Lisbon Demo Night: Fast-Paced, Founder-Led, and Full of Heart

At Nina - Brunch & Speciality Coffee in Lisbon, October’s Canopy Demo Night unfolded with an energy that felt equal parts festival, founder therapy, and a masterclass in community learning. Under soft café lights and the smell of amazing food, our startup founder community gathered not just to watch but to participate. The evening introduced a bold new Speed Date format — turning the evening into something very human: short bursts of storytelling, real-time audience feedback, and the kind of conversations that can only happen when founders feel safe to share and experiment.

The Speed Date Experiment

This month’s Demo Night event for startups carried a spirit of experimentation. Instead of five-minute monologues, each founder had ten minutes to tell their story, demo their product, and capture hearts — with live participant reactions captured on Mentimeter. The shift in rhythm created something rare: immediacy, intimacy, and genuine co-creation. Founders swapped ideas and insights, and the audience was right there with them — voting, commenting, and shaping what came next.

The feedback came thick and fast: “Test and learn,” typed one participant. “Love it,” said another. That’s the beauty of Canopy’s global founder community — we’re constantly testing, learning, and growing together. This is what modern early-stage startup support looks like: open, interactive, and powered by peer-to-peer learning rather than polished performance.

Meet the Startups

Lisbon’s lineup was as diverse as it was dynamic — a perfect reflection of the diverse founder ecosystem Canopy champions.

• Nelson Monteiro – DJINA
  DJINA is a decision-intelligence platform designed to give businesses complete visibility and decisive data-driven action. Nelson’s calm confidence and razor-sharp demo impressed — as one audience member put it, “Clarify the problem, and you’re unstoppable.”

• Robyn and Jeremy – Pravi
  Tackling the imbalance of charity donations in the UK, Pravi helps smaller nonprofits access donor insights through billions of anonymised transactions. The crowd loved their mission: using tech to make giving more equitable.

• Filipe Lins Duarte – Peekaboo 
  Our People’s Choice Winner! Peekaboo helps brands understand what large language models — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and more — think about them. It transforms AI perception into actionable brand visibility data. The mix of live customer traction, AI insight, and Filipe’s contagious enthusiasm made Peekaboo the clear community favourite. Or as one voter put it, “Amazing idea! This will help so many businesses!”

• Rudolfo Félix – Simbiose
  With a focus on mindfulness and authentic human practice, Simbiose brought emotional depth to the evening. Rudolfo reminded us that innovation isn’t just about building — it’s about being.

Each founder brought courage, clarity, and connection. The rapid-fire tempo stripped away artifice, leaving just product and purpose. The result? A conversation between builders and believers — exactly what the Canopy startup ecosystem is built on.

Celebrating Filipe’s Win

Every Canopy Demo Night is powered by people, and Filipe’s win captured the community’s collective heartbeat. Peekaboo bridges the gap between human understanding and AI perception — a mission that feels perfectly of-the-moment in 2025. Yet beyond the code and algorithms, it was Filipe’s warmth and humility that resonated most. His message — “Help us spread the word” — was both invitation and inspiration.

In a world where AI can feel faceless, Filipe reminded us that technology is at its best when it reflects real human intent. His win wasn’t just a personal success; it was proof that empathy and intelligence can coexist beautifully in early-stage startups.

Connect with Filipe -> https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipelinsduarte/ 

Gratitude and the Canopy Spirit

Nights like this depend on more than founders and formats — they thrive on the invisible hands behind them. Huge thanks to Bernardo and Irina, whose seamless coordination made the entire evening flow with ease, and to Nina - Brunch & Speciality Coffee, whose warmth, light, and hospitality gave our event its heartbeat.

At Canopy Community, every Demo Night is part of a bigger story: a living network of founders, investors, and changemakers across Lisbon, London, Boston, Bangalore, and Singapore. We design each event to push boundaries — from new formats like Speed Date to live feedback systems that democratise the founder experience. Because for us, innovation isn’t a solo act. It’s a shared performance.

The Speed Date format didn’t just work — it sparked. It reminded everyone that feedback is fuel, time is precious, and learning together is our superpower. This is what makes Canopy Membership so special: it’s not just about access, it’s about belonging.

Join Us Next Time

If you missed this one — or just want another night of inspiration, laughter, and startup energy — you’re in luck. Our next Lisbon Demo Night lands during Web Summit week, and it’s shaping up to be our biggest yet. Expect a packed lineup of investment-ready founders, live audience voting, and the kind of ideas that make you believe in the future all over again.

Sign up now at lu.ma/canopy and join the global founder community shaping what’s next. Whether you’re a founder, an investor, or simply curious about how ideas grow — this is where you’ll find your people.

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