BGI alumni surpassed the 32 million euros of secured financing! And the deadline to the 6th call was extended until 8th June - not to miss!

1. Press Release
Building Global Innovators in the Top 20 EU accelerators
 BGI is at the Top of Europe’s most active Accelerators
 Alumni surpass €32 million in secured financing
 Portugal ranked 3rd as the most active countries in Europe for acceleration of startups
Lisbon, 19 May 2015: Building Global Innovators (BGI) was considered one of the best accelerators in
Europe, according to the latest report by Fundacity (an international platform directed to startups,
accelerators and investors). BGI is side by side with some of the most prestigious accelerators in the world
like Techstars London.
Both rankings are exclusively based on the number of accelerated startups in 2014 and do not take into
account the survival rate or funding raised by accelerated ventures.
Unlike other accelerators, BGI is extremely selective, opening only one call each year that is limited to 20
+1 ventures based anywhere in the world. This restrict number of entrants enables the Organization and
the network of experts to select the most promising and give a more focused support to each venture
(over 1,150h / year / venture). Such intense support to ventures translates into one of the highest startup
survival rate in the world that reached 67% after 5 editions. Recently BGI’s active ventures were able to
surpass the record number of €32 million of secured financing.
BGI™ is an international initiative of entrepreneurship and innovation, promoted by ISCTE - Lisbon
University Institute developed under the MIT Portugal Program in partnership with MIT, the Deshpande
Center for Innovation and the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. It also has relied on the
financial support of Caixa Capital.
Until 8th June, extended deadline, the accelerator accepts submissions via www.mitportugal-bgi.org, from
aspiring entrepreneurs, startups and spin-outs that may be located in any country, working on 4 market-
application verticals: Medical Devices & Health IT, Smart Cities & Industrial Technologies, Enterprise
IT & Smart Data and Ocean Economy. The jury will select a batch of 20 ventures out of the pool of
submissions, 5 in each vertical. The batch will be publicly announced on 16th July.
During the acceleration process the 20 +1 ventures will benefit from expert mentoring from a global
network of 200+ mentors. This free of charge in kind support is valued at €1 million. Unlike others BGI
supports the alumni network for up to 5 years and startups don’t have to relocate to Portugal.
For more information, please contact catarina.madeira@iscte.pt.

2. About the University Institute of Lisbon - ISCTE
The University Institute of Lisbon - ISCTE (ISCTE-IUL) is a public university established in 1972. Pursuing
teaching, research and community service activities, the strategic objectives of ISCTE-IUL are innovation,
quality, internationalization and development of an entrepreneurial culture. With approximately 9060 students
16% of which are foreign students, 324 PhD Professors, 383 Full- time R&D researchers and 220 non-faculty
staff, ISCTE-IUL is proud to be one of the most dynamic and innovative universities in the country for the past
40 years. ISCTE-IUL’s priorities are innovation, quality and diversity, both in education and in academic
research. With great recognition among companies from all economic sectors, ISCTE-IUL has a high rate of
employability of its graduates, in some areas reaching 100% results. This confirms not only the reputation of
the institution but also the quality of its teaching. Website
About the MIT Portugal Program
The MIT Portugal Program (MPP) is a large-scale international collaboration involving MIT and government,
academia, and industry in Portugal to develop education and research programs related to engineering
systems. The high-level partnership represents a strategic commitment by the Portuguese government to
science, technology, and higher education that leverages MIT’s experience in these important areas in order to
strengthen the country’s knowledge base through an investment in human capital and institution building. MPP
seeks to demonstrate that an investment in science, technology and higher education can have a positive,
lasting impact on the economy by addressing key societal issues through quality education and research in the
emerging field of engineering systems. The program has targeted Bioengineering systems, Engineering Design
and Advanced Manufacturing, Sustainable Energy Systems, and Transportation Systems as key areas for
economic development and societal impact. MPP is supported by a national initiative that involves top 7
Portuguese universities and 14 research centers that target sustainable energy systems, transportation
systems, bioengineering and advanced production methods as key areas for economic development. Website