Futurália

What Futurália does

Futurália is Portugal's largest education and training trade fair, organized annually by LISBOA-FCE (Lisboa - Feiras Congressos e Eventos) under the Fundação AIP umbrella at the FIL (Feira Internacional de Lisboa) venue in Parque das Nações, Lisbon. The event serves as a two-sided marketplace connecting approximately 3,500+ exhibitors — including universities, polytechnics, professional schools, employers, training providers, and international institutions — with secondary and higher education students, teachers, parents, and job seekers. The 2026 edition ran March 11-14 with strong stakeholder satisfaction metrics (97% student recommendation rate, 99% teacher importance rating, 98% visitor employment-relevance rating).

The business is structured as an annual in-person event with parallel sub-sections: a Higher Education and Professional Training pavilion, a Study Abroad advisory zone, a Youth activities area, a TECH_EDU side event focused on education technology (aligned with the European Commission Digital Education Plan 2021-2027), and an Employment and Employability section featuring MBAs, postgraduate programs, and corporate recruiters. Ancillary services include organized school study visits, transport discounts via partnerships with CP (rail) and FlixBus (bus), and a digital exhibitor catalog.

Revenue is generated primarily through exhibition space rental priced per square meter (€114/m² for standard positions up to €212/m² for premium corner positions), corporate sponsorships targeting youth and education audiences, and visitor entry tickets. Marketing is multi-channel across the event website, social media (Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest), and a network of educational media partners. The underlying technology stack is minimal — no proprietary AI, no APIs, and no software platform; the operation is fundamentally a venue-based event business rather than a technology product.

Name

Futurália

Legal name

LISBOA-FEIRAS CONGRESSOS E EVENTOS

Website

https://futuralia.fil.pt

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Futurália is Portugal's largest annual education and training trade fair, held at FIL in Lisbon, connecting 3,500+ universities, employers, and training providers with students, teachers, parents, and job seekers across Higher Education, Study Abroad, Employment, and TECH_EDU sections.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Trade Fair

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

General Consumer Expos & Trade Shows (MPAGAFAA)

Keywords

• Education trade fair
• Career fair events
• Exhibitor booth rental
• Higher education expo
• Employment recruitment fair

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisbon

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Exhibitor Space Rental: Revenue generated from renting exhibition space to educational institutions, companies, and organizations. Space is priced per square meter with premiums for corner/end positions (1-4 fronts). Additional services include electricity, internet, and administrative fees.
2. Sponsorship: Corporate sponsorship from companies seeking visibility among young audiences and education professionals. Sponsors receive brand activation opportunities and direct engagement with the target demographic.
3. Visitor Tickets: Individual entry tickets for visitors to attend the fair. Group visits and study trips are coordinated through partner travel agencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Futurália operates Portugal's largest education, training, and employment trade fair, held annually at FIL in Lisbon. The event rents exhibition space to universities, polytechnics, professional schools, and employers who showcase programs and career opportunities to students, educators, and families. Revenue is generated through per-square-meter booth rentals, corporate sponsorships, and visitor tickets.

Product overview

Futurália operates as an exhibition and event platform, not a technology product. It consists of the main Futurália education fair (Portugal's largest education and training exhibition), complemented by specialized side events and sections including TECH_EDU (education technology hub), the Employment and Employability section, MBA/Postgraduate programs section, Study Abroad advisory services, and a Youth activities area. The platform also provides ancillary services such as organized school visits, transportation partnerships with CP (rail) and FlixBus (bus), and online registration systems for exhibitors and visitors. The overall offering is structured as a physical trade show/exhibition event with digital support services, not a unified software platform with modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TECH_EDU: Side event focused on digital technologies for education, pedagogical innovation, and educational technology demonstration and debate

Products and services

• Futurália (Main Education & Training Fair) Portugal's largest education and training fair where universities, polytechnics, professional schools, and educational institutions rent booth space to showcase programs to prospective students, families, and educators over a four-day period.
• TECH_EDU (Side Event)

Quantifiable outcome

• 97% of students recommend visiting to family and friends
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fundação AIPcoreOthers · 1 January 2026Foundation organizing the event under Lisboa – Feiras Congressos e Eventos (Lisboa-FCE) brand. Provides exhibition infrastructure and operational services.
• CP (Comboios de Portugal)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial railway partner offering 30% discount on Intercidades services and €3 round-trip fares on Lisbon Urban trains for event visitors. Provides special group rates for school trips.
• FlixBuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMobility partner offering 20% discount on round-trip bus travel to Lisbon for fair visitors. Coordinates with Travelplanet.pt for group travel and school visits.
• Travelplanet.ptminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTravel agency partner coordinating group transportation and study visits to Futurália, working with FlixBus for logistics.
• Media Partners (Forum Estudante, Mais Magazine, The Portugal News, Mais Superior, Mais Educativa, Ensino Magazine, Manja Magazine)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerEducational and lifestyle media outlets providing coverage and promotion of the event to their audiences.
• Rangel (Official Logistics Operator)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial logistics partner for the fair, handling freight and exhibition material transportation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Reed Exhibitions: One of the world's largest exhibition organizers, operating hundreds of trade and consumer events globally including in education and careers. Comparable business model of monetizing exhibitor booth rentals and sponsorships across multiple verticals, though at vastly larger scale and portfolio breadth than Futurália.
• Bett Show: Major global education-technology event held annually in London, addressing digital tools, pedagogy, and school technology buyers. Overlaps with Futurália's TECH_EDU side event and the broader education-decision-maker audience, but at a much larger, edtech-focused scale.
• QS World Grad School Tour: QS Quacquarelli Symonds' international graduate-school recruitment tour visiting multiple countries. Comparable as an institutional-exhibitor model for higher-education decision-makers, but operates as a touring roadshow rather than a single anchor event.
• IFEMA - Feria de Madrid: Major Spanish exhibition venue and organizer operating large-scale trade fairs across multiple sectors including education and employment. Comparable operator of venue-based trade-fair events with similar exhibitor-paid model, though across a much broader portfolio than Futurália.

Regional players

• Salon de l'Orientation et de l'Étudiant (Salon Studyrama): French regional education and student-orientation fair series organized by Studyrama across multiple French cities. Directly comparable education-fair format with booth-rental monetization, though limited to the French market rather than the Iberian/Portuguese market Futurália serves.

Direct peers

• StudyWorld: UK-based international education fair for student recruitment, bringing together international institutions with prospective students. Operates the same B2B/B2C exhibitor-paid trade-show format targeting education-decision-makers, with comparable revenue model around booth rental and sponsorships.
• UNITOUR: International higher-education fair series touring Iberia and Latin America, bringing universities directly to prospective students in their home cities. Comparable model of monetizing institutional exhibitor booths for face-to-face student recruitment, with direct overlap in Portugal and Spain.
• SIEP - Salão Internacional do Ensino e Profissões: Portuguese education and professions fair held annually in Porto at Exponor, targeting prospective higher-education and vocational-training students. Directly comparable as a domestic education exhibition with a similar exhibitor/visitor model, though serving the northern Portuguese market rather than Lisbon.
• Qualifica - Feira de Educação, Formação, Juventude e Emprego: Portuguese education, training, youth, and employment fair organized by Exponor in Porto. Overlaps significantly with Futurália in combining education, training, and employment under one event, targeting a similar student/educator/employer audience with a comparable exhibitor-rental model.
• Salon de l'Étudiant: France's largest student-oriented education fair touring multiple cities, connecting prospective students with universities, business schools, and professional training providers. Operates the same exhibitor-rent / visitor-discovery model aimed at secondary-and-higher-education decision-makers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/futuralia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Futurália