The president of Fórum Oceano, António Nogueira Leite, emphasised 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 Blue Economy business data and matchmake deals between startups, SMEs and investors. Already registered on the platform are 1,045 startups (800 of which have raised capital), nearly 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 Portugal's Ministry of the Economy and the 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 to an economy in which, rather than resources, it is skills that will be fundamental to the country's growth”.
“We have a unique opportunity here,” emphasised Nogueira Leite. The president of Fórum Oceano emphasised 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 emphasised the economic value of the sea to defend the importance of the platform. The issue of decarbonisation is of particular importance to the banker,
The president of the Forum emphasised the importance of the protocols with Euronext Lisbon and with Portugal's largest bank, CGD.
Four Cooperation Protocols were signed this Monday between Fórum Oceano, 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 of start-ups in the blue economy, Katapult Ocean, and the European Commission's Blue Invest Platform.
“The co-operation protocols that lay the foundations for these initiatives were signed today at the Alcântara Maritime Station. In addition to the agreement signed between the Ocean Forum and the Port of Lisbon Administration (APL), this ceremony also included the signing of three other cooperation protocols that the Ocean Forum signed with Caixa Geral de Depósitos, StartUp Portugal and EuroNext Lisbon, as well as two memorandums of understanding with Katapult Ocean, the world's largest accelerator of startups in the Blue Economy, and the Blue Invest Platform, the European Commission's mechanism,” the Port of Lisbon said 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, which adds that “the aim 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 association with the Hub Azul Dealroom platform, also launched today by the Ocean Forum, which is the world's first blue economy business platform.
For the Chairman of APL's Board of Directors, Carlos Correia, “this is an important milestone for the Port of Lisbon in the fields of the economy, innovation, sustainability and business promotion. With the launch of a technological accelerator we want to assume 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 held by the President of the Port of Lisbon Administration, 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 onto the market.
News published on the basis of the original article in Jornal Económico: https://jornaleconomico.pt/noticias/nasceu-o-hub-azul-dealroom-e-ja-tem-1-045-startups-registadas/