Lisbon Startups to Watch in 2027: Verified Companies in AI, Software, Fintech, Travel and Clean Energy
Lisbon has become one of the most talked-about startup cities in Europe: it hosts Web Summit, runs a city-backed startup programme, Unicorn Factory Lisboa, and Portugal offers special visas for founders and for the tech staff they hire. But lists of "top Lisbon startups" age quickly. The 2026 version of this article named ten companies. When we checked them in November 2026, one had a parked website, one could not be found at all, two turned out to be based in Coimbra or to give no Lisbon address, and one showed no sign of recent activity. For this 2027 edition we kept only companies whose own website confirms that they still operate and are based in Lisbon or right next to it. What happened to the old names is listed near the end.
Quick answer: the Lisbon startups to watch in 2027 are Aptoide (alternative Android app store), Unbabel (AI translation), Sensei (checkout-free stores), Codacy (code quality and security), Indie Campers (campervan road trips), Rauva (business account and accounting for Portuguese companies), Bling Energy (home solar on subscription), Landing.jobs (tech hiring and relocation) and AlmaScience (electronics made from paper). For support, start with Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Startup Portugal and the Portuguese Startup Visa.
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Why the Lisbon Startup Scene Matters for Founders in 2027
The Lisbon startup scene mixes three kinds of companies. There are home-grown software companies that sell to the whole world from day one, such as Aptoide, Unbabel and Codacy. There are companies that solve a local problem first, such as Rauva with Portuguese tax and invoicing rules or Bling Energy with home solar. And there are deep-tech teams that grew out of Portuguese universities, such as AlmaScience. If you are thinking about starting a startup in Portugal, Lisbon gives you an international talent pool, a city programme that supports founders from the first idea to scale-up, and visa routes for founders and hires from outside the EU.
Compare Lisbon with other European cities in our lists for Berlin, Zurich, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Glasgow, Malmo and Bergen. For the country view, see our guide to the best countries for startups in Europe.
Lisbon Startups to Watch in 2027 Compared
Sources: each company's official website (about, contact or legal pages), checked 3 November 2026.
The Lisbon Startups to Watch in 2027
1. Aptoide: the alternative Android app store
Aptoide runs an independent app store and distribution platform for Android, plus a payments wallet for in-app purchases. Its about page says it has more than 430 million users and 1 million apps, calls itself the third-largest Android store in the world, and lists offices in Portugal and China. Its timeline starts with a summer project in 2009; the company was incorporated in 2011 and raised its seed round from Portugal Ventures in 2013. Its legal page gives its principal place of business in Lisbon, with Paulo Trezentos as CEO. It was on the old list and still operates.
Lesson for founders: Aptoide grew by offering an alternative to a dominant platform. When a market is controlled by one or two players, developers and phone makers often welcome a credible second option.
Best for: founders in mobile, gaming and app distribution.
2. Unbabel: AI translation with humans in the loop
Unbabel sells what it calls a Language Operations platform: machine translation that companies use for multilingual customer service and content, with human editors brought in when quality needs it. Its about page says Unbabel has worked on this since 2013, that it was founded in Lisbon, and that it is now part of the TransPerfect group of language services companies. It was on the old list; it still operates, but it is no longer an independent startup.
Lesson for founders: Unbabel paired AI with a human safety net long before generative AI was everywhere. Selling "AI plus review" can win buyers who do not yet trust AI alone.
Best for: founders in AI, language technology and customer service software.
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3. Sensei: stores without checkout queues
Sensei builds technology for autonomous stores: cameras and software that see what shoppers take, so they can walk out without scanning or queueing, while the retailer gets real-time shelf inventory data. Its site lists formats from full stores to pods and cabinets, for supermarkets, workplaces, mobility, hospitality and other settings, and says its system does not collect biometric data. Its company page says the team started in 2017. The site lists its headquarters in Lisbon and offices in Castelo Branco, Sao Paulo and Milan, and among its awards a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 listing in 2023 and an entrepreneurs of the year prize from Startup Lisboa in 2021. It was on the old list and still operates.
Lesson for founders: Sensei offers several store formats instead of one big installation. Smaller entry products make it easier for a cautious retailer to say yes to a first pilot.
Best for: founders in retail tech, computer vision and AI hardware.
4. Codacy: code quality for AI-assisted engineering
Codacy checks code for quality and security problems, such as insecure dependencies, leaked secrets and injection risks, and lets teams enforce coding standards, now including rules for code written with AI assistants. Its about page says it was founded in 2012 by developers Jaime Jorge and Joao Caxaria, its homepage says it is trusted by more than 15,000 organisations and 200,000 developers, and its footer gives Lisbon, Portugal, as its location. Its homepage offers a 14-day free trial.
