DeepNeuronic founders win Lisbon's top entrepreneur award after Motorola Solutions exit
What's the deal? Unicorn Factory LisboaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → named Vasco Lopes and Bruno Degardin, founders of AI video-analytics startup DeepNeuronicDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Entrepreneurs of the Year at its 2026 Entrepreneurship Awards. The ceremony, held at the Técnico Innovation Center in Lisbon, also recognised BloodFlowDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, knokcare, RTBeamTechDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Beta-iDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → co-founder Ricardo Marvão.
Who won what? BloodFlow took the Most Promising Startup prize, which highlights a company from Unicorn Factory Lisboa's portfolio; knokcare won the Impact Startup award for projects addressing social and environmental challenges; and RTBeamTech was recognised for the talent of a new generation of founders.
Marvão received the Ecosystem Award for his contribution to building Portugal's entrepreneurial scene. The event also honoured Rita Barbosa of Guardian Labs EU as Emerging Female Personality and Fernando Jardim of the 351 Portuguese Startup Association as International Personality.
Why it matters. The top prize, a tribute to João Vasconcelos, was handed to the DeepNeuronic founders by Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas shortly after Motorola Solutions acquired the Covilhã-based company. The team is staying in Portugal, with its technology set to join Motorola's Avigilon platform — a concrete example of an internationally scaled Portuguese exit.
What they said. Accepting the award, Lopes said it is "more difficult for startups to sell their products in the national market than internationally" (translated from Portuguese) and urged companies to buy from Portuguese startups to help them grow.
Marvão argued Portugal's ecosystem has matured but still needs private investment. "At the start, we didn't have all the stages of the ecosystem. Now, the ecosystem has all its parts. We just need to develop them," he said (translated from Portuguese).
The signal: The awards spotlight activity across clinical AI, telehealth, and radiotherapy monitoring, but for most winners the recognition is chiefly a visibility boost rather than proof of traction. DeepNeuronic's exit gives the Lisbon ecosystem a rare homegrown success story — and a template others will want to follow.
Read more: business-it.pt
Image credit: Imagine Magic
