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Bio-MedTech Hub marks a new chapter for InvestBraga
Bio-MedTech Hub marks a new chapter for InvestBraga
The Bio-MedTech Hub, a project led by InvestBraga, was presented on Thursday afternoon, May 7, as a new strategic initiative aimed at positioning Braga as a benchmark hub in the fields of biotechnology and medical technology.
During the presentation of the project, which marks a new chapter for InvestBraga and, simultaneously, for Startup Braga, Luís Rodrigues, Executive Administrator of InvestBraga, stressed that “more than looking back, this is a moment to project the future and reinforce Braga’s ambition as a European reference in innovation and technology through the Bio-MedTech Hub.”
This initiative aims to strengthen the connection between science, technology, academia, the healthcare system, and the business community, creating the conditions to accelerate innovation, applied research, and the development of solutions with impact on health and quality of life.
“The Bio-MedTech Hub was created with the goal of establishing Braga as a centre of excellence in Life and Health Sciences, promoting collaboration between academic, clinical, and business entities,” stated the Executive Administrator of InvestBraga.
The construction of this facility represents an investment financed with four million euros from FEDER funds (Norte 2030), with the remaining funding secured by the Municipality of Braga, amounting to approximately five million euros. The infrastructure will be located next to Forum Braga, with construction expected to begin in 2026 and operations scheduled to start in 2028.
With more than 5,000 m² spread across three floors, the future Technology Valorisation and Transfer Centre will include 22 laboratories, 16 offices, meeting rooms, and an auditorium with capacity for 144 people, creating the conditions to host around 110 highly qualified jobs.
The facility will also provide specialised technical services, support for applied research, technological development, deeptech startup incubation, and connections to international knowledge networks, investors, and strategic partners.
Luís Rodrigues revealed that there are already “more than 20 companies interested in establishing themselves in the Bio-MedTech Hub and benefiting from its technological and collaborative offering,” with the project also involving key partners such as INL, the University of Minho, and 2CA-Braga.
João Rodrigues, President of InvestBraga and the Municipality of Braga, through a message shared during the event, highlighted the evolution of the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem since the creation of Startup Braga in 2014, emphasising that “Braga has ceased to be merely a territory where things are produced and has become a territory where knowledge is created, technology is developed, and value is generated with global ambition.”
The mayor also considered that the Bio-MedTech Hub represents “the affirmation of the maturity of our ecosystem,” enabling the city’s growth to specialise in high value-added areas such as Health, Biotechnology, and Medical Technology.
In the same message, he highlighted the collaboration between the University of Minho, INL, Hospital de Braga, 2CA-Braga, Startup Braga, and InvestBraga as an example of “a complete ecosystem: from research to real-world application.”
For the mayor, the new hub represents “a change of scale” for the territory, reinforcing the ambition to create solutions with a direct impact on people’s health and quality of life, while consolidating Braga as a city prepared to compete on a global scale.
The project presentation also included a debate panel dedicated to the importance of creating infrastructures such as the Bio-MedTech Hub, bringing together three key partners of the InvestBraga project: Ado Jório de Vasconcelos, Deputy Director-General of INL; Jorge Pedrosa, President of 2CA-Braga; and Raul Fangueiro, Vice-Rector of the University of Minho.
Startup Braga celebrates its 12th anniversary with the “10x Forward” ecosystem guide and reinforces its ambition to position Braga at the forefront of European innovation
Startup Braga celebrated its 12th anniversary with the launch of its ecosystem guide and the “10x Forward” event, an initiative integrated into Braga’s Economy Weeks that brought together representatives from the entrepreneurial, technological, and institutional ecosystem to reflect on the journey of InvestBraga’s innovation hub and project the future of innovation in Braga.
Under the theme “The Past, Present and Future”, the event highlighted Startup Braga’s impact over the past decade, as well as the city’s growing role as a hub for innovation and technological entrepreneurship.
