doDOC, founded by MIT Portugal Program alumni, was selected into the competitive Techstars Boston accelerator. Launched by Carlos Boto PhD '15, Federico Cismondi PhD '12, and Paulo Melo PhD '14, doDOC helps enterprises import and share highly complex documents with its Web platform. The the Coimbra-and Boston-based startup is the first Portuguese startup to win a spot in Techstars.
doDOC was selected to Techstars after an exhaustively competitive application process, which left Techstars administrators impressed. “We are extremely impressed with the quality of the projects being developed in Portugal," says Semyon Dukach, managing director of Techstars Boston. "Our investment in doDOC reflects our intensified efforts to identify and support the next generation of technology ventures wherever they are in the world, adding them to our track record of scalable successful businesses."
doDOC is focusing its market entry on pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, hospitals, and universities. According to doDOC, such organizations generate high volumes of documents and require an easy, secure, and organized way of accessing and outputing the information contained in those documents. doDOC has developed a platform that optimizes such processes.
"Techstars investment is a validation of doDOC’s technology and value proposition, and the entire team is proud of being the first Portuguese start-up to join the Techstars accelerator program," Boto says. "It’s recognition of the work and support from an entire community that worked with us towards this moment, which represents a unique opportunity for the future of doDOC."
The team behind doDOC first met in 2008 through the MIT Portugal Program. However, doDOC launched in February 2014 with the support of Coimbra University's Arrisca C entrepreneurship competition, as well as the early accelerator INEO-Start, promoted by Instituto Pedro Nunes, Coimbra's business incubator. Shortly after, Lisbon Challenge, a three-month acceleration program, provided methods and resources to reach global markets — and earned doDOC a spot among the top startups from the challenge. Further support came from Building Global Innovators, an accelerator sponