Unicorn Factory Lisboa

Lisbon's Unicorn Factory in the Beato District

Overview

The Beato Innovation district is a urban regeneration project encompassing the Beato neighborhood of Lisbon, Portugal. The overarching goal of the district is to repurpose old, underutilized spaces and utilize them as entrepreneural tech-first spaces with the goal of pushing the nation to the top of European tech hubs. The project was initiated by the Lisbon City Council back in 2016 under the name Beato Creative Hub. The project progressed quite quickly, as the local government involved local private-sector partners to further the initiative (most notably, StartUp Lisboa). At the core of this district sits the Unicorn Factory, an organization that supports startups, freelancers, and large companies to come together in Beato as one work, leisure, and cultural space. The name "Unicorn Factory" comes from the district's goal of creating unicorns, or startups with a valuation of over $1 billion. The Unicorn Factory works towards achieving this goal by creating sector-based hubs (in surrounding neighborhoods), such as the AI Hub and Sustainability Hub, for focused mentorship and resources that go beyond the already existing community.

Goals and Aspirations

Foster an Innovative Community. The Unicorn Factory and its respective hubs create communities (and communities with communities) of other founders, venture capitalists, industry professionals, and academics. This invaluable network, along with the physical space within Beato, provides everything needed for ideation and growth.

Position Lisbon as a Tech Innovation Hub. The Unicorn Factory and broader Beato Innovation District were created with the intention of fostering both local and international tech talent in Portugal's economy. This public-private partnership has worked to remove as many barriers as possible for entrepreneurs to launch their companies, such as by facilitating visas and providing affordable living/working spaces within the district.

Provide New Opportunities for Portugese Workers. Startups being founded in the Beato district of Lisbon will create professional, higher-paying job opportunities for Portuguese workers. Without considering local talent as a core goal, this innovation district project could price out local residents and diminish their opportunities for involvement in the startups within it. The Beato Innovation District sponsors events and collaborations with local educational institutions to teach locals about the startup world and how to design interactive technologies, encouraging their involvement in the community.

Key Characteristics

Mixed-Use Development. In creating the Beato Innovation District, around 50,000 square-meters of space were completely renovated to serve as the new home for Lisbon's tech startup hub. In order to achieve the goal of incubating as many unicorns as possible, the Beato district was designed to comingle founders, investors, freelancers, and others in one area, faciliating information and idea flow. This mixed-use model emphasizes that startups need more than a single office space to succeed.

Specialized Hub Model. The Unicorn Factory recognize that founders also need to surround themselves with other founders in the same vertical, as shared domain knowledge plays a huge role in validation and refinement. In addition to the general tech startup spaces within Beato, separate Unicorn Factory spaces have been placed in surrounding Lisbon neighborhoods to spark additional sectoral innovation hubs, ultimately creating community within community as mentioned earlier. Although these hubs extend beyond the boundaries of the Beato Innovation District, they facilitate knowledge sharing throughout the greater community.

Public-Private Initiative. The backing and continued support of the Lisbon City Council in transforming a previously industrial neighborhood into a home for innovation was crucial for the success of this district. The decision to form and sponsor the Unicorn Factory in 2022 was strategic, as it passed the responsibility of continued outreach, growth, and tailored resources to startup veterans and industry professionals.

Stakeholders

Lisbon City Council. The local government body that sponsored the initial conversion of the Beato Neighbhood into a tech innovation space. They worked to create Startup Lisboa, and later the Unicorn Hub. Carlos Moedas, the former mayor of Lisbon was a key figure in this transformation, as he accelerated the project by further integrating industry professionals and allocating resources to making Lisbon an incubator for startups. The city council has significant control over the district, however the management has been delegated to the Unicorn Factory. Câmara Municipal de Lisboa

Unicorn Factory Lisboa. As of 2022, Unicorn Factory Lisboa became the managing organization of the Beato Innovation District, focusing on establishing industry connections, venture capital relationships, and academic partnerships, along with optimizing the neighborhood to be as well-networked and founder-friendly as possible. Carlos Moedas is the current president of the Unicorn Factory and leads the management and expansion of the city-appointed organization. Unicorn Factory Lisboa

Tech Community. At the heart of this innovation district are its founders. The Beato Innovation district serves to support their needs as they launch the next unicorn startup. Although not all startups created within the district will reach the $1 billion mark, the Unicorn Factory serves to support everyone. Although the founders themselves may not have a say in the management organization, they shape the future of the district by nature of creating their companies. Community Members