In the opening session, João Fernandes, Director of Startup Braga, highlighted the evolution of the ecosystem built over the last 12 years, stressing that “the future has already begun” and reinforcing Startup Braga’s mission to continue identifying entrepreneurs with innovative solutions in the digital economy, health technologies, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and sustainability.
According to João Fernandes, “celebrating 12 years of Startup Braga means recognising the path built together with entrepreneurs, partners, investors, and institutions.”
The initiative also marked the launch of the ecosystem guide, which presents an overview of Startup Braga’s innovation ecosystem, highlighting the work developed with more than 400 supported startups, 141 of which were accelerated through Startup Braga’s programmes. The document also maps the approximately 2,500 qualified jobs created, as well as the seven completed exits and the more than €550 million raised in investment.
The publication, based on Startup Braga’s podcast and videocast series available on Spotify and YouTube, gives voice not only to institutional entities that accompanied this evolution but also to the startups that helped shape the ecosystem over the past 10 years. Companies such as Automaise, BestHealth4U, Chemitek, Cleocare, expressTEC, Sword Health, Leadzai, Nutrium, OmniumAI, PeekMed, PluggableAI, and RUBYnanomed represent different generations of innovation incubated and supported by Startup Braga.
The figures confirm this growth trajectory. Since Startup Braga’s creation in 2014, the investment raised by startups within the community has increased almost 290-fold, rising from €1.7 million to more than €502 million in 2025.
| Year | Total de Investimento Angariado (BA, VCs & Outros) |
|---|---|
| 2014 | € 1 700 000,00 |
| 2015 | € 6 500 000,00 |
| 2016 | € 12 000 000,00 |
| 2017 | € 14 700 000,00 |
| 2018 | € 26 900 000,00 |
| 2019 | € 48 100 000,00 |
| 2020 | € 61 774 999,78 |
| 2021 | € 355 459 999,56 |
| 2022 | € 378 784 999,56 |
| 2023 | € 438 210 000,00 |
| 2024 | € 491 395 733,00 |
| 2025* | € 502 914 424,19 |
Partial data | Note: Variations are due to exchange rate fluctuations.
The evolution of the ecosystem also reveals clear progress across the different stages of startup maturity. The year 2020 marked the first major market validation, while 2021 was characterised by entry into more robust growth cycles, with several Series A and Series B funding rounds and a substantial increase in capital raised. In 2022, the consolidation of the ecosystem became evident, with startups capable of securing funding rounds between €5 million and €10 million and remaining in Braga during their expansion phase.
In 2023, there was an increase in the number of startups in the Pre-Seed and Seed stages, which, rather than representing a slowdown, demonstrated the emergence of a new generation of innovative projects. This renewal became particularly visible in 2024, when the ecosystem entered a bifurcation phase: while some startups evolved towards Series B, other companies emerged and began their growth journey. In 2025, the data once again confirms the strengthening of the entrepreneurial base and the continuous capacity to generate innovation.
Another sign of Startup Braga’s growing relevance at a national level was the performance of its community in the INNOV-ID Call, an initiative by Portugal Ventures in partnership with the National Innovation Agency (ANI). Startup Braga supported 37 applications, around 9.3% of the national total, of which eight received investment, corresponding to approximately 11.27% of all investments approved up to the fourth call. These results reinforce Startup Braga’s role as a platform for capacity building, access to funding, and strategic connection between entrepreneurs, investors, and institutional partners.
| Year | Pre-Seed | Seed | Late Seed / Early A | Serie A | Serie A/B | Serie B | Serie C+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 2022 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025* | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0[1] |
One of the central moments of the initiative was the panel “European Radar – From Braga to the World”, which brought together leading entrepreneurs connected to internationally recognised startups from Braga’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, including Neide Vieira (IPLEXMED), João Pedro Ribeiro (PeekMed), Paulina Piairo (RUBYnanomed), and Sónia Ferreira (BestHealth4U). The discussion provided an opportunity for Braga-based entrepreneurs to share their experiences on the best path towards internationalisation and business scaling.