A North American startup is the first foreign brand to set up shop in the business incubator of the Instituto Politécnico da Guarda (IPG), the foundation revealed.
IPG said in a statement that the business incubator “will host the first startup funded by foreign investors, within the scope of the partnership established in 2023 with Empowered Startups.”
The Seed by Seed brand aims to “make microloans easier to access for workers and small businesses with little digital literacy,” says the polytechnic. The startups (companies with potential for rapid economic growth) will be officially installed on Friday, March 8.
“By the end of 2024, at least four more startups from foreign entrepreneurs will establish themselves at the Guarda Polytechnic,” IPG President Joaquim Brigas noted in the statement.
The director explains that the establishment of this startup “was only possible thanks to the investment in supporting projects with a strong technological base from the incubator.”
“It is a great relief that the Guarda Polytechnic is able to help workers and companies in sectors that were, initially, less focused on digital technologies, to become more entrepreneurial and innovative,” says Joachim Brigas.
The Polytechnic describes that this project “will create a collaborative digital platform to facilitate access to microcredit, both for self-employed people and small businesses linked to traditional sectors to create and expand their businesses.”
Seed by Seed will “develop a mentoring network, training courses and capacity building tailored to the needs of its clients” dedicated to the topics of entrepreneurship and digital technologies applied to business management and innovation in traditional sectors of activity.
The Foundation also highlights that the launch of Seed by Seed was carried out in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Guarda and “two pilot projects will be implemented in 2025, one in the municipality of Guarda and the other in the municipality of Ceia”.
The North American entrepreneur responsible for this project is Michael Racki, who currently sits on the board of GoDaddy, a company that registers, manages and stores Internet domains, according to IPG.