Lesson for founders: Codacy repositioned an established product around the newest problem its buyers have, AI-written code. Re-framing what you already do for a new trend can be cheaper than building a new product.
Best for: founders in developer tools, DevSecOps and B2B SaaS.
5. Indie Campers: road trips by campervan
Indie Campers rents campervans, motorhomes and RVs, with one-way trips and unlimited mileage on its own fleet, and also sells campervans and lets owners rent out their vehicles. Its about page says it was founded in 2013 in Lisbon by two friends and now operates in more than 100 locations across Europe, North America and Oceania.
Lesson for founders: Indie Campers grew from one Lisbon team into more than 100 locations on three continents. Physical businesses can scale internationally when each new location follows the same playbook.
Best for: founders in travel, mobility and rental marketplaces.
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6. Rauva: banking and accounting for small businesses in Portugal
Rauva gives entrepreneurs and small companies in Portugal one platform for a business account, international payments and payment links, invoicing that is certified by the Portuguese tax authority (Autoridade Tributaria), online accounting with human accountants, and company creation. Its privacy policy names Rauva Technology, with an address in Alvalade, Lisbon. It does not publish a founding year or funding figures on its site. It was on the old list and still operates.
Lesson for founders: Rauva turned Portugal's strict invoicing rules into a selling point. Local regulation that frustrates small businesses can be the reason they pay for your product.
Best for: founders in fintech, SME software and accounting tools.
7. Bling Energy: solar panels on subscription
Bling Energy installs solar panels on Portuguese homes and says its mission is to make solar energy accessible to everyone. Customers can buy the installation outright or take a subscription that starts saving from the day of installation with no upfront investment, and the company says solar can cut an electricity bill by up to 50%. Its contact page gives an address on Avenida da Republica in Lisbon. According to EU-Startups, it raised 15 million euros from BlueCrow Capital in August 2025; the company does not publish the figure on its own site. We covered the round in our Bling Energy startup news.
Lesson for founders: Bling Energy removed the biggest objection to home solar, the upfront cost, by changing the payment model rather than the product.
Best for: founders in climate tech, energy and subscription models.
8. Landing.jobs: tech hiring and relocation
Landing.jobs is a tech job platform that matches software professionals with companies and adds recruitment, employer of record, outsourcing and visa and relocation services for employers. Its homepage says it has helped more than 4,500 tech professionals, lists its office on Avenida Almirante Reis in Lisbon and describes it as a Triveris Group company. It also publishes a yearly Tech Talent Trends report.
Lesson for founders: Landing.jobs sells recruitment, relocation and employer-of-record services next to its job board. A simple first product can open the door to higher-value services for the same customers.
Best for: founders in HR tech, recruitment and the future of work.
9. AlmaScience: electronics made from paper
AlmaScience is a collaborative laboratory (CoLAB) and technology incubator that develops sustainable functional materials and green electronics, turning cellulose and paper into sensors, smart packaging and other devices with low-waste production. Its about page says it was founded in 2019 as a privately held applied research organisation. Its headquarters are at Madan Parque in Caparica, across the Tagus river from Lisbon, and it has a second office in Aveiro. It was on the old list and still operates.
Lesson for founders: AlmaScience works with both startups and global brands on contract research. For deep tech, paid R&D projects can fund the work while your own products mature.
Best for: founders in deep tech, sustainable materials and hardware.
Where Lisbon Startups Get Support
- Unicorn Factory Lisboa: a flagship initiative from Lisbon to position the city as a leading innovation centre in Europe. It runs early-stage and growth-stage programmes, thematic programmes, sector hubs and the Beato Innovation District, and its homepage reports more than 1,100 supported startups and more than 1 billion euros raised by them.
- Startup Portugal: the organisation behind Portugal's national startup programmes, such as Road 2 Web Summit, Tech Foundry Portugal, vouchers for startups and a One Stop Shop for founders and investors.
- Startup Visa: a residence visa, managed by IAPMEI, for entrepreneurs from outside the EU who want to create or move an innovative, technology-based company to Portugal.
- Tech Visa: a certification programme, also managed by IAPMEI, that lets Portuguese companies and startups hire highly qualified staff from outside the Schengen area in a simplified way.
- Web Summit: the large tech conference held in Lisbon. Its 2026 edition was set for 9 to 12 November 2026, with a startup programme and pitch competition; websummit.com did not yet show 2027 dates when we checked. For more events, see our guides to startup events in Lisbon and startup events in Portugal.
Lisbon Companies From the Old List That Changed or Could Not Be Verified
The 2026 version of this article listed ten names. Here is what we found when we checked each one in November 2026:
- Kept: Aptoide, Unbabel, AlmaScience, Sensei and Rauva still operate in or next to Lisbon. Unbabel is now part of the TransPerfect group.
