Vancouver, Canada, May 13, 2026 (Lusa) — Eight of Portugal's startups are in Vancouver this week to speed up their entry into the North American market at a Web Summit that has grown nearly 30% compared to 2025 with more international investors in Canada.
"We are very happy with Web Summit Vancouver 2026. The event showed strong growth from the previous year," Web Summit's country manager for Portugal and Brazil, Artur Pereira, told Lusa.
He said the event includes more than 20,000 participants, nearly 1,200 startups and about 800 investors.
Portugal is taking part for the second consecutive year in Web Summit Vancouver, which runs between 11 and 14 May at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Startup Portugal (a government-led agency promoting the national tech ecosystem) coordinates the delegation with support from the Lisbon city council.
Artur Pereira said the Portuguese presence shows "a very interesting group representing Portugal", with startups from Lisbon, Porto and Leiria.
Investors, Startup Portugal, Unicorn Factory Lisboa and Lisbon's economy and innovation councillor, Maria Luísa Aldino, are accompanying the group.
"We are here to continue promoting startups and the future of societies impacted by technology," he added.
He noted Vancouver’s strong position in gaming, virtual reality, augmented reality and special effects.
Portugal's delegation includes cybersecurity, sustainable energy, fintech, logistics, artificial intelligence, environmental technology and operational automation companies. They offer solutions for investors, strategic partners and international clients.
"We intend to establish partnerships here in North America, starting with Canada, and make first contact with investors," Nitrogen Sensing Solutions CEO Marise Almeida said.
The company develops biosensors to monitor nitrogen compounds in water, such as nitrites, nitrates and ammonia. The technology supports watertech and focusses on environmental challenges.
Almeida said participation in Vancouver represents "the first steps into the North American market," where artificial intelligence will have a growing impact on water monitoring.
"We are a world-oriented company. We intend to be a company with global representation," she said.
CyberX is also part of the delegation, presenting ethical hacking and threat intelligence solutions focusing on anticipating cyberattacks and security risks.
"The main problem we solve is anticipating cyberattacks and also terrorist attacks," CyberX — The Ethical Hacking Services founder and CEO David Silva told Lusa. He said the company differentiates itself with simpler and faster implementation.
Silva said the priority for Web Summit Vancouver is "partnerships and internationalisation" rather than immediate investment.
"We focus on the Middle East, the United States and Canada," he added. The company recently re-opened its Dubai office.
Startup Portugal's senior global relations manager, André Faria, said Portugal's presence in Canada did not start with Vancouver but gained a new scale when the Web Summit arrived in the city.
"This approach of Portugal to Canada is not that recent. We participated in Collision for about five years," he told Lusa.
He said the selection of the eight startups considered maturity, turnover, investment and the ability to scale quickly in international markets.
"Portugal positions itself as a bridge between Canada and Europe," Faria said.
He said the Portuguese ecosystem has grown significantly in the last decade, driven by startups, universities, incubators and the Web Summit itself.
Unicorn Factory Lisboa portfolio programmes manager, Inês Serrão, told Lusa the goal in Vancouver involves making contacts with investors, startups, scale-ups, mentors and institutional partners.
"We see the Portuguese market as a validation market for startups to test products, solutions and look for product-market fit before expanding," she said.
Web Summit Vancouver 2026 brings together 20,235 participants from over 100 countries, 1,197 startups, 768 investors and 32 government and trade delegations.
These include Portugal, Cabo Verde, Italy, South Korea, Qatar, Lithuania and Poland.
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