Technology Interventions

Hub Criativo do Beato - Living Lab. The Living Lab is a large-scale testbed for environmental and sustainability technology, before releasing it to the public. The laboratory allows de-risking in lifelike simulations, which is a critical part of developing new smart technologies. Additionally, given the tech-nature of the space, it is also loaded with IOT devices, like sensors, to help prototype what a smarter world would look like. In the real world, IOT richness or availability may vary however, along with concerns regarding data collection, so it will be important not to simply rely on positive testing results from the a simulated environment like this one.

Urban Agriculture. Through the Living Lab, one of the main initiatives is thinking about how the local community of Beato can be supported by urban agriculture, as growing food within the neighborhood improves sustainability and freshness. The Factory Lisbon building's roof is currently the home of the urban garden, on which herbs are being grown. Even though it is not directly related to accelerating startups, this initiative is at the core of Unicorn Factory's hope to improve sustainability within the community. Given that many buildings in Lisbon are not new construction, it would be interesting to see how the organization will approach creating these spaces on old buildings, if possible.

Data Focus. Beyond installing numerous IOT devices in spaces like the Living Lab, the Unicorn Factory aims to collect all data in a centralized platform for analysis and decision-making. As planned by Lisbon's LXDataLab, the information collected will be provided alongside problem statements to members of the community, along with the broader academic network. The intention of providing rich data along with pain points of the neighborhood is to spin up projects to further smart city solutions and identify opportunities for policy change. It will be interesting to see how this project scales from the Living Lab to the entire neighborhood of Beato, and then from Beato to Lisbon. As the amount and dimensionality of data scales, it seems as if it will be more difficult to gather insights, so it will be important to keep this in mind as the intervention is expanded.

Financing

Financing Scheme. The Beato Innovation district is a great example of a well-constructed public-private partnership, as the financing model is hybrid. The local government of Lisbon has invested in numerous buildings in the area, such as by spending 18 million Euros on an abandoned military factory. Private companies are brought in to renovate these spaces and rent them, but no rent is charged until their investment in the building has been recouped. There are additional grant opportunities, like for the Living Lab, both from local organizations and technology corporations. These large companies also provide some financial support for the startup ecosystem in Beato.

Outcomes

International Recognition. Since the completion of the Beato Innovation District, Lisbon has been recognized as a top European tech city, such as by winning the European Capital of Innovation award in 2023. This award and broader recognition demonstrates that Lisbon has become a go-to for founders and freelancers looking for their next opportunity.

Successful Investment in Numerous Beato Startups. Besides awards, collective financial success of Beato's startups has been astounding. As of late 2024, $1 billion in funding has been generated for Beato startups. The Unicorn Factory has supported more than 820 startups, creating a transformation of the Beato neighorhood and greater Portuguese economy.

Expansion of Programming. Due to the cohesive and innovative community that has been created over the past few years, the Unicorn Factory has been able to expand the programs it offers, targeting youth with My First Startup or Innovation Summer School. Additional hubs, such as the greenhub, were also made possible by the success of other initiatives. This outcome is not a static one, rather one that is ongoing, as continued success is the reason that Beato is able to host these new programs.

Open Questions

How do residents of Beato and the surrounding neighborhood feel about the transformation to a startup hub?

Given that so many startup hubs are popping up around the world, how will the Beato district maintain its edge?

How reliant are the current initiatives on government support and how might the district change if that support is withdrawn or reduced?

AI Disclaimer

ChatGPT and Claude were used as tools to research high-level information and sources about the Beato Innovation District and Unicorn Factory. These platforms were utilized in each of the sections, except the open questions. None of the content on this brief was written by generative AI tools. Both tools had web search enabled, increasing the accuracy of the information provided. For each piece of information gathered, the cited source was verified to ensure that information provided was correct. Additionally, in some larger documents, like the 60-page student thesis, ChatGPT was used to extract insights, supported by quotes.

References

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Type

Tech-enabled District

Author

Zack Pakin

Timeframe

2016—2024

Location

Lisbon, PRT

Lat: 38.72658863000558, Lon:-9.111340000002542

Case Study Geography

Lisbon's Beato neighborhood, highlighting the Unicorn Factory.