A business trip to San Francisco (USA), organized by Redbridge Lisbon, Unicorn Factory Lisboa, and Startup Portugal, brought together 10 companies that have collectively raised over €11 million and employ more than 160 people.

A dozen Portuguese startups wrapped up their participation in SF Tech Week 2026 in San Francisco this week, marking an unprecedented mission that placed a Portuguese event on the official agenda of one of the United States' most important tech weeks for the first time.

The "Portugal at SF Tech Week 2026" initiative—organized by RedBridge Lisbon, Unicorn Factory Lisboa, and Startup Portugal, with support from AICEP, the Consulate General of Portugal in San Francisco, and other partners—brought together companies that have collectively raised over €11 million in investment and employ more than 160 people. The participating companies—CodePlatform, Enline, ExpertGrain, FRANK, Lampsy, Relatadas, Octo Health, Savearth, The C-MORE Company, and VeriCasa—operate in sectors such as SaaS, HealthTech, artificial intelligence, machine learning, DeepTech, energy, insurance, real estate, and hospitality.

Detailed coverage of the mission was provided by Expresso through journalist Juliana Simões, who accompanied the group and highlighted the ambitions and challenges identified by the entrepreneurs and organizers. The Expresso article highlights a statement summarizing one of the main hurdles encountered: "Portugal lacks legislation, a legal system, and capital markets on par with those of the US." This comparison illustrates why so many startups view the North American market as a natural destination for growth, offering access to large-scale venture capital, clients, partners, and a more mature ecosystem to accelerate international expansion.

According to Filipa Pinto Carvalho (co-founder of RedBridge Lisbon), the delegation comprises companies at vastly different stages—ranging from a two-person firm founded this year with no external capital to a company established in 2019 with 54 employees and €5.65 million raised to date. Gil Azevedo (Executive Director of Unicorn Factory Lisboa) highlighted that the selected companies are prepared to meet the high standards of the US market and noted that the agenda included meetings with investors and companies such as J.P. Morgan and Salesforce.

This mission is directly relevant to Portugal’s business M&A ecosystem. Startups that successfully achieve product-market fit, raise capital, and gain traction in the US tend to significantly boost their valuations and appeal to strategic investors, growth funds, and potential acquirers. At the same time, recurring criticism regarding national legislation, the judicial system, and capital markets underscores the need for structural reforms if Portugal wishes to retain and scale more companies domestically, rather than seeing them relocate or get acquired by international players.