Fábrica de Startups
Fábrica de Startups is a Portuguese startup accelerator and incubator founded in 2011, operating from Oeiras, that delivers sector-specific acceleration and incubation programs for early-stage entrepreneurs, tourism startups, and blue bioeconomy ventures using its proprietary FabStart methodology, in partnership with Turismo de Portugal, major Portuguese foundations, and the European Commission.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersOeiras, Portugal
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Fábrica de Startups does
Fábrica de Startups is a Portuguese business accelerator founded in 2011 and headquartered in Oeiras, Portugal, with a team of 1-10 employees that has delivered more than 70 programs reaching 4,500+ entrepreneurs and 750+ startups. Its core offering is a suite of acceleration, ideation, incubation, and open-innovation programs built around the proprietary FabStart Acceleration Methodology, which the company states has doubled the probability of new-business success over a decade of application. Flagship programs include Tourism Explorers, Discoveries, and Tourism adVenture (delivered with Turismo de Portugal), Blue Bio Value (with Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and Fundação Oceano Azul), the online Starting program, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence for corporates, and Protechting in healthtech/insurtech; incubation is offered in physical, cowork, and virtual tiers with fiscal domicile, office space, and Startup Visa support.
The underlying technology stack is modest: a web-based platform running Squarespace for the public site, Process Street for internal process documentation (over 100 documented processes), and Zoom for live program delivery. The company's productized differentiator is therefore the methodology and partner network rather than proprietary software; no APIs, SDKs, or developer platform are disclosed. Go-to-market is event- and community-led, combining national in-person programs across 12+ Portuguese cities, fully remote cohorts, and demand generation through partnerships with Tourism de Portugal, Gulbenkian, Oceano Azul, the European Commission (Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs), and corporate hotel and tourism groups.
The revenue model mixes three streams: acceleration/incubation program fees paid by participating startups (effectively subscription/recurring while enrolled), fiscal and workspace fees for incubated startups, and co-funding or grants from public and philanthropic partners (Turismo de Portugal, European Commission, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Fundação Oceano Azul). Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and the company is privately held with no disclosed external funding rounds or institutional investors.
Fábrica de Startups firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Fábrica de Startups
- Website
- https://fabricadestartups.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Fábrica de Startups is a Portuguese startup accelerator and incubator founded in 2011, operating from Oeiras, that delivers sector-specific acceleration and incubation programs for early-stage entrepreneurs, tourism startups, and blue bioeconomy ventures using its proprietary FabStart methodology, in partnership with Turismo de Portugal, major Portuguese foundations, and the European Commission.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Fábrica de Startups industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Startup Accelerator and Incubator Services
- NAICS
- Professional and Management Development Training (611430)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC), Entrepreneurship, Startup Incubation & Pitch Programs (EDAMAKAK), Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB)
Keywords
Where Fábrica de Startups is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oeiras
- HQ country
- Portugal
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Fábrica de Startups business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Acceleration Program Fees: Revenue generated from participants enrolling in acceleration programs such as Tourism Explorers, Discoveries, Blue Bio Value, Starting, and Protechting.
- Incubation Services: Three incubation models: Physical Incubator (dedicated office space + fiscal domicile), Cowork (fiscal domicile + open-space desk), and Virtual Incubator (fiscal domicile + mail forwarding). Revenue generated through incubation service fees.
- Partnership and Grant Funding: Co-funding and grants from public partners including Turismo de Portugal, European Commission (Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs), Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, and Fundação Oceano Azul support program delivery.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Fábrica de Startups product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Fábrica de Startups is a Portuguese business accelerator and incubator that designs and delivers startup acceleration programs using its proprietary FabStart methodology. It helps entrepreneurs identify business ideas, form teams, design business models, discover customers, and launch companies, with a particular focus on sector-specific programs in tourism (Tourism Explorers, Discoveries, Tourism adVenture) and blue bioeconomy (Blue Bio Value), alongside general ideation (FastIdea), acceleration (FastStart, Starting), incubation (physical, cowork, virtual), and the EU Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs exchange.
Product overview
Fábrica de Startups operates as a comprehensive startup acceleration and incubation organization offering multiple programs and services. The core offering consists of acceleration programs (FastIdea, FastStart, Starting, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence) that help entrepreneurs develop business ideas and launch startups using a proprietary methodology. The company specializes in sector-specific acceleration programs including Tourism Explorers (tourism), Discoveries (tourism and travel), Blue Bio Value (blue economy), and Tourism adVenture (open innovation). Incubation services include physical, cowork, and virtual options providing workspace, fiscal address, and business support. The organization also facilitates international exchange through the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program. Together, these programs have engaged over 4,500 entrepreneurs across more than 70 programs and 750 startups.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- FastIdea An ideation program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs identify and develop business ideas using the FabStart methodology. Designed for individuals and teams at the earliest pre-formation stage.
