Founded as a spin-off from the University of Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Tecnico, SurfACT is creating a circular economy in surfactant compounds, like cleaners, using microbial materials from agro-industrial waste, microorganisms, and bioreactors. It’s just one of the companies that University of Lisbon alumni founded in recent years, according to the ULisboa Startup Impact Report 2025 published in November. Developed with Dealroom, a Dutch company that makes startup-tracking software, the report describes how the university is turning academic excellence into economic growth.
University alumni founded four of Portugal’s six so-called unicorns, or private companies worth more than 1 billion Euros: Talkdesk, Tekever, Outsystems, and Anchorage Digitail. They are now worth more than 24 billion Euros. Others are likely on the way. Graduates of the 114-year-old institution have founded 1,000 startups that have garnered more than 4 billion Euros in venture capital and employed more than 36,000 people worldwide. Since 2024, alumni have won more than 850 million Euros in financing. A third of that investment was raised outside Portugal.
“After a decade of steady growth in research and innovation, the University of Lisbon now positions itself as a driving force in the entrepreneurial and technological transformation of the country,” said University of Lisbon Vice-Rector Cecilia Rodrigues. “Even in times of uncertainty and rapid change, Lisbon's innovation ecosystem continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience, creativity, and global ambition.”
In addition to biotechnology, leading sectors where startups originating from the university are excelling include health and life sciences, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrencies.
