The 5th edition of Madeira Startup Retreat has officially begun!
On Monday, May 2nd, 11 startups arrived at Colégio dos Jesuítas at the heart of Funchal’s city, which will be their new headquarters for the next 6 weeks.
Hosting the Launch Event was Micaela Vieira, Project Manager at Startup Madeira, who warmly and enthusiastically presented the program.
In this edition we will have a record breaker, 15 different nationalities will be with us (wow!) with a total of 31 participants.
Cristina Salsinha – Project Manager of Turismo de Portugal – spoke to our entrepreneurs about what the Portuguese Travel & Tourism Ecosystem’s sector lacks in order to improve it.
To do so, Cristina highlighted their strategy for innovation and sustainability , as well as what they are doing to reach those goals.
The event continued this time to welcome on stage Ricardo Figueiredo, Co-Founder & CEO of Luggit – a real-time solution that optimizes the way luggage is transported in a customized way. Ricardo suggested looking to the service as an “uber for baggage”.
The Co-Founder & CEO gave an inspirational talk that was focused on redefining the way society behaves while traveling. He explained how his startup was created, the difficulties they had during the beginning of the pandemic, how they took advantage of that period and how they are managing to grow their business.
To properly introduce and welcome Startups from this year’s edition, Carlos Soares Lopes, CEO of Startup Madeira, joined by Cristina Salsinha, called each startup to the stage and presented them with a symbolic key, which represents the opening of new opportunities, progress and a new chapter for them.
And so, one by one, we welcomed Escappy (Colombia), GlobeTrott Travel (Lithuania), Gopostly (Romenia), Hotel Manager (UK), iFriend (Brazil), Kleesto (Greece), NomadHer (South Korea), OTA Sync (Montenegro), StayAltered (USA), The Impact Collective (All Over the World) and Visit Guide (Egypt).
After enjoying a coffee-break and meeting the office space, we welcomed Mariana Carvalho Baptista – Community Manager at NOVA SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute – who guided an interesting and amusing “Speed Dating” activity between the Startups and the Local Hosts.
To end the day in the best way, we walked through some of Funchal’s most emblematic streets and ended at Barreirinha Bar Café for a Networking & Poncha Experience, where entrepreneurs got to learn how the regional drink is made.
What an amazing way to launch this 5th edition!
Check out all of the photos HERE!