Coimbra, a city with amazing Startups
I’ve been thinking about writing this text for a while… Sometimes I started writing it but I wasn’t happy with the result if you know what I mean, but today after hearing the history of two of Coimbra’s companies I though “this is perfect”. I got inspired by their testimony.
Once a month in Instituto Pedro Nunes- IPN(a business incubator) in Coimbra (located in Portugal central region) we host an event where we invite two companies to present their projects. Today I had the pleasure to hear the testimony of two very different companies, iClio and OpenLimits.
iClio is a 6 year old amazing company that works on “the production of content for the new digital media”. They are hitting the market with their new amazing App JiTT! Their work is awesome, they have already 12 cities available for download including London, Berlin, San Francisco, New York and several other. Last week they were selected as the official congress city guide of the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Milan! Can you imagine this!? A Coimbra Startup!! How awesome is this?!?! This is just amazing!
The other one presenting is a 25 year old company, OpenLimits! They have an amazing history, and a brilliant future I believe. They develop software management solutions for several countries around the world and for some big companies such as Vodafone. Today I heard one of its founders talking about the company and it is brilliant to hear that a 25 year old company has a tremendous focus on networking and collaborating with young startups! But the thing that amaze me the most was the history about how the founders build the company. Imagine Portugal 25 years ago, without financing mechanisms or business incubation centers or any other relevant support to startups. Do you know how these entrepreneurs got the money to finance their company? They use their wedding gifts to build the company! This is amazing, it shows great dedication to fulfill their dream… I admire these guys! It is just amazing!!!
This is the kind of examples of startup spirit and perseverance that we need here in Portugal! It is amazing to hear these stories… A real inspiration to all of us trying to get in touch with the startup scene here in Portugal.
