Journalist and Founder Elham Mohammadi recently shared an insightful reflection on a question that many in our ecosystem have asked at some point: Why doesn’t Portugal have a flagship startup media publication?

As someone curating the Startup Digest Portugal, I’ve witnessed firsthand both the hunger for this type of content and the limitations of our current setup. Startup Digest Portugal is a grassroots effort—it gathers, amplifies, and connects. But as Elham rightly points out, we need something deeper: a consistent, independent voice that reports, questions, celebrates, and connects the dots across the Portuguese innovation landscape.

Yes, market size and funding are hurdles. But as Elham argues—and I fully agree—this shouldn’t be seen purely through a commercial lens. A dedicated media platform could serve as an intellectual infrastructure, helping Portugal’s ecosystem mature, gain visibility, and attract talent and capital. Think deep dives on founder journeys, policy impact breakdowns, critical opinion pieces, and international storytelling that reaches beyond our borders.

The ecosystem is growing, the initiatives are multiplying, and the ambition is there. What we now need is a home for our collective story, told in the language the world’s Startups understand.

I was honored to be part of the conversation and share a few thoughts on why I believe this could be a powerful next step for Portugal’s innovation landscape.

Thank you, Elham, for raising the topic and for your thoughtful article and LinkedIn post. Let’s keep this conversation going.

Maybe it’s time we stop wondering “why not?” and start asking “how?”

• 🚨 After successful editions in Porto, Lisbon, Coimbra, and Albufeira Techstars Startup Weekend is set to make one more exciting weekend in Évora (May 16, 17 & 18). Apply here

• 🚨 All Startups! Startup Summer Experience 2025 Edition is an exciting internship program organized by Nova SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute. This program aims to provide enriching experiences for students while offering valuable support to startups like yours! Learn more about the program here. Apply here until May 18th

📝FUNDEIA Portuguese entrepreneurs have created a new free social media platform that offers a safe place to post innovative ideas and obtain funding in a pre-seed phase. The founders are currently testing the MVP and welcome all the feedback, so if you are interested, you can find them on: www.fundeia.pt

• 📣 sign up & spread the word - use this link: https://read.letterhead.email/techstars-portugal

Week highlights go to:

• 🔷 SIM Conference - the side events Innovation Scene have created a place for everyone to share meetups and community events during SIM

• 🔷 Applications open for Bootcamp Start Your Future, May 10 in Evora

• 🔷 Grand Finale of the Future Innovators Hackathon this Saturday

• 🔷 Leadershipboost www.leadershipboost.pt

Congrats:

• 👏 TEKEVER confirmed as Europe’s newest unicorn

• 👏 OSCAR raises 6M in Pre-Series A

• 👏 Goparity raises €2.9 million round

• 👏 Addvolt acquired by Carrier

✍ Quote of the Day

Rather than losing value as a result of the AI wave, human writing may be appreciated even more, taking on an artisanal quality

Jill W. Rettberg

📚 🎧 🎥

• 📚 Does Portugal need a flagship startup publication beyond a great newsletter? by Elham P.Mohammadi

• 📚 The Hidden Traps of Building an MVP by Carlos Mendes

• 📚 TEKEVER confirmed as Europe’s newest unicorn

• 📚 Sustainable finance platform Goparity raises €2.9 million round

• 📚 Blockchain fundamentals, development and opportunities

• 📚 A growing wave of European countries is offering “scientific asylum” to US scientists

• 📚 The Great Language Flattening: Chatbots learned from human writing. Now it’s their turn to influence us

• 📚 How Embedded Finance Is Quietly Transforming Startup Business Models

• 📚 The Essential Infrastructure For AI In The Enterprise Isn’t Your LLM, It’s Orchestration

• 🎧 Scalling to 300M ARR w/ Spenser Skates is the Co-founder and CEO of Amplitude

• 🎧 Empreendedorismo e Inovação no Sector dos Drones

• 🎧 Rewriting the Rules of Venture with EWOR’s Daniel Dippold