Indico and Google announce their accelerator's first batch of Portuguese startups, along with €12 million pre-seed fund

Following the launch of a new Lisbon-based accelerator in April, Indico Capital Partners and Google for Startups have announced the first batch of startups that will participate. In addition, the Portuguese VC is launching a €12 million pre-seed fund to further invest in program participants. The new fund will be managed alongside the firm’s flagship €54 million fund, which goes to early-stage Iberian tech companies.

“We launched this new fund with the specific aim of addressing what we view as a critical market gap in the Portuguese venture capital funding ecosystem," explained Stephan Morais, Indico's CEO and founder. "The number of exceptional startups that have applied to our accelerator reveals the lack of capital available to the development of startups in their initial (and often, most critical) phases of development.” 

Over 130 applications came in from across the country, yet the organisers have only selected six companies so far (three are led or co-founded by female entrepreneurs). Up to four more startups may join the first batch.

As reported in a press release, the six companies selected for the accelerator are:

• APiS – SaaS solution for the management and remote monitoring of beehives
• InnovationCast – SaaS solution to help organisations improve their productivity and growth
• Modatta – marketplace where consumers can monetise their own data
• Onalytics – SaaS platform for the logistical and quality management of beer kegs
• Playbox – a subscription service for couples 
• Skoach – SaaS solution to coordinate remote and in-office teams

Each of these companies will receive an initial €100,000 investment from the new fund and start a six-month program followed by an incubation period, all of which will conclude in June 2021. The program, which includes extensive mentorship, training, masterclasses, fundraising support, recruitment, customer and product segmentation from both Google and Indico, will be conducted both online and, whenever possible, at the VC’s headquarters in Lisbon.

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