Portugal Ventures invested in Graphenest and CUBO through its +Innovation +Industry Programme, created to reinforce 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.

Graphenest developed a new method for large production of high quality graphene nanoplatelets and their functional derivatives which gives it the ability to commercialize graphene with a cost up to a 1000 times lower than the currently practiced technology. Geared toward innovation, in the energy and electronics markets, Graphenest will enter into partnerships for the research and development of emerging applications based on graphene.

According to Vitor Abrantes, founder and CEO at Graphenest,

The investment from Portugal Ventures will facilitate the company’s international projection within the identified markets, due to its experience and vast contact network. Graphenest’s goal is to become market leader with high-quality products, meeting customer needs.

CUBO is a company that produces and commercialises compact and modular units for the treatment of drinking water and wastewater. Only with this type of equipment, with these characteristics, is it possible to offer a solution so that people who are far from large urban centres can finally have access to such an important and essential resource as water. CUBO is focused on and geared toward developing markets and to those which need these types of structures, but also to developed markets, particularly the industrial and tourism sectors.

For Pedro Magalhães, CEO at CUBO,

CUBO aims to enter these markets and establish itself as a reference for this type of equipment, and to sustainably continue to develop new products. The support from Portugal Ventures is key in order for us to leverage the commercial aspect of this project on challenging markets such as Africa, Asia and South America.