Portugal Ventures announced today the investment in Josefinas and MICE. These two new investments are part of the +Innovation +Industry Programme, an initiative aimed at bolstering venture capital investment in the more traditional sectors of the country’s economy, by supporting the creation of new innovative businesses, with the potential to compete on global markets. Through that Programme startups like BeyonDevices, Cubo, Follow Inspiration and Graphenest already got investment as well.
Created in 2013, Josefinas is a digital Portuguese brand for luxury women’s shoes. According to Maria Cunha, CEO at Josefinas,
We believe in savoir-faire – we know that Handmade is synonymous with tradition and quality, and that is why each pair of Josefinas shoes mirrors the art of making shoes by hand.
Josefinas were recently on the news for creating the most expensive ballet flats in the world, with soles and insoles in genuine leather and adorned with a gold and blue topaz jewelry. USA is already Josefinas’ second biggest market, but the company expects it to turn into the main market already in 2016.
MICE – Molds and Injected Components Engineering is a spin-off of the University of Porto, dedicated to the engineering of thermosetting materials and composites, which offers a fully integrated design office with a capacity up to medium series, and parts with large dimensions. They focus their expertise in the field of Reactive Injection Molding (RIM) process. Which when compared with thermoplastic injection molding, allows for the fabrication of bigger and more complex parts, with less energy consumption.is dedicated to the manufacturing of small to medium series thermosetting parts, including composite materials. Its innovation is reactive injection moulding, a process which, compared to the conventional injection method of polymers, enables the fabrication of bigger and more complex parts, with less energy consumption. MICE operates in market niches with specific needs such as furniture, industrial equipment and automobile. For Nuno Gomes, CEO at MICE,
The support from Portugal Ventures will help us leverage MICE commercially, and also help us take a technological leap to where we want to make our mark.