The president of Fórum Oceano, António Nogueira Leite, highlighted the partnerships with Euronext Lisbon and Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), considering that ‘they are important for attracting new investors, providing access to new financial products and different forms of financing, creating conditions for the development of the maritime economy.’
Hub Azul Dealroom was launched today and is the first digital platform (https://hubazuldealroom.forumoceano.pt/intro) designed to quickly map business data from the Blue Economy and matchmake businesses between start-ups, SMEs and investors. There are already 1,045 start-ups registered on the platform (800 of which have raised capital), close to 1,200 investors and more than 100 large companies. The platform’s website shows 1,631 funding rounds.
The Hub Azul Dealroom is the digital platform for the global internationalisation of Portugal’s Blue Economy, promoted by Fórum Oceano (Portugal’s Blue Economy Cluster), in conjunction with the Strategic Management Council chaired by the Directorate-General for Maritime Policy of the Portuguese Ministry of Economy and Sea.
The Hub Azul Dealroom is funded by the Next Generation EU Fund – Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.
António Nogueira Leite, president of Fórum Oceano, emphasised in his speech that ‘we are moving towards an economy in which, more than resources, it is skills that will be fundamental to the country’s growth’.
‘We have a unique opportunity here,’ Nogueira Leite stressed. The president of Fórum Oceano highlighted the partnerships with Euronext Lisbon and CGD, considering that ‘they are important for attracting new investors, providing access to new financial products and different forms of financing, creating conditions for the development of the maritime economy.’
Paulo Macedo highlighted the economic value of the sea to defend the importance of the platform. The issue of decarbonisation is particularly important to the banker.
The president of the Forum highlighted the importance of the protocols with Euronext Lisbon and Portugal’s largest bank, CGD.
Four Cooperation Protocols were signed on Monday between the Ocean Forum, led by António Nogueira Leite, and four institutions. At the Alcântara Maritime Station, the protocols were signed by the CEO of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Paulo Macedo; the president of StartUp Portugal, António Dias Martins; the president of EuroNext Lisbon, Isabel Ucha; and the president of the Port of Lisbon, Carlos Correia.
Two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were also signed with the world’s largest accelerator for blue economy start-ups, Katapult Ocean, and the European Commission’s Blue Invest Platform mechanism.
“The cooperation protocols that lay the foundations for these initiatives were signed today at the Alcântara Maritime Station. In addition to the agreement signed between Fórum Oceano and the Port of Lisbon Authority (APL), this ceremony also included the signing of three other cooperation protocols that Fórum Oceano established with Caixa Geral de Depósitos, StartUp Portugal and EuroNext Lisbon, as well as two memoranda of understanding with Katapult Ocean, the world’s largest accelerator for blue economy start-ups, and the Blue Invest Platform, the European Commission’s mechanism,” said the Port of Lisbon in a statement.
As part of the launch of the Hub Azul Dealroom platform, launched by Forum Oceano, the Port of Lisbon announced that it has launched an Innovation Acceleration Programme for the Blue Economy, in conjunction with the Hub Azul Portugal innovation ecosystem.
‘With this accelerator, the Port of Lisbon becomes the first port with a blue economy accelerator programme,’ says the institution, adding that ‘the goal is to create an innovation ecosystem capable of encouraging and scaling up relevant technologies in the fields of digitalisation, decarbonisation, intermodality and circularity in the areas of the maritime economy.’
This accelerator will work in conjunction with the Hub Azul Dealroom platform, also launched today by Fórum Oceano, which is the world’s first blue economy business platform.
For Carlos Correia, Chairman of the Board of Directors of APL, “this is an important milestone for the Port of Lisbon in the areas of economy, innovation, sustainability and business promotion. With the launch of a technological accelerator, we want to take on a central role in scientific and technological development linked to the sea. We are a company linked to the sea, in a country linked to the sea, and we are determined to promote the blue economy in a circular and sustainable way.”
The opening session was led by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Port of Lisbon, Carlos Correia, the Secretary-General of Fórum Oceano, Ruben Eiras, and the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Maritime Policy (DGPM), Marisa Silva.
The session was closed by the Secretary of State for the Sea, José Maria Costa, with the ceremony symbolically ending with the “ringing of the Euronext bell” marking the entry of the Hub Azul Dealroom digital platform into the market.
News from Jornal Económico: https://jornaleconomico.pt/noticias/nasceu-o-hub-azul-dealroom-e-ja-tem-1-045-startups-registadas/