"The ambition of making Lisbon the capital of innovation in Europe was achieved this Monday, with the European Commission choosing and presenting the award to the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, in a ceremony that took place in Marseille", reads in a statement sent to newsrooms.

"This prize will be invested by Unicorn Factory to develop social innovation projects and combat exclusion, using technology as a social elevator", highlights the president of the Lisbon Chamber, Carlos Moedas.

The Portuguese capital chose Fábrica dos Unicórnios, based in Beato, to compete in this European competition. "In just 2 years, Unicorn Factory Lisboa attracted 54 new technology centres to Lisbon from 23 countries, announced 10,000 jobs, launched 13 incubation and acceleration programs, tripled the number of incubated start-ups and positioned the city in industries as distinct as digital health, “Web 3” technologies or artificial intelligence", celebrates the municipality in an informative note.

In October of this year, the Lisbon City Council wrote: "Under the theme Lisbon Unicorn Capital, the Lisbon City Council, a proponent of the Portuguese capital's initiative, presented to the European jury a dossier in which it describes the work carried out by the city until the moment, illustrated and supported with statistical data and metrics in terms of innovation in the most diverse areas: environment, culture, economy, mobility."

The iCapital awards recognise the most innovative cities in Europe every year. This is the first time that Lisbon has won the 'European Capital of Innovation' award.