CMU Portugal Patient Innovation Accelerator
The CMU Portugal Patient Innovation (PI) Accelerator Program aims to support Portuguese life science startups in partnership with the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program, the Patient Innovation Platform, NOVA Medical School, and the Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE).
PI Accelerator Program
The Accelerator Program builds on the Patient Innovation Platform’s Bootcamp: the first and only acceleration program focused on solutions developed by patients who are caregivers for their own needs. The Patient Innovation Platform is a result of the Technology, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy Lab project, a 2013 CMU Portugal Program Entrepreneurial Research Initiative (ERI), led by Professor Pedro Oliveira, current Dean of Nova SBE, and Professor Helena Canhão, current Dean of Nova Medical School.
The PI Accelerator Program follows a hybrid model that combines virtual education, in-person engagement with U.S.-based experts, and targeted workshops in Portugal.Â
The Program was designed to provide opportunity to Portuguese participating startups to advance into an additional acceleration phase, during which they will receive support to expand and develop their businesses at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA. The program was developed in collaboration with Project Olympus, a CMU Incubator Program; the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship; and AlphaLab Health, Pittsburgh’s leading life sciences accelerator.
Collaborating with the CMU Portugal Program, the participants engage in various activities, including workshops, product development support, mentoring, networking, investor presentations, expansion into the American market, corporate partnerships, and sustainability strategies.
The first edition was in May 2024 and it follows the PI bootcamp funded by EIT Health, held in Lisbon, Barcelona, and Copenhagen, coordinated by Nova SBE and NOVA Medical School, with Copenhagen Business School, IESE Business School, and BioCat.Â
2025
Phase I, which took place from January to March 2025 included weekly virtual and mentorship sessions and focused on foundational skills and knowledge for life science entrepreneurship. The program then transitioned to an in-person, intensive residency Program (Phase II) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with seven teams visiting CMU April 7th to 11th.
The in-person phase was designed to prepare teams to enter the U.S. market. The program offered insights, hands-on experience, and industry exposure to support the development of each business plan. The week featured 24 unique touch points, including expert-led workshops on topics such as regulatory approval strategies, prototyping and product development feedback, customer discovery refinement, intellectual property, leadership and more; tailored mentorship; and site visit to Allegheny Health Network’s Suburban Campus. Mornings were structured around sessions led by Project Olympus, and afternoons included dedicated self-directed meetings, customer interviews, and one-on-one sessions with Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs). This in-person residency represented an opportunity for the six startups to explore U.S. market entry, engage with key stakeholders, and test their business models supported by one of US most dynamic life sciences hubs.Â
The Program continues with ongoing virtual mentorship through May, where the teams will continue improving their go-to-market strategies. The third and final phase of the program will be an in-person workshop in June, in Portugal, where participants will showcase their progress and finalize their go-to-market strategies. By the end of the CMU Portugal Patient Innovation Accelerator Program, teams are expected to have developed solid commercialization plans tailored to both US and EU markets and have established relevant partnerships for their future steps.
- Auricle – an audio startup based in Denmark making open-ear headphones with haptic vibration technology.
Team Members: Pedro Costa, CEO and Founder; Roberto Reyes, Industrial Designer and 3D Artist - WOM-iCARE – An antibactericidal hydrogel for enhanced skin and/or mucosal infection control, specifically designed to combat bacterial infections, such as N. gonorrhoeae, it provides targeted prevention and treatment.
Team Members: André Marques, Founder; Bárbara Mendes, Founder - MELT4SKIN – proposes to modulate skin pigmentation by interfering with melanin transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes. The team identified a small molecule that can efficiently and specifically enhance melanin transfer.
Team Member: Duarte Barral, Founder - eBreathie – an integrated asthma management solution that wants to redefine how patients and doctors monitor asthma. The system includes a smart inhaler that not only tracks when patients take their medication but also how they do it, creating a detailed inhalation profile for each use.
Team Members: Ana Rebelo, Chief Technology Officer; Ana Constante, Chief Executive Officer - Glooma – Focused on early detection of breast cancer, Glooma developed a device used to detect and monitor changes in breast tissue. The SenseGlove is a portable home medical device that works as a breast self-examination method and is linked to a mobile application.
Team Members: Francisco Nogueira, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer; Frederico Stock, Co-founder & Chief Financial Officer / Chief Operations Officer; Guilherme Stock, Chief Information Officer - Patient Innovation – Patient Innovation is a non-profit association aimed to disseminate, and scale-up solutions developed by patients and caregivers for their own needs.
Team Members: Gemma Tria, Platform Manager; Margarida Oliveira, Digital Communications Officer; Maria Jọo Jacinto, Executive Director - TTO @NMS РThe Tech Transfer Office at Nova Medical School supports two life sciences technologies participating in the Accelerator. The TTO @NMS gathered insights and experience to support current projects and aims to transfer this knowledge to other emerging projects at NOVA Medical School.
Team Members: Rita Rocha, Coordinator, Innovation and Value Creation; Marta Cerejo, Senior Innovation ManagerÂ
