In Ancient times, the region that today is called Lisbon held an importance that would not be unrelated to its excellent strategic position and the diversity of natural resources available. This region was integrated in the roman empire in 137 BC. The importance of this strategic location grew during the roman times and many public buildings, small factories and theaters were built, becoming the “maritime capital” of Lusitania (Iberia). This capital was called Olisipo.
FROM TRAINING PROJECTS TO OUTSOURCING TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
In 1993 Olisipo was an idea in the minds of the two founders who were starting to do things in the business world, just like any other entrepreneur. Two professors with a “will to do something more” and take a new direction for their know-how in areas such as Training; People Management and IT Management. This idea would materialize in the first days of 1994 with the foundation of a company named after the city where it was born.
Since then we have come a long way. Our first projects were in Training and evolved to more complex requests from our clients to recruiting and building technical teams using an outsourcing model. We gained confidence and grew exponentially but sustainably. In 2009 we surpassed the 300 employee mark and by 2011 we were the only portuguese IT company in the “Europe’s 500 Top Growing Companies”.
In parallel, we envisioned Olisipo’s future to be holding hands with innovation and entrepreneurship. Many IT companies traditionally choose to expand their business and market share by creating new consulting services; develop software products; or integrate with large software houses, but that would not be the case for Olisipo. In 2007 we looked at our “creative mass”, with hundreds of tech specialists, and we knew our growth would be in expanding to completely new ventures, building startups from scratch and helping them grow. We envisioned being a world class innovation hub centered in Lisbon.
This hub materialized with the creation of Olisipo Way, an early stage venture firm that gathers a portfolio of more than 35 companies today. We invest in projects that can make a difference in the Information Technology area and especially in business to business. This strategy first favored the investment in business projects of our own employees and, eventually, in other entrepreneurs that were attracted by this innovation and investment hub.
Joining forces with Olisipo is taking part in one of the strongest innovators ecosystems in Portugal.
Ready to create your corporate tech hub with us?
