The Regional Development Agency of Alentejo (ADRAL) solidified its commitment to business development, entrepreneurship, and innovation by organizing the presence of NorBAN, a prominent Norwegian network of Business Angels, at the Challenge4Innovation – Opportunities for Partnerships event. The initiative took place on September 29th in the city of Évora.
The participation of Rita Anson, Secretary-General of NorBAN, was one of the highlights of the meeting, a direct result of the coordination promoted by ADRAL. Her intervention, focused on funding opportunities for business collaborations, explored prospects for bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and other key players in the innovation ecosystem.
The visit of NorBAN to Portugal reflects ADRAL's strategy to open the Alentejo business community to global networks and contacts. The aim is to empower companies and entrepreneurs in the region to access new investment approaches, identify potential partners, and establish connections with investors and organizations from international markets.
This engagement with Norway's Business Angels community is part of a broader strategy by ADRAL to boost business competitiveness. The agency seeks to build bridges between the regional business fabric and investors, knowledge entities, technological partners, and international innovation networks, facilitating access to new opportunities, specialized knowledge, and tools for the growth of innovative projects.
The Challenge4Innovation brought together companies, entities from the scientific and technological system, and innovation support organizations. The event combined knowledge sharing with the presentation of challenges and solutions, and included B2B meetings designed to foster direct contacts and promote new partnerships.
The session also featured an intervention by Pedro Assude from Delta Cafés, in the panel “Inovar em Rede: A perspetiva do Grupo Nabeiro sobre desafios e oportunidades” (Innovating in Network: The Nabeiro Group's perspective on challenges and opportunities). Various companies and entities presented their challenges and solutions, while the B2B component allowed for follow-up on these approaches through meetings focused on connecting business needs with innovative responses.
For ADRAL, initiatives like this are crucial for connecting Alentejo's companies with knowledge, technology, funding, and international networks. They contribute to transforming open innovation into concrete opportunities for collaboration and business development.
The Challenge4Innovation is an integral part of the DRIVEN – Open Innovation Driven Economy project. This project aims to foster a cross-border open innovation ecosystem and strengthen the links between companies, entrepreneurs, and knowledge entities in the EUROACE region. The DRIVEN project is co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Spain–Portugal (POCTEP) 2021–2027 Programme.