- MyCareforce: its website now redirects to a parked page, so we could not confirm that the healthcare staffing marketplace still operates.
- Bairro: its site is still online and offers fast grocery delivery in parts of Lisbon and Almada, not the eco-friendly last-mile logistics the old article described, and its copyright line still says 2024. We could not confirm that it still trades, so we left it out.
- Glooma: glooma.com shows an empty website template, and we found no other official site for the breast-health device the old article named, so we left it out.
- Coverflex: the flexible benefits platform still operates and says more than 13,000 companies in four markets use it, but its website does not name Lisbon as its base, so it is not on this Lisbon list.
- Neuraspace: the space traffic management company still operates, but its privacy policy gives its registered address at the IPN incubator in Coimbra, not Lisbon.
- Startup Lisboa: the incubator's website showed an expired-website page when we checked, so we list Unicorn Factory Lisboa and Startup Portugal for support instead.
We also removed the old article's unsourced claims, its links to third-party startup rankings and its general marketing sections.
Which Lisbon Startup Should You Learn From?
- You build software for a global market: study Aptoide for challenging a dominant platform and Codacy for re-framing a mature product around AI.
- You build with AI: study Unbabel for keeping humans in the loop and Sensei for selling computer vision to traditional retailers.
- You build fintech for small businesses: study Rauva for turning local tax rules into a reason to buy.
- You build in climate or energy: study Bling Energy for removing the upfront cost, and AlmaScience for funding deep tech with contract research.
- You build a consumer or travel brand: study Indie Campers for growing location by location.
- You build HR or hiring tools: study Landing.jobs for selling services next to a job board.
- You are moving to Portugal to start: look at the Startup Visa and Unicorn Factory Lisboa first.
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How Founders Use the Lisbon Startup Scene
Notice the pattern: most of these Portuguese startups sold abroad early, because the home market is small, and several built on a local strength such as Portugal's universities, its tourism or its specific tax rules. If you plan to raise money in Europe, start with our lists of early-stage VCs in Europe and angel investors for early-stage startups in Europe. For non-dilutive money and programmes, see grants for female entrepreneurs in Europe, startup competitions in Europe, startup incubators in Europe and accelerators for female entrepreneurs in Europe. To meet investors in person, our guide to business conferences in Europe lists more events.
Before you copy any of these business models, validate your startup idea with real customers. Investors and partners you meet in Lisbon will look you up online, so make your startup easy to find: list it in the F/MS marketing directories, publish your startup press release, and write about your product with the F/MS AI SEO Tool so customers, investors and AI assistants can find you.
FAQ About Lisbon Startups to Watch in 2027
Which Lisbon startups should I watch in 2027?
Our verified list: Aptoide, Unbabel, Sensei, Codacy, Indie Campers, Rauva, Bling Energy, Landing.jobs and AlmaScience. Each still operates and gives a Lisbon or Lisbon-area base on its own website, checked in November 2026.
What is the Lisbon startup scene like?
It mixes global software companies such as Aptoide, Unbabel and Codacy, local problem-solvers such as Rauva and Bling Energy, and university deep tech such as AlmaScience, with support from Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Startup Portugal and Web Summit, which is held in the city.
Which Lisbon startups work with AI?
Unbabel combines AI translation with human review, Sensei uses computer vision for checkout-free stores, and Codacy checks code quality and security, including code written with AI assistants.
Which Portuguese startups work in fintech?
On this list, Rauva offers a business account, AT-certified invoicing and online accounting for companies in Portugal, and Aptoide runs a payments wallet for in-app purchases.
Can I start a startup in Portugal as a foreigner?
Yes. The Startup Visa, managed by IAPMEI and promoted by Startup Portugal, is a residence visa for entrepreneurs from outside the EU who create or move an innovative, technology-based company to Portugal.
How can a Lisbon startup hire tech staff from outside the EU?
Through the Tech Visa, a certification programme managed by IAPMEI that lets Portuguese companies hire highly qualified staff from outside the Schengen area in a simplified way.
What is Unicorn Factory Lisboa?
A flagship initiative from Lisbon that supports founders from early stage to growth stage with programmes, hubs and the Beato Innovation District. Its homepage reports more than 1,100 supported startups.
When is Web Summit in Lisbon?
The 2026 edition was set for 9 to 12 November 2026 in Lisbon. Check websummit.com for the 2027 dates, which were not shown yet when we checked.
What happened to MyCareforce, Glooma, Coverflex and Neuraspace?
MyCareforce's website redirects to a parked page and Glooma has no working official site, so neither could be confirmed. Coverflex and Neuraspace still operate, but Coverflex's site names no Lisbon base and Neuraspace is registered in Coimbra.
Where can I get a backlink by writing about my startup?
You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools. Get a quality backlink.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
