Lisbon's startup year peaks in one week: Web Summit on 9–12 November 2026 at MEO Arena, with Portugal Tech Week's free events and a pitching and matchmaking summit around it. The rest of the calendar is smaller and more focused: health innovation in October, Building The Future in February, smart cities in May and an enterprise AI summit in June 2027.
This guide lists startup, tech, investor and women-founder events in Lisbon from October 2026 to the end of 2027. We checked every date on the organiser's own website. Where a date isn't published yet, we say so, and we mark each event as Confirmed (date on the official site), Announced (date from a reliable second source) or Expected (based on past editions only).
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.
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Must Attend Startup Events in Lisbon 2026–2027: Calendar from October 2026 to June 2027
Autumn 2026: October to December
Entrepreneurship Awards and Innovating Health Together: 27–28 October 2026
A free afternoon with Unicorn Factory Lisboa, the city's startup agency, its investors and this year's finalists. The awards include a Rising Female Award; applications for 2026 have closed.
Health Cluster Portugal's yearly conference. Healthtech startups can show their products and pitch answers to problems set by hospitals, which makes it the best Lisbon room for finding a hospital pilot.
Portugal Tech Week: 6–15 November 2026
Organised by the 351 Association, the Portuguese startup association. The free events around Web Summit week include a Startups & Scaleups Embassy Forum (9 November) and a hands-on session on 10 November, How AI Tools Change How Women Do Business, at PTW Palace. If a Web Summit ticket is too dear, start here.
Web Summit and Lisbon Beyond Summit: 9–13 November 2026
One of Europe's biggest yearly meetings of founders, investors and tech press. Startups can apply to the startup programme instead of paying full price; it includes PITCH, masterclasses, mentor hours and investor meetings. Web Summit says 40 percent of the startups at the 2025 edition were founded by women.
Book one-to-one meetings in advance on the b2match platform, and apply for a short pitch slot with feedback. The venue is a short walk from Web Summit. The week after, Global Entrepreneurship Week runs on 16–22 November; we found no Lisbon programme for it yet.
Winter and spring 2027: February to June
Building The Future: 25 February 2027
You can watch for free online. To get in the room, ask the organisers or one of the sponsors for an invitation.
Portugal Smart Cities Summit: 4–6 May 2027
If your customers are municipalities, this is where Portuguese city councils come to buy. Book meetings before the fair opens.
Lisbon AI Summit: 1 June 2027
A one-day meeting of corporate AI decision-makers. It is expensive, so go if enterprise buyers are your market.
Summer and autumn 2027
No Lisbon event for the second half of 2027 has a date yet. Web Summit has not announced its 2027 dates; it is expected in November, with Portugal Tech Week and Lisbon Beyond Summit around it again. Several June events, such as Unicorn Week and the NFC Summit, are expected but not yet dated.
Dates not announced yet
- Web Summit 2027: expected in November 2027; no dates on the official site yet. websummit.com
- DevFest Lisbon: GDG Lisbon's yearly developer festival; the last edition was on 29 November 2025. DevFest Lisbon 2025
- Unicorn Week 2027: Lisbon City Council and Unicorn Factory's startup week; the last edition we could confirm was on 2–6 June 2025.
- Unicorn Day 2027: the JUNITEC student demo day at Técnico; the 2026 edition was on 2 June at LISPOLIS. Unicorn Day 2026
- NFC Summit 2027: Web3, crypto art and AI festival; the 2026 edition was on 4–6 June at Unicorn Factory Lisboa.
- ETHGlobal Lisbon: the 2026 hackathon (24–26 July, Pavilhão Carlos Lopes) drew more than 800 people; ETHGlobal moves between cities, so a 2027 Lisbon edition is not certain. ETHGlobal
- Fintech Meetup Europe 2027: the first edition was on 6–8 October 2026 at FIL; the 2027 host city is not announced. Fintech Meetup Europe
- Portugal Digital Summit 2027 and Innovating Health Together 2027: both expected in October 2027.
Past events
- Portugal Digital Summit 2026: ACEPI's digital economy and AI conference on 21–22 October 2026 at the Centro de Congressos de Lisboa. portugaldigitalsummit.pt
- droidcon Lisbon 2026: the Android developer conference on 20–21 October 2026 in Alcochete.
