Reinforcing the Brazilian government’s commitment to internationalizing startups, encouraging global business and strengthening the country’s image as a competitive, innovative and reliable partner. These are the main objectives that motivate the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) and Sebrae to launch a large-scale mobilization effort to participate in the Lisbon Web Summit 2025, which will be held between 10 and 13 November.
The country arrives in Portugal with a strong delegation. There are 370 startups and innovative companies planned. Of this total, 151 people were selected by ApexBrasil and Sebrae – and 120 of them had never participated in the event, which in 2024 brought together more than 71 thousand visitors, 953 speakers, more than 3 thousand startups and 1,066 investors. The results achieved in the previous edition were significant: R$2.4 million in works carried out during the event and R$75.6 million in expected agreements.
“Brazil is home to more than 20,000 startups, and this number continues to grow. Today the country is a reference for innovation in Latin America, with scalable technological solutions in various sectors that have aroused the interest of investors and companies around the world,” says ApexBrasil President, Jorge Viana. “ApexBrasil maintains its commitment to supporting the internationalization of these startups, with the Web Summit being one of the key initiatives to achieve this goal.”
The agency works on various fronts, including selecting and leading the delegation of participating Brazilian companies, promoting the business to an international audience, developing sectoral projects and programs to promote the internationalization of technology and innovation products and services, as well as training, mentoring and qualifications.
Once again, the companies will have an important showcase, the Brazilian Pavilion, a space that grows with each edition. Since last year’s event, the environment has become composed of two islands, one dedicated to content and business meetings and the other to the exhibition of Brazilian companies, both installed in a prime location inside the MEO Arena in the Portuguese capital.
Of the participants selected by ApexBrasil, 80 are from the Southeast (52.98%), 35 from the Northeast (23.18%), 27 from the South (17.88%), 6 from the North (3.97%), and 3 from the Midwest (1.98%). The public selection process sought to value regional and social diversity, prioritizing enterprises from poor neighborhoods, urban communities and women-led startups, within the Women and International Business Program headquarters.
The selected startups underwent training, mentoring and training with a focus on internationalization, strategies and investment attraction, as well as pitch training. Many of them have already started their export journey and are working in European countries, as well as Canada and the United States.
Participation in this event has the potential to expand access to one of the most important markets for national foreign trade: according to ApexBrasil, trade flow between Brazil and Portugal will reach US$4.7 billion in 2024, of which US$3.4 billion will be in Brazilian exports, representing a surplus of US$2.1 billion.
To expand the scope of the event, three episodes of ApexPod em Movimento, a video broadcast from ApexBrasil, will be recorded. The programs will address topics such as innovation in the Brazilian regions, Portugal’s role as a gateway to the European market, and lessons learned from the Web Summit. The episodes will be broadcast on ApexBrasil’s YouTube channel.
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