The EER Jury has specifically acknowledge the impact of Lisbon's efforts in positioning itself as an Atlantic business hub and Atlantic startup city, exploiting its geographic location as a gateway to the Americas, Africa and the EU. In particular, the identity of “Startup Cities” has been reinforced through an impressive set of initiatives such as “Empresa na hora”, allowing the creation of a new business in a very short time; the Startup Lisboa business incubator, which opened its doors in 2012 and is part of a urban regeneration project for the downtown area of the city (Baixa); the Lisbon Youth Entrepreneurship Programme that offers education and training for the youth in the areas of citizenship and ethics, career development, entrepreneurship and financial literacy; and the Lisbon Challenge that selects start-ups to receive top mentoring and support, including through sessions organised in Boston, London and São Paulo.
Antonio Costa, Lisbon's Mayor, stated that: "Lisbon is a unique city with a great potential as an entrepreneur city, a real Start Up-City. This has been a priority for the Municipality of Lisbon, which has launched various articulated projects and programs with this objective. The vital steps have been; spaces for incubation and testing of new concepts (like StartUp Lisboa and Fab Lab Lisboa) ; financial instruments giving support to the entrepreneurs; entrepreneur programs in schools; networking between the different partnerships and spaces, like the Network of incubators of Lisbon, and the Week of entrepreneurship; promotion and support of important international events in Lisbon. Today, Lisbon is internationally recognized as a privileged destination for entrepreneurs, and has been highlighted as one of the best cities in the world for entrepreneurship, by the magazine Entrepreneur".