01-08-2025
After recently winning the Demo Day of the NOVA impACT! Challenges, GeoCura, a team composed of Erasmus Mundus students from the Master’s in Advanced Materials and Innovative Recycling at NOVA FCT, has once again stood out by winning first place in the NOVA Startup Competition 2025, whose final took place on July 30 at the Rectorate Auditorium of NOVA University Lisbon.
The innovative project, developed by Huseyin Cetinkaya, Mavis Olorunyomi, Fabiola Dodaj, and Shah Saud, has thus reaffirmed its potential by securing a second major award in less than two months, highlighting the project’s consistency and the strength of its proposal, which combines geospatial technology with health-related solutions.
With this distinction, GeoCura will represent NOVA at STAGE Two, the first pan-European competition for the best startups emerging from leading European universities. This international final offers participants the opportunity to pitch their projects to investors and venture capital funds, with travel and accommodation costs covered — a decisive step towards global visibility.
The NOVA Startup Competition 2025 received 20 applications, with nine startups selected for the final round. The jury included leading experts in the innovation and investment ecosystem: Inês de Macedo Santos (Armilar Venture Partners), Pedro Telhado (Olisipo Way), and Sofia Jacob Soares (Lisboa Innovation). Projects were evaluated based on viability, degree of innovation, and growth potential.
NOVA FCT thus reinforces its role as a hub of entrepreneurial talent and impactful solutions, contributing to the strengthening of the innovation ecosystem in Portugal and across Europe.
