Lisbon is the most innovative city in Europe
The Unicorn Factory project earned Lisbon the prestigious recognition of the European Commission, which awards 1 million euros every year to a major European city (iCapital). Lisbon stood out for its ability to give the most disruptive technology companies all the conditions to grow their business and have a transformational impact on city life.
Since its creation, the Unicorn Factory has attracted more than 60 new technology centers to Lisbon, including 12 "unicorn" companies, which have announced 14,000 highly qualified jobs. The project has launched 13 innovation programs to incubate and accelerate more than 370 companies, and has achieved a new record for investment in Lisbon. It also created greater proximity with schools and universities, involving 1,300 students in educational activities on entrepreneurship and technology.
Promoted by the European Innovation Council as part of Horizon Europe, the award recognizes the role of cities in defining the local innovation ecosystem and promoting ground-breaking innovations.
The award of the European Capital of Innovation 2023 is recognition of the work of the CML teams to position Lisbon as a global, innovative, intelligent and sustainable capital.
Lisboa Unicorn Capital is "The Home of the Believers", where disruptive ideas can be turned into projects.
10th anniversary of the European Capital of Innovation Prize (iCapital)
The iCapital Prize is awarded annually by the European Innovation Council and celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024. It recognizes European cities that promote innovation, share their good practices in governance and experimentation and go beyond technological limits for the benefit of their citizens.
The Prize receives strong media coverage, which gives it visibility, positioning and renewed public interest.
Worth one million euros, the Prize will be invested in social innovation, mobilizing the creativity and dynamism of companies to find new solutions to challenges in areas such as education, access to health or immigrant integration, among other major challenges.
The winners and runners-up are invited to join the iCapital alumni network, a prestigious club for sharing knowledge and teamwork.
Previous winners are Barcelona (2014), Amsterdam (2016), Paris (2017), Athens (2018), Nantes (2019), Leuven (2020), Dortmund (2021), Aix-Marseille Provence Metropole (2022) and Lisbon (2023) as European Innovation Capitals.
In the category of rising innovative city, the previous winners are Vantaa (2021), Haarlem (2022) and Linkoping (2023).
Lisbon an Attractive Ecosystem
Unicorn Factory Lisbon
Unicorn Factory Lisboa, launched in 2022, is the main brand that aggregates and expands LUC's operations along the entire value chain to maximize economic impact. It includes programs such as Scaling Up and Soft Landing, as well as vertical hubs focused on areas such as Gaming and Web3. Directly linked to Unicorn Factory Lisboa is Startup Lisboa, which has been working as an incubator, supporting the creation of companies and entrepreneurs in their first years of activity.
Lisboa Innovation For All" award
"Innovation plays a key role in improving quality of life and solving the social challenges that affect cities. This is the positive impact we want to see grow in the city, through three dimensions of great relevance to the municipality: education, health and migration. Increasingly, Lisbon is an important center where public bodies, companies, universities, research centers, technological institutes and citizens collaborate in the development, testing and experimentation of new products and services. All together, we are an innovative and interactive community capable of transforming the city"
Carlos Moedas, Mayor of Lisbon
Lisbon City Council and Unicorn Factory Lisboa have launched the "Lisboa Innovation For All" Social Innovation Award, which aims to find innovative solutions in the areas of access to health, education and the integration of migrants. Announced at Lisbon Unicorn Week, applications opened in June and are open to startups, scaleups, entrepreneurs and organizations that want to present ideas or projects with the potential to create an impact on the city.
Recognized as the European Capital of Innovation in 2023, Lisbon has received an award worth 1 million euros for the city, which will fund the Social Innovation Award - Lisboa Innovation for All - 2024 Social Impact Challenge, organized by Unicorn Factory Lisboa.
Applications for the Social Innovation Award - Lisboa Innovation for All opened on June 1, beginning with a pre-selection phase conducted by CML, Unicorn Factory Lisboa and social innovation experts who select the projects with the greatest potential in each category.
In a second phase, a jury made up of CML, Unicorn Factory Lisboa and social innovation experts, also counting on the opinion of Lisbon's citizens, to select three finalists for each category, who move on to a test or proof of concept phase.
During the proof of concept, the finalists have six months to study the problem in depth, prepare a pilot and define success factors, so that they can implement the pilot project adjusted to the reality of an area of Lisbon and test the solution so that it can later be implemented on a larger scale in the city.
Based on the results of the pilot project, one winner will be selected per category, who will receive a cash prize of 120,000 euros, as well as ongoing support from the city and Unicorn Factory Lisboa to implement the solution, and access to an innovation community committed to global challenges.
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