Creating and sharing knowledge for telecommunications

Start-ups and Spin-offs

it has been the cradle of some bold technological and scientific ideas that have nurtured for years in the research Groups and have grown to become the basis of independent business. Recent examples are briefly presented.

BITalino


... BITalino (www.bitalino.com) provides a low-cost, purpose-built, all-in-one hardware and software toolkit designed for quick and easy creation of quirky projects with body signals, development of quantified-self wearable devices or apps, and/or learning how to build medical devices. Launched in 2013, it already has a user base of 1200+ people worldwide, was one of only 10 semi-finalists worldwide at Engadget’s Expand NY, selected by The New Zealand Herald a Tech Universe favorite, and the first Portuguese creation to ever be featured in the catalogues of world-renowned SparkFun Electronics and Maker Shed. In 2014 the team has successfully secured an agreement for technology transfer to an industrial partner.

cardio-id


... CardioID proposes a technology that allows the heart signal, in particular the electrocardiogram (the ECG) to be continuously acquired at the subject’s hands using dry electrodes, conductive textiles or other materials, enabling the development of innovative products, with particular focus on ECG-based biometrics. This requires the development of custom hardware and electronics that enhances the signal quality, under the constraints of a tight budget, but also robust signal processing algorithms. The automotive vertical was the first focus, and CardioWheel the first product - a steering wheel cover that acquires in non-intrusive way the ECG of the driver, and triggers alerts of driver-change and drowsiness. The integration with other advanced driver assisting systems (ADAS), as Mobileye and Geotab is allowing to monitor the driver, and the driving behaviour in an innovative way.

Is4health


... Is4health (www.is4health.com) was established in 2014 and licences a variety of IT technologies associated with digital auscultation, namely for teaching, telemedicine and assisted diagnosis purposes. Highly focused on usability and user acceptance, their technology has already been used to support a cardiology b-learning course offered by the University of Porto to 100 students, to screen cardiac pathologies in 1000 children and pregnant women in northeast Brazil, and has successfully transmitted real pediatric auscultations between the state of Paraíba, Brazil and both hospitals in Pernambuco, Brazil and Porto, Portugal.

MyDidimo


... MyDidimo is focused on humanizing technology and reducing digital isolation. We use the human face as an interface with technology, bringing you into the digital world, driving a new paradigm for communication. Our technology automates 3D character creation - a once expensive and time consuming task - in 30 seconds or less. Our product - a didimo - that look, act and speak like a person, will connect every one of us more closely to the digital world through the image we know most intimately - our own face.

PICadvanced


... Founded in 2014, PICadvanced is a Portuguese startup specialized in solving complex problems through the development and packaging of optical components based in integrated circuits.
PICadvanced defined the photonic integrated circuits as the key for the innovation and challenge for the telecommunication industry. Currently PICadvanced is focused on development of NG-PON2 technologies based on both discrete and integrated optics.
PICadvanced is the leader of the research project HeatIT funded by P2020 program. HeatIT main goal is to develop a line of transceivers for NG-PON2 based on photonic integration. PICadvanced is also part of the consortium of the H2020 project TERRANOVA that researches technologies for beyond 5G.

PLUX


... PLUX (www.plux.info) was established in 2007, PLUX develops medical devices and software for biosignal processing, targeting physiotherapy and biomedical research. With a customer base of 2000+ users worldwide, scattered across more than 40 countries, we have reference customers such as Boeing, Intel, Samsung, MIT, Stanford University and many others. PLUX is a company with profitable operations running since 2007; annual revenues currently exceed €1M. The company’s activity has been widely recognized, examples including the Life Sciences award in a venture competition co-promoted by the MIT in 2010, one of the top 20 European entrepreneurs in IVC’s Health Tech Summit in 2014, and others.

Streambolico


... Streambolico (www.streambolico.com) commercializes a unique solution that allows network operators to stream video to 10x more mobile users from a single wireless hotspot. Streambolico's products have been implemented both for Apple and Android smart phones and tablets and greatly improve the user experience in environments where thousands of users want to access video content simultaneously, The company won the BES National Innovation Grand Prize and closed a venture round that allowed it to develop an ideal software solution for crowded spaces such as stadiums, shopping malls or classrooms.

TWEVO


... TWEVO was launched in 2017 to offer beyond state-of-the-art wireless solutions. Our products enable real-time services for the fast-growing professional UAV/drone and mobile robotics market segments.
TWEVO builds on the founders’ R&D expertise, with extensive background on wireless communications, to deliver software-defined radio (SDR) wireless products, tailored to meet customer’s needs. Our team designed a proprietary streaming composition methodology that uses a unique building block endowed with the properties needed to boost the hardware performance.

Veniam'Works


... Veniam'Works (www.veniamworks.com) is building the Internet of Moving Things. Already today, the company turns vehicles into WiFi hotspots and builds city-scale vehicular networks that expand wireless coverage and collect terabytes of urban data. In controlled spaces with many vehicles and moving machines, such as ports and container terminals, Veniam's game-changing solutions ensure that all mobile workers and assets are securely connected, no matter where they are or at what speed they are moving. After winning the 400,000 EUR grand prize of the MIT Portugal Building Global Innovators venture competition among 132 startups from 14 different countries, Veniam closed several contracts, gained the investment of leading VCs in the United States and established a presence in Silicon Valley.

Watgrid


... Watgrid (watgrid.com) proposes a unique platform that uses advanced fiber optic multiparameter sensors for inline flow and water quality assessment in real time operation. This allows water distribution companies to monitor remotely the flow and water quality, obtaining a complete real time map of the water grid. The long-standing expertise in optical sensors, water quality assessment and big data analysis was brought to address one of the key challenges for mankind, especially in highly urbanized areas: an increasing scarcity of water. The company operation is based on a international filed patent licensed from it. The Innovation and business of Watgrid has already been recognized internationally, being the winner of the Smart Cities track in a venture competition co-promoted by the MIT in 2013 and the winner of a start-up contest co-promoted by 33entrepreneurs (France) in 2014.

Wavecom


... Wavecom (www.wavecom.pt/en/index.php) was born in 2000 as a wireless systems integrator. It started with the initiative of 4 engineers, who had worked together in the RF and MW laboratory of it in Aveiro. it was a definitive dynamo of Wavecom’s birth and initiative by providing

  • The innovation and R&D culture which is the DNA of our company;
  • Scientific knowledge on telecommunications namely Electronics, Radio Propagation, Protocols, Systems;
  • Practice on RF and Microwave systems design and test
Right from the start Wavecom was organized in two areas: Wireless Networks and I&D (Integration & Development). It has evolved since then to Wireless Networks, Unified Networks and R&D. It has now 35 people, generating 3.5M€ a year, and has created other companies accounting for over 50 collaborators.