Granter, Savearth and NIUM, startups incubated at UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto, were the winners of the three “Pitch Battles” at the third edition of the SIM Conference, Startup Portugal’s annual event dedicated to startups and investment.

The “Pitch Battles” recognised the most promising national startups in different areas, with categories such as AI, in which Savearth was the winner, Healthtech, where NIUM stood out, and Fintech, with victory going to Granter, which was also named the overall winner of the initiative – a distinction that included a prize of €2,000, a place on the Yellow Park Immersion by Glovo programme, and direct access to SIM 2027.

Granter has created an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that helps companies find funding opportunities and automate applications for grants. By providing some information about the company, Granter’s agent can match it with the most suitable grants and automatically check its eligibility, whilst also assisting with drafting applications and managing approved projects.

The technology created by Savearth enables the hospitality sector to measure water consumption in real time through intelligent analysis of shower sounds. Through a smart interface, the start-up enables hotels to involve guests in reducing water consumption, without the need for building work, changes to the plumbing or the installation of invasive sensors.

Meanwhile, NIUM is developing a revolutionary system that replicates the entire human gastrointestinal system on a chip. Thanks to this technology, it will be possible to create predictive models that will facilitate the development of innovative food products and personalised nutritional recommendations, including prebiotics and probiotics.

In addition to these three startups, the event featured other projects incubated at UPTEC: GOTECH Antimicrobial, Papayya, Infinite Foundry and Invisible Cloud were present in the exhibition area. The President of UPTEC, Professor Joana Resende, was also in attendance, moderating the panel “Lessons from the Series A-B transition”, where Hugo Augusto from Semapa Next, Carolina Amorim from Bloq.it and Daniela Coutinho from Bright Pixel Capital discussed the challenges and opportunities inherent in securing a Series B investment round.

The SIM Conference attracted over 4000 participants, 400 startups, 200 investors and more than a hundred speakers. The event, organised by Startup Portugal, will return to Porto in 2027 on 13 and 14 May.

20 May 2026