Avatar photoMarco Bianchi

Marco covers Southern Europe's vibrant and fast-growing startup landscape. Based in Milan, he reports on funding rounds, product launches and ecosystem developments across Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, with a keen eye for foodtech, mobility and consumer innovation.

Portuguese Development Bank Distributes €72 Million in Advance Payments to Over 1,100 Companies

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Banco Português de Fomento made advance payments of 72 million euros to 1,113 companies under the IFIC program covering reindustrialization, defense and security, and AI sectors. This represents 30% of approved support, with remaining 70% to be paid upon validation of expenses during investment execution. The bank has approved projects for nearly 3,000 companies totaling over 2.2 billion euros in investment, with approximately 1,500 contracts currently in execution representing 436 million euros in eligible investment.

Portuguese Retail Giant Sonae Posts 11% Profit Growth in Q1 2026, Achieves Record Quarterly Revenue

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Sonae, the Portuguese retail conglomerate, reported strong Q1 2026 results with 47 million euros in profits (up 11% YoY) and record quarterly consolidated revenue of 2.7 billion euros. The company achieved improved profitability with EBITDA margins expanding from 9.8% to 10.4%, driven by growth across all retail operations and store expansion. Net debt decreased to 1.7 billion euros, reflecting strong cash flow generation and continued deleveraging.

Portuguese Executive Pedro Penalva Named CEO of Aon’s Latin America Region

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Aon, the world’s second largest insurance broker, appointed Portuguese executive Pedro Penalva as CEO of its Latin America region, effective July 1, 2026. Penalva previously served as CEO of Enterprise Clients for EMEA and brings over 15 years of experience at Aon, having held positions including CEO for Iberia, Africa, and Israel, and CEO of Aon Portugal.

European Banking Consortium Expands Qivalis to 37 Members Ahead of Euro Stablecoin Launch

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Qivalis, a consortium of European banks based in Amsterdam, has expanded to 37 member institutions from 15 countries to develop a euro-denominated stablecoin as an alternative to dollar-dominated stablecoins. The initiative plans to launch a regulated stablecoin in the second half of 2024, subject to regulatory approval. Portuguese banks are notably absent from the project so far, though it includes major banks from Spain, France, Italy, and Nordic countries.

Israeli AI Agent Startup NanoCo Secures $12 Million Seed Funding to Build Enterprise-Grade AI Assistants

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NanoCo AI has raised $12 million in seed funding to commercialize NanoClaw, an open source enterprise-friendly AI agent harness. The company aims to provide enterprises with secure, one-to-one ‘professional assistant’ AI agents for each employee that build personalized knowledge graphs and execute tasks within sandboxed Docker environments. NanoClaw remains MIT Licensed open source while NanoCo AI offers managed commercial services.

Limenet and Fassa Bortolo Launch 5 Million Euro Partnership to Develop Electric Kiln for Low-Emission Lime Production

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Limenet, a startup developing decarbonization technologies for hard-to-abate industries, partnered with Italian building materials group Fassa Bortolo on a 5 million euro co-development project for an electric kiln that reduces lime production emissions by approximately 22% compared to traditional fossil fuel methods. The deal follows a 7 million euro equity investment in Limenet by CDP Venture Capital and Fassa Bortolo in December 2025.

Portugal Authorizes €410.68 Million Railway Modernization Project for Alentejo Line

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The Portuguese government authorized Infraestruturas de Portugal to implement a phased payment schedule for the modernization of the Alentejo Railway Line. The project involves a 410.68 million euro investment to replace and electrify 63 kilometers of track between Casa Branca and Beja, enabling speeds of up to 200 km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h for freight. Disbursements will run from 2027 to 2033, with the government seeking additional European funding through Portugal 2030 and other EU financing instruments.

Overwatch AI Secures 1.3 Million Euros in Pre-Seed Funding to Combat Flight Disruptions

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Overwatch AI, a platform that helps pilots, cabin crew and operations managers working on the front lines of aviation find critical information quickly and make fast and efficient operational decisions, has closed a pre-seed round of 1.3 million euros with participation from United Airlines Ventures.

BlueCrow Capital backs Portuguese acoustic solutions startup Offcoustic in combined investment and financing round

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J+Legal advised BlueCrow Capital in a financing operation for Offcoustic, a Portuguese startup developing acoustic cabin solutions for work environments and co-working spaces. The transaction involved a combined investment and financing structure to support the company’s growth and productive capacity expansion.

Portugal Consolidates AI Gigafactory Plans in Sines, Scraps Secondary Pego Hub

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Portugal’s Iberian candidacy for a European Commission AI gigafactory project will concentrate all operations in Sines rather than establishing a secondary hub in Pego. The €8 billion investment from public and private funds will create an AI infrastructure facility with 150 MW computing capacity, expected to be fully operational by 2028. Spain’s location is Tarragona in Catalonia.