.

5 min read

When Knowledge Leaves the University Walls, Everyone Wins

For years we’ve repeated the same sentence in Portugal: “knowledge must leave the universities and reach the companies.” It sounds obvious, but when you listen closely to the people who live this bridge every day, you realise the work is only now beginning to take shape.

Two recent events that took place made me write this week editorial. The BMI Students Pitch, where I participated as a jury and the episode of Negócio com Impacto, recorded at Católica Lisbon, where this thematics was brought to life with a simple but powerful message: knowledge does not move by itself. As João Cotter Salvado said “Academics often produce knowledge for other academics. That’s not enough to reach the people inside companies.”

The heart of the challenge and the opportunity

The academy is moving, no doubt about it. There’s intention, there are programs like Forward, and there’s a growing push from reitorias to bring innovation closer to students. But the incentives still don’t fully match. Universities produce knowledge at a very high level, while many companies, especially smaller ones, struggle to absorb it. Without real proximity, shared language, and hybrid profiles, the bridge remains fragile.

Even so, something important is happening: more co‑creation, more multidisciplinary work, and more people capable of translating academic depth into practical value. That’s where the future is being built.

We can already see this in our ecosystem, the connection between academia and the market is visible; have to mention APG - Startup HR Pitch, as one good example. Ideas born in classrooms become prototypes, then startups, then companies ready to scale. Students meet founders, founders meet researchers, and companies meet talent. And when we look at the strongest European hubs, the pattern is obvious: the best incubators live inside universities. Portugal is moving in that direction and Braga, Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon are clearly leading.

But the market still moves slower than the talent. Granter’s story shows this perfectly: a clear problem, a strong solution, cutting‑edge technology and still months of bureaucracy just to work with large companies. The talent is here, the technology is here, the will is here; but the path is still too long. If we want Portugal to compete globally, this needs to accelerate.

Another important shift is happening in who becomes a founder. Innovation is no longer something reserved for business students, and that’s a strength. More than half of the founders supported by Unicorn Factory come from medicine, engineering, biotechnology, humanities. Innovation emerges when deep expertise meets real‑world problems. What we need now is more multidisciplinary teams and more space to test ideas early.

And yes, we still struggle with failure. In Portugal, success is celebrated, but failure is quietly avoided. Yet innovation depends on experimentation, and experimentation depends on accepting that some things won’t work. With AI lowering the cost of testing, there’s no reason to wait for perfection before going to market.

This is where Adamastor steps in. Our role is to reinforce the bridge, to make our contribution that knowledge doesn’t stay trapped inside universities, and that companies know how to absorb and apply it. We make our part on connecting research with execution, talent with opportunity, ideas with the people who can help them grow. Giving voice and being side by side with founders, students, researchers, corporates, and ecosystem leaders to turn knowledge into movement. Into impact. Into companies that matter.

The future is clear: knowledge applied, talent in motion, impact at scale

What I witnessed these last days at Catolica, confirms what many of us already feel: Portugal has everything it needs to build a world‑class innovation ecosystem. But it will only happen if we accelerate the connection between academia and the market.

  • Universities must open their doors

  • Companies must open their minds

  • Ecosystem players must open the paths

And players like Adamastor must keep building the bridges.

Because when knowledge leaves the university walls, everyone wins: the founders, the companies, the students, the country.

Keep following Adamastor to stay up to date with our ecosystem.

See you at the next event.

✍ Quote of the week

“Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes”

Peter F. Drucker

Highlights of the week

  • 🔷 Bitalk Roundtable Live @ Unicorn Factory, today

  • 🔷 Fundraising & Investing Strategies @Nova SBE, Welcome the Spring Batch ’26 @Carmo Rooftop, and Scaling from 0 to the first 1000 customers with Tim Ward @Sitio Rossio, all this Thursday

  • 🔷 Applications are now open for Unicorn Factory Lisboa’s Innovation Summer School, a summer camp for young people ages 14 to 18 designed to foster a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship

  • 🔷 Money Talks next weekend @Aula Magna

  • 🔷 UPTEC is looking for 𝟑 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬, 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 to develop technological pilots within the scope of the Interreg Atlantico SaferSEA project. Apply until Apr 08

Congrats

  • 👏 Remote was Named One of the Most Innovative Companies in 2026

Something to read, listen and watch

🎧Na conversa com Walter Duarte, Nuno Fernandes, CEO da DIG-IN, fala sobre o seu percurso pessoal e profissional e sobre como a Zomato se transformou em dig-in e como, hoje, a estratégia de inovação lhes permitiu posicionarem-se com uma empresa de dados 360.

Looking for your next spark of inspiration or connection? Discover what’s happening in the ecosystem—check out the Adamastor Events Calendar and find the perfect event that fits your goals, your vibe, and your stage. From founder meetups to investor talks, there’s something for everyone.

Subscribe

Subscribe to Adamastor Weekly

A weekly read on Portugal’s startup scene. The raises, the launches, and the stories behind them. Every Tuesday by Carlos Resende, who’s curated it since 2017.

Reader notes

Reply to this piece

Anonymous. Carlos reads every note that comes in.