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Program Overview

Discover our previous edition

Ahead Start is Brisa Group's open innovation program connecting startups with real strategic challenges. Selected startups collaborate directly with our teams to develop and test innovative solutions in real operational environments. Curious about it? Take a look at a glimpse of the previous edition

About us

Half a century of
shaping mobility

For half a century, Brisa Group has shaped Portugal's mobility landscape, creating world-class highways and pioneering intelligent solutions. Brisa Group's purpose is to transform the quality of life of communities, connecting people through safe, sustainable and seamless mobility

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Motorway
Concessions
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Service Area
Concessions
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Mobility and
Payment Services
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Technologies
for Mobility
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Vehicle Inspections
and Certifications
Services
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Why join

Ahead Start program

Ahead Start is your gateway to real opportunities, right connections, and exposure to accelerate your startup’s growth

🚀

Pilot & Business
Development

You will be connected to Brisa Group business units as part of the challenge to explore potential business development opportunities and boost your growth

🌐

Ecosystem Events

We'll connect you to the industry's top events in order to showcase your solution and create meaningful connections with valuable stakeholders

🔗

International Network

You'll be connected with regional and global VCs and investors throughout the program, and we will introduce you to potential partners and investors through Plug and Play events

🤝

Partnership Opportunities

You'll have the chance to meet with Brisa's Open Innovation team and the relevant internal stakeholders

🎤

Demo Day

Two days to celebrate your progress and achievements throughout the program with mentors, directors, and attendees

Challenges 2026

Step into our challenges

Brisa Group is on a mission to transition from "Isolated Solutions" to a Collaborative Back-Office Ecosystem. This year, we are calling on startups, entrepreneurs, and innovators to help us revolutionize our core corporate functions. Our goal is to shift from manual, analog, and reactive workflows toward a "near real-time" digital model that reinforces our efficiency, productivity, and transparency

01
Procurement

The Next-Gen Ethics Working Ecosystem

Key Focus Areas

→ Role Clarity & Process Visibility: Map responsibilities and improve the transparency of cross-team workflows
→ Cross-Team Collaboration: Strengthen ties between all the stakeholders involved in sourcing activities
→ Team Dynamics: Bridge gaps in seniority and skillsets to build a more cohesive environment
→ Upskilling & Digital Adoption: We are seeking innovative Knowledge Management and Digital Adoption Platforms (DAP) that use AI-driven micro-learning or behavioral nudges to bridge seniority gaps, automate "tribal knowledge" transfer, and accelerate the adoption of new procurement workflows across diverse teams
Learn More ➔
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Procurement: The Next-Gen Ethics Working Ecosystem

The Procurement and Purchasing area are at a key stage where stronger alignment, collaboration, and role clarity are essential for more efficient and agile operations. While technical tools are already in place, the main opportunity lies in improving how teams interact within Procurement and with internal stakeholders. We seek solutions focusing on people, cross-functional collaboration, increased transparency of roles and responsibilities, and enabling a more cohesive and dynamic working model.

02
Financial Services

AI-Powered Ops & Secure Data Exchange

Key Focus Areas

→ Intelligent Document & Data Management: Solutions to automate the classification and distribution of digital mail, as well as platforms to manage the lifecycle and validation of certificates (e.g., Residence and RFI)
→ Automated Financial Validation & Reporting: Tools to support the preparation of Reports and Accounts, focusing on cross-referencing information and consistency checks across multiple annexes to reduce manual validation time
→ Predictive Insights & Smart Reconciliation: AI for Interest Rate Risk Management and forecasting, alongside OCR/NLP engines to automate the "Bank-to-SAP" reconciliation of non-standard descriptions
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Financial Services: AI-Powered Ops & Secure Data Exchange

We seek to leverage AI to enhance decision-making and operational security. Our priority is to automate complex financial workflows and ensure "Privacy by Design" in institutional data sharing to eliminate manual, high-risk processes.

03
Legal

Integrated Legal Operations & Governance

Key Focus Areas

→ Collaborative Drafting: CLM tools with version control for legal templates across multiple departments
→ Automated Lifecycle Tracking: Systems for automated tracking of renewals, expirations, and notice periods
→ Legal Ticketing: A metric-driven system to track all requests submitted to the Legal Department
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Legal: Integrated Legal Operations & Governance

We aim to transition to a centralized “Legal Hub” that fosters cross-functional collaboration. We seek solutions that enable Business Units to manage their legal activities autonomously, while ensuring the Legal function maintains full visibility over demand, workflows, and workload across the organization.