- FastStart A startup acceleration program that helps new entrepreneurs launch their businesses by applying the FabStart methodology to validate ideas, form teams, and reach customers.
- Starting A fully remote, interactive 2-month program featuring 10 live sessions with industry leaders, designed to help entrepreneurs validate and launch a business idea from anywhere in the world.
- Entrepreneurs-in-Residence A program that allows entrepreneurs to develop strategic projects inside large companies with mentorship support, while simultaneously working on the creation of their own startups. Designed for large Portuguese corporations seeking internal innovation.
- Incubation Services (Physical, Cowork, Virtual) Incubation offering with three tiers: Physical Incubator (dedicated office + fiscal domicile), Cowork (fiscal domicile + open-space desk), and Virtual Incubator (fiscal domicile + mail forwarding). Provides office space, fiscal address, meeting rooms, and basic business support for startups.
- Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs A European Commission-funded cross-border exchange program, delivered by Fábrica de Startups as the Portuguese contact point, that helps new entrepreneurs acquire skills to start and manage a small business by spending time with an experienced host entrepreneur in another EU country.
- Tourism Explorers The largest national program for creating and accelerating startups in the Portuguese tourism sector. Operates across multiple Portuguese cities in ideation and acceleration phases, co-organized with Turismo de Portugal.
- Discoveries An intensive acceleration program for tourism and travel startups, organized by Fábrica de Startups in partnership with Turismo de Portugal, featuring bootcamps, mentorship, and investor access.
- Blue Bio Value An international acceleration program for blue economy projects focused on biotechnology, marine bio-resources, and sustainability. Co-organized with Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and Fundação Oceano Azul and supported by partners including Bluebio Alliance and Faber Ventures.
- Tourism adVenture An open innovation program promoting tourism sector innovation that matches selected startups with corporate partners for pilot projects and product development, with a Demo Day culminating the engagement.
- Tourism Co-Lab A national ideation contest and pre-acceleration program in the tourism sector, developed in partnership with Gesentrepreneur and Territórios Criativos with the support of Turismo de Portugal.
- Protechting An open innovation program calling for visionary startups in healthtech, insurtech, and tech enablers.
- Startup Visa Support Support for startup creation through the Startup Visa program, providing access to partners, physical space, basic services, shared areas, consulting hours, mentor network access, partnership network, and business development tools.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 10 years, the company's methodology has doubled the probability of success of new businesses.
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Fábrica de Startups
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Fábrica de Startups technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Fábrica de Startups partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.
- NEST — Centro de Inovação do TurismomajorPartnered with NEST — Tourism Innovation Center Portugal to conduct a Tourism Think Tank study between February and April 2021, gathering insights from hospitality experts across gastronomy, hotels, tourist activities, and points of interest.
- Turismo de PortugalcorePrimary strategic partner for multiple flagship programs including Tourism Explorers, Discoveries, and Tourism adVenture. Provides funding, corporate network access, and co-branding for national startup acceleration initiatives in tourism.
- Fundação Calouste GulbenkiancoreCo-organizer of the Blue Bio Value acceleration program, focused on marine biotechnology and blue bioeconomy startups. Provides funding and institutional backing.
- Fundação Oceano AzulcoreCo-organizer of the Blue Bio Value acceleration program alongside Gulbenkian, with a focus on sustainable ocean economy and blue bioeconomy innovation.
- Bluebio AlliancemajorStrategic partner in the Blue Bio Value acceleration program, contributing expertise in the blue biotechnology ecosystem.
- Faber VenturesmajorInvestment partner in the Blue Bio Value program, providing venture capital expertise and investor network access to acceleration participants.
- ACEPI — Assoc. Portuguesa do Comércio ElectrónicominorPartner in the Comércio Digital initiative, supporting digital transformation of SMEs across Portugal through consultant training programs.
- European Commission — Erasmus for Young EntrepreneurscoreFábrica de Startups is an official Portuguese contact point for the EU Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program, enabling cross-border exchange between new entrepreneurs and experienced host entrepreneurs across multiple European countries.
- Pestana Hotel GroupmajorCorporate partner in Tourism adVenture 2021, engaging with startups to develop innovation pilots addressing hotel operations and guest experience challenges.
- Top AtlânticominorTourism company participating in Tourism adVenture's open innovation matchmaking, engaging startups for potential pilot projects.
- Global BlueminorCorporate partner in Tourism adVenture 2021, collaborating with startups to explore innovation in tax-free shopping and tourist services.
- Galo Resort HotelsminorHotel group partner in Tourism adVenture Demo Day 2021, evaluating startups for potential innovation pilots.
