Madan Science Park

Madan Science Park, Portugal, is a science and technology park established in 1995 and active since early 2000, whose mission is to play an interface role between academia and businesses. The core activities consist of the promotion of NTBFs and its acceleration, as well as the development of knowledge intensive projects within its region of influence.

The later is named Setubal Peninsula (or put in another way, Lisbon Metropolitan Area SOUTH), which could be seen as a sub-region of NUTS III region Lisbon Metropolitan Area (PT170). This sub-region is not formally recognised, albeit regional partners perceive a sensible difference of major socioeconomic indicators between the North and South counterparts. Bearing in mind this asymmetry, the role of Madan Parque as a CSO (Cluster Support Organisation) is very much relevant in the sense it was designed with the purpose of contributing to the welfare of the sub-region it pertains to. The progressive levelling of the socioeconomic indicators is also a goal, even though the difficulty to compete with the country capital city.

Madan Parque hosts nowadays +50 companies distributed within different programs. There is a small group of spin-off companies nurtured from research teams affiliated to FCT NOVA and UNINOVA, who belong to the group of shareholders (4 in total) and are the ones located in the vicinity of the CSO. Madan Parque runs also a technology-based incubator, which has a critical supporting role for its tenant companies (start-ups and former start-ups in the process of acceleration). There is as well a virtual incubation, addressed to companies from diverse origins, but who are keen to follow the activities developed by Madan Parque and thus attempt to benefit from the services and external visibility of the respective innovation ecosystem.

There is also a small co-working space of 80 m2, installed within the premises of UNINOVA. It is this CSO the partner responsible for mentoring the concerned entrepreneurs and help them to fine tune their business plan, which might lead to incorporation and hence the setting-up of a new business venture deeply rooted in the competences of FCT NOVA.

Key staff:

 Alcino Pascoal