ESA BIC Portugal, coordinated by IPN – Instituto Pedro Nunes, is part of a network of 29 ESA BICs across Europe, which were established to empower entrepreneurship and to allow local economies to benefit from space data and technologies.

ESA BIC Portugal was launched in 2014 to offer technical, business and financial support to startups that use space technology for terrestrial applications. Up to date, ESA BIC Portugal has supported 58 startups, which were responsible for the creation of more than 150 jobs. In 2020, to further empower the Portuguese space ecosystem, more technology based incubators joined the programme, so that more Regions in the country can host ESA BIC Portugal startups.

ESA BIC Portugal has been supported by ESA Space Solutions, as well as by the Portuguese Space Agency – Portugal Space, and ANACOM.