- The Yeatman HotelminorLuxury hotel partner in Tourism adVenture 2021, seeking innovative solutions from startups in the hospitality sector.
- MartinhalminorBoutique hotel chain participating in Tourism adVenture's innovation matchmaking process.
- Consortium Columbus 10 — Erasmus for Young EntrepreneurscoreInternational consortium of organizations managing the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program across 10 countries: Portugal, Turkey, France, Slovenia, Lithuania, Greece, Denmark, Spain, Hungary, and Italy.
- Babson Global Advisory BoardminorHosted a pitching competition at Fábrica de Startups Oeiras, with prizes of $5,000 (1st), $3,000 (2nd), and $2,000 (3rd) for participating startups.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Fábrica de Startups competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Founder Institute: Global pre-seed accelerator running structured programs for aspiring founders; comparable as a methodology-driven, founder-training operator with a network of local chapters including Portugal.
- Techstars: Global accelerator network running equity-backed cohort programs; comparable as a large-scale, methodology-driven accelerator operator, though with a much broader international footprint and equity-aligned revenue model.
- MassChallenge: Global zero-equity accelerator running industry-vertical programs (including health, fintech, and sustainability); comparable as a large-scale, non-dilutive, methodology-driven accelerator serving early-stage founders.
- EIT Health / EIT Food (EIT Knowledge Communities): EU-backed innovation communities running acceleration and venture-building programs in health, food, and other verticals; comparable in their role as EU-funded accelerator operators that co-fund and run cohort programs in partnership with regional organizations like Fábrica de Startups.
Direct peers
- UPTEC: University of Porto's science and technology park combining incubation, acceleration, and corporate partnering for tech and science-based startups; comparable as a Portuguese operator offering physical incubation plus acceleration and open-innovation programming.
- Beta-i: Lisbon-headquartered startup accelerator and innovation hub running programs such as Web Summit-related initiatives and corporate open-innovation programs; directly comparable as a Portuguese operator of structured startup acceleration and corporate venture services.
- Startup Lisboa: Lisbon-based municipal startup incubator offering office space, fiscal address, and acceleration support to early-stage startups; directly comparable in incubation services and the early-stage Portuguese founder target segment.
Regional players
- NEST — Centro de Inovação do Turismo: Portugal's Tourism Innovation Center, a strategic partner of Fábrica de Startups; comparable as a Portuguese tourism-sector innovation program operator and overlapping stakeholder in Tourism Think Tank studies.
Others
- Lisbon Investment Summit (by Câmara de Comércio Americana): Portugal-focused investment and corporate-matching events; comparable as part of the Portuguese founder-investor-corporate ecosystem that channels deal flow and corporate partnerships to accelerators like Fábrica de Startups.
Emerging players
- Seedstars: Switzerland-based accelerator focused on emerging markets with regional cohort programs and competitions; comparable in its emerging-market founder focus and cohort-based acceleration model.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Fábrica de Startups social profiles
Digital presenceFábrica de Startups financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Fábrica de Startups leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Fábrica de Startups funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Fábrica de Startups M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Fábrica de Startups
What does Fábrica de Startups do?
Fábrica de Startups is a Portuguese business accelerator and incubator that designs and delivers startup acceleration programs using its proprietary FabStart methodology. It helps entrepreneurs identify business ideas, form teams, design business models, discover customers, and launch companies, with a particular focus on sector-specific programs in tourism (Tourism Explorers, Discoveries, Tourism adVenture) and blue bioeconomy (Blue Bio Value), alongside general ideation (FastIdea), acceleration (FastStart, Starting), incubation (physical, cowork, virtual), and the EU Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs exchange.
Is Fábrica de Startups a public or private company?
Fábrica de Startups is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Fábrica de Startups founded?
Fábrica de Startups was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Fábrica de Startups based?
Fábrica de Startups is headquartered in Oeiras, Portugal, in the Europe region.
How does Fábrica de Startups make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Acceleration Program Fees are the primary driver. The others are incubation Services and partnership and Grant Funding.
Who are Fábrica de Startups's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Founder Institute, Techstars, MassChallenge and EIT Health / EIT Food (EIT Knowledge Communities). Direct peers are UPTEC, Beta-i and Startup Lisboa. NEST — Centro de Inovação do Turismo is listed as a regional player. Lisbon Investment Summit (by Câmara de Comércio Americana) is listed as an others. Seedstars is listed as an emerging player.
Does Fábrica de Startups have an API?
No public API is recorded for Fábrica de Startups.
What industry is Fábrica de Startups in?
Fábrica de Startups's product category is Startup Accelerator and Incubator Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAM, Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated), with a secondary code of EDAMAHAC, Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators. Its NAICS code is 611430 and its SIC code is 8200.