The mental health startup Cozecare, winner of SpinUM 2026 – Business Ideas Contest of the University of Minho, is one of the nine finalists of the Pitch Competition of UniVerse – Academia Empreendedora. The initiative brings together entrepreneurship projects from nine national universities on November 10, from 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm, at the Congress Center of the Portugal Pavilion, in Lisbon, in parallel with the Web Summit, the largest technological conference in the country. Admission is free, subject to prior registration.
The nine startups have the opportunity to disclose innovative solutions to investors, companies and other agents in the innovation ecosystem. Each project has three minutes to present its proposal to a jury, which evaluates criteria such as innovation, team, market, business model, quality of presentation and impact, and the winner should be announced by 8:00 pm. In addition to UMinho, the universities of Aveiro, Beira Interior, Coimbra, Évora, Lisbon, Madeira, Nova de Lisboa and Porto participate.
The program includes a demonstration and exhibition area of university projects and technologies, a performance by the ZABRA collective that crosses art and technology and a final moment of conviviality and networking. The event is part of the 2nd edition of UniVerse, which highlights academies in the transformation of knowledge into solutions with economic and social impact, thus connecting science, entrepreneurship and the market.
About Cozecare
Cozecare was born by Manuel Padrão, a student of the master’s degree in Engineering Project Management and the postgraduate degree in Strategic Innovation Management at UMinho, and by his colleague Francisco Martins, graduated from Instituto Superior Técnico. Incubated in Lisbon, it has already won SpinUM, the “Best Traction Startup Portugal” at the Global Startup Awards, the honorable mention in “Sustainability and Social Impact” at the National Innovation Awards, accumulates distinctions from the F6S innovation portal, was a finalist in the Startup World Cup Portugal competition and has participated in acceleration programs from NVIDIA, Startup Braga, TecMinho, Factory Lisboa and Apollo Junitec.
This digital platform facilitates access to psychologists and continuous follow-up between appointments. It has patient support tools, such as personalized exercises, progress records or progress monitoring, and features for psychologists and clinics, such as simplifying clinical records and reducing administrative tasks. The project was initially tested in more than 350 sessions, involving 20 psychologists and 15,000 minutes of therapy. Currently, it is estimated that it has served more than 300 thousand people and 300 psychologists.
+Info: Cozecare, UniVerse, SIC Notícias
SOURCE: UMinho