04
Facilities Management

Intelligent Building Operations

Key Focus Areas

→ Dynamic Utility Control: Smart sensors that adjust lighting and HVAC based on real-time occupancy
→ Unified Dashboards: Lean centralization of data from solar production, water, and energy use
→ AR-Powered Maintenance: Augmented Reality for remote expert assistance to field technicians
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Facilities Management: Intelligent Building Operations

Managing over 200 buildings requires unified intelligence. We are seeking partners to move beyond fixed-timer systems toward "Dynamic Building Control" that responds to real-time occupancy and environmental conditions.

05
Compliance & Audit

Smart Field Ops & Narrative Intelligence

Key Focus Areas

→ Digital Audit & Risk Intelligence Platform: from planning - an AI-driven engine cross-referencing financial data and Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) to generate dynamic, risk-prioritized audit schedules; through field work - mobile-first inspection tools with geolocation, photo evidence and digital signatures for site audits; to reporting - automated conversion of technical findings into high-impact, multilingual visual formats
→ Smart Compliance Platform: AI-driven tools to automate conflict-of-interest and gifts & hospitality management, support employees through an intelligent governance chatbot, and proactively monitor regulatory changes — reducing manual effort, compliance risk and response time
→ Process Intelligence: combine process mining with intelligent documentation management to show how processes really run and keep documentation always accurate and compliant — driving efficiency, reducing risk, and enabling smarter decisions
Learn More ➔
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Compliance & Audit: Smart Field Ops & Narrative Intelligence

We aim to modernize audit, compliance, and operational processes by replacing manual workflows with high-traceability digital solutions. From risk identification and field activities to compliance management and process optimization, we want to transform traditionally static outputs into interactive, visual narratives that drive better decisions and engage senior management and international stakeholders.

06
Marketing

Digital Rights, Automated Interaction & Insights

Key Focus Areas

→ Consent & Image Rights Automation: Digitalizing the collection of Legal Image (AV) Releases to ensure GDPR compliance with minimal manual intervention
→ Virtual Personas for Testing & Simulation: Developing AI-driven virtual personas that replicate key target audiences, enabling teams to test campaigns, messaging, and content in a controlled sandbox environment before launch
→ Marketing Research Intelligence Platform (Virtual Biblio): Creating a centralized, intelligent system with access to historical research and studies across brands and business units, allowing users to query insights, identify correlations, and uncover strategic opportunities
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Marketing: Digital Rights, Automated Interaction & Insights

Within the Marketing domain, we aim to both streamline operational processes and unlock deeper, data-driven insights to support smarter decision-making. On one side, we aim to digitize and optimize the customer lifecycle by replacing paper-based workflows with simple, scalable, and low-maintenance systems. On the other, we are exploring innovative ways to leverage data and research to better understand our audiences, test strategies, and uncover new opportunities for growth.

Key dates

Program timeline

Join us in Lisbon, Portugal for Networking and Demo Days, where you'll pitch your solution to the Selection Committee and connect with key stakeholders to unlock high-impact partnerships

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Ready to join Ahead Start?

Apply now!

Past Editions and Related News

Explore the journey

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Road Safety Open Call

The first edition of Ahead Start brought together startups from around the world to develop innovative solutions focused on road safety. The program received more than 65 applications from 25 countries, with 10 startups selected as finalists to present their solutions at the final Demo Day at Brisa's headquarters. The winning startup, Sentiance, stood out with an AI-based solution that analyzes driving behavior to anticipate risky situations and promote safer driving.

1st Edition
Closed
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Brisa challenges startups to innovate in road safety

The Brisa Group has launched its first open innovation program, challenging national and international startups to develop solutions to enhance road safety. Brisa invites participants to create projects focused on promoting good driving practices, including reducing speed and limiting mobile phone use while driving.

Learn More
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Sentiance wins the first edition of Grupo Brisa’s Ahead Start program

Sentiance — a startup based in Belgium — is the winner of the first edition of Ahead Start, Grupo Brisa’s open innovation program. The awarded project is an application that monitors driving habits, enabling the anticipation of risky behaviors and, when necessary, real-time intervention, ensuring safer driving.

Learn More
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RoadMaster VR showcases cutting-edge driver training at Brisa Group’s Ahead Start program

RoadMaster VR is proud to announce its selection as one of the top 10 finalists in the inaugural Ahead Start open innovation program by Grupo Brisa, Portugal’s leading mobility and infrastructure company.

Learn More