Startups created by Católica alumni more than triple in four years

Between 2022 and 2025, the number of former students from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa who create start-ups each year has more than tripled, rising from 231 alumni in 2022 to 807 this year.

The data comes from Startup Portugal, which four years ago began to present the annual Portugal's Entrepreneurial Universities Ranking, an analysis of entrepreneurship in national higher education institutions.

In fact, this indicator has been growing consistently, with 263 start-ups founded by former Católica students in 2023 and 409 in 2024.

Looking more closely at the 2025 ranking, released at the Web Summit, Católica emerges as one of the most entrepreneurial universities in Portugal and with the most startups created by alumni relative to the size of the university.

Also according to Portugal's Entrepreneurial Universities Ranking 2025 – which is based on data up to October from the Startup Portugal Ecosystem Mapping Platform, in partnership with Dealroom – the 807 startups founded by Católica alumni represent a combined business value of €13 billion, with 188 managing to raise a total investment of €2.3 billion.

This year, Universidade Católica Portuguesa had already been considered the most entrepreneurial in Portugal by the Redstone University Startup Index 2025, which ranks it 1st nationally and 74th in Europe, among the 360 included in the category of European universities with a budget between €100 million and €500 million.

Católica's prominent position in these rankings highlights its ability to promote entrepreneurial spirit throughout the academic journey, providing an environment that encourages initiative, innovation and value creation. It also reflects its competence in training and inspiring future entrepreneurs, as well as its commitment to knowledge transfer and economic and social impact.