UPTEC joins nearly 2M€ European consortium to strengthen business acceleration

UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto is part of the European SKALE2CT project ecosystem, with an overall budget of nearly 2 million euros dedicated to improving instruments and public policies that support the acceleration of startups and scaleups.

SKALE2CT (Skills and Scale to Connect for Business Acceleration Services policy transfer) aims to strengthen the capacity of public organisations and intermediary entities to improve —or create— acceleration programmes and services, fostering companies’ competitiveness and sustainable growth. The methodology is based on the sharing and transfer of good practices between European ecosystems, focusing on three critical scale-up challenges: mentoring and leadership skills; access to infrastructure, such as prototyping, incubation, accelerators, testing and validation; and talent attraction and retention.

International consortium led by San Sebastián, with partners from seven European countries

The project is led by Fomento San Sebastián (Basque Country, Spain) and brings together a group of public partners and entrepreneurship support organisations with complementary expertise, including: Città Metropolitana di Torino (Italy), Grenoble-Alpes Métropole (France), ANI – National Innovation Agency (Portugal), Pannon Business Network Association (Hungary), the Ministry of Economics of Latvia and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Latvia (Latvia), the Startup Europe Regions Network (Belgium), in addition to UPTEC.

SKALE2CT runs until February 2027, promoting study visits, workshops and learning activities aimed at improving policies and instruments in each participating territory.

UPTEC companies already at work: visit to Grenoble and upcoming missions to Porto and San Sebastián

As part of the project’s activities, a delegation of four Portuguese companies—including three incubated at UPTEC (NIUM, UPWIND and DIGESTAID) and ByonLink—has already visited Grenoble’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, strengthening the connection between the business community and some of Europe’s most advanced business acceleration ecosystems.

In the coming months, an international business delegation is expected to visit UPTEC, creating opportunities for direct exchange, and a new Portuguese delegation will visit the ecosystem in San Sebastián, deepening cooperation with the project’s Spanish hub and identifying practices that can be replicated in the national context.

With this integration, UPTEC strengthens its positioning as a bridge between public policies, acceleration programmes and companies’ real needs, helping the ecosystem build greater capacity to create and scale innovation with European impact.

UPTEC is a partner in European projects, having secured over €4 million in funding, and acts as a work package leader and expert in cascade funding, dissemination, and supporting the internationalisation of startups. Based in Portugal, it connects innovation ecosystems across various sectors, including health, sustainability, cultural and creative industries, tourism, and digital transformation.