Recurring meetups and communities
- Startup Grind Lisbon: active chapter with founder talks and pitch awards; recent events include a Founder's Circle on 22 September 2026. Startup Grind Lisbon
- GDG Lisbon: free Google Developer Group meetups and workshops, including Build with AI sessions in October 2026. GDG Lisbon
- Unicorn Factory Lisboa: the city's startup agency runs the Beato innovation district and themed hubs with community events. Unicorn Factory hubs
- Founder Institute Portugal: a pre-seed programme with a Fall 2026 cohort for the whole country. Founder Institute
- Portuguese Women in Tech: an active community, though its 2026 conferences were held in Porto. PWIT
Some names have gone quiet. We found no Lisbon edition of Techstars Startup Weekend since November 2024, Lisbon Investment Summit's site is gone, ETHLisbon has been replaced by ETHGlobal Lisbon, and Women Who Code closed worldwide in 2024.
Events for women founders in Lisbon
- Web Summit (9–12 November 2026): has a Women in Tech ticket for women in the industry; the 2026 Women in Tech tickets are sold out, so watch for 2027.
- Portugal Tech Week: the free session How AI Tools Change How Women Do Business at PTW Palace on 10 November 2026. Portugal Tech Week
- Unicorn Factory Lisboa Entrepreneurship Awards (27 October 2026): includes a Rising Female Award; apply for the 2027 edition. Unicorn Factory Lisboa
- Portuguese Women in Tech: conferences and community events; recent ones were in Porto. PWIT
Dedicated women-founder events in Lisbon are thin this year. If you organise one, send it to us and we'll add it.
Funding and support to know before you go
- Startup Visa: a residence visa for non-EU entrepreneurs who start an innovative company in Portugal, managed by IAPMEI. Startup Portugal
- Tech Visa: companies certified through IAPMEI can hire highly qualified non-EU staff on a fast track. Startup Portugal
- Empresa na Hora: register a company in person on the same day; the service costs €360. gov.pt
- Unicorn Factory Lisboa Scaling Up: the city's programme for scale-ups opened its ninth edition in 2026 with 10 companies, 70 percent of them international. Essential Business
- Unicorn Factory Lisboa: free events, hubs and programmes for founders based in the city. unicornfactorylisboa.com
How to get the most out of Lisbon startup events
- Plan the whole of Web Summit week. 6–15 November brings Portugal Tech Week, Lisbon Beyond Summit and hundreds of side events, many of them free.
- Apply, don't just buy. Web Summit's startup programme and PITCH, and Lisbon Beyond Summit's pitch slots, pick startups by application. See more startup competitions.
- Book meetings before you fly. Lisbon Beyond Summit's b2match platform and the Web Summit app let you fill your diary in advance.
- Pick your sector. Innovating Health Together for healthtech, Portugal Smart Cities Summit for govtech, Lisbon AI Summit for enterprise AI.
- Use the city's free rooms. Unicorn Factory Lisboa events, GDG Lisbon and Startup Grind cost little or nothing all year.
List your event in this guide
Do you run a startup, tech or investor event in Lisbon? Send us the name, dates, venue and official link, and we'll check whether it fits this guide. We list events for founders, with a real date and an official page.
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.
🔗 Add an awesome event
Startup events in other places
- Best startup events in Portugal
- Must Attend Startup Events in Singapore
- Must Attend Startup Events in London, UK
- Must Attend Startup Events in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Must Attend Startup Events in San Francisco, USA
- Must Attend Startup Events in New York, USA
- Must Attend Startup Events in Berlin, Germany
- Must Attend Startup Events in Paris, France
- Must Attend Startup Events in Stockholm, Sweden
- Must Attend Startup Events in Dubai, UAE
- Must Attend Startup Events in Barcelona, Spain
- Must Attend Startup Events in Munich, Germany
- Must Attend Startup Events in Toronto, Canada
- Best startup events in Europe (with country guides)
FAQ
What is the biggest startup event in Lisbon?
Web Summit, on 9–12 November 2026 at MEO Arena. Startups can apply to its startup programme, which includes the PITCH competition.
When is Web Summit 2027?
Not announced yet. It is expected in Lisbon in November 2027.
Are there free startup events in Lisbon?
Yes. Portugal Tech Week (6–15 November 2026) has hundreds of free events, the Unicorn Factory Lisboa Entrepreneurship Awards (27 October) are free, and Building The Future (25 February 2027) has a free online ticket.
Are there events for women founders in Lisbon?
Yes: Web Summit's Women in Tech programme, a session for women at Portugal Tech Week on 10 November 2026, and the Rising Female Award at Unicorn Factory Lisboa's awards.
Is there a startup visa in Portugal?
Yes. The Startup Visa is a residence visa for non-EU entrepreneurs, managed by IAPMEI through Startup Portugal.
How fast can I register a company in Lisbon?
With Empresa na Hora you can register a company in person on the same day, for €360.
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.
