Colmeia

About

Founded in 2023, Colmeia is a government headquartered in Matosinhos, Portugal specializing in Solar, Wind, Energy Storage.

Colmeia is a startup acceleration and innovation program designed to foster scalable, impactful solutions addressing sustainability challenges in Matosinhos, Portugal. Powered by Galp, Fundação Galp, and the Municipality of Matosinhos, and organized by Beta-i in partnership with CATÓLICA LISBON's Yunus Social Innovation Center, Colmeia connects global innovators with local opportunities. The program focuses on two main challenge areas: energy transition (renewable access, community grids, energy efficiency, and local infrastructure protection) and urban mobility (smart logistics, data-driven transport, and clean, inclusive mobility solutions). The program runs through multiple phases including applications, acceleration sprints, online pitches, and final jury evaluation. Winners receive monetary prizes and support for pilot project implementation. Past winners include Future Voltaics (vertical solar systems), Energia com Vida (piezoelectric trampolines), O Bairro (photovoltaic panels for energy poverty mitigation), EaVy Charging (EV charging systems), Suntech Workflow (AI for solar design), Nilg.ai (urban mobility planning), Windcredible (micro wind turbines), and Inergy (energy community management platform).