Four Portuguese startups get a runway into California, and the deadline is 14 August
AICEP's Portugal To Take Off, run with Start2 Group, sends four startups through an acceleration programme for the US market: eight finalists on 21 August, four picked by the 31st, a virtual programme from September and a Demo Day in California on 29 January.
Apply / Learn moreIf you have been eyeing the American market and putting off the decision, here is a date worth writing down: midnight GMT on 14 August. That is when applications close for Portugal To Take Off, the AICEP programme that prepares Portuguese startups to enter California.
The places are few and the funnel is tight, which in practice is good news for whoever gets through. AICEP publishes a shortlist of eight finalists by 21 August. Start2 Group then runs the pitch calls and settles on the four participating startups by 31 August.
What the programme actually gives you
The virtual phase begins in the week of 21 September, and that is where the heavy work happens. California-based mentors take your value proposition and market approach apart — feedback on the commercial pitch, help identifying potential customers and, above all, a proper challenge to the strategy. It is the difference between arriving in the United States with a plan and arriving with a plan already stress-tested by people who know the ground.
The networking side promises introductions to relevant contacts, industry leaders and prospective customers in California. And there is a physical finish line: Demo Day takes place on 29 January 2027, on Californian soil.
Who it is for
This is built for Portuguese companies serious about expanding into California and the wider US market, not for founders still validating an idea at home. The stated focus is on the problems most entrepreneurs hit when entering a fiercely competitive market — which are rarely about the product and almost always about positioning, pricing and channel.
Worth weighing alongside other windows open right now, such as the 270 traineeships Mota-Engil opened across 16 countries or the StartUP Voucher for people building their own business, which closes around the same time.
Conditions and the application form are on the official AICEP programme page.
Image: AICEP Portugal Global
