Portugal's Angels Way funds four AI startups, nears 20-deal target
What's the deal? Angels Way, a community-managed fund in Portugal, has closed four new investments — Lampsy, Intuitivo, SmashproDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and UpSpeech. The picks come from the collective analysis of 436 small investors backing early-stage Portuguese tech startups with international potential.
The fund's details: Each selected startup receives a fixed €50,000, for a total of €1 million across this first fund. Regulated by the CMVM and managed by OW VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Angels Way targets AI-first companies designed to scale beyond Portugal's borders.
Why now? The four deals bring the fund's total to 15 companies, or 75% of its target to back 20 Portuguese startups. Together, the portfolio now carries a combined valuation of €79.5 million.
What's the endgame? The four startups show the range of AI applications the fund backs. Lampsy makes a smart lamp that detects epileptic seizures overnight; Intuitivo automates school grading; Smashpro runs software for padel, tennis, and pickleball clubs; and UpSpeech offers a speech-therapy platform, with plans to expand to Spain and Brazil.
Since launching about 18 months ago, the community has reviewed 124 applications across 281 collective evaluation meetings. The entire process runs remotely on a blockchain-based platform that lets members vote and decide on each investment together.
The signal: The model, inspired by a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO), aims to make investing more agile and transparent by involving backers directly in decisions. "Four startups, four markets, but all built on solid fundamentals of product, execution, and international scaling ambition," said Luís Filipe Gutman, managing partner at OW Ventures (translated from Portuguese).
Read more: executivedigest.sapo.pt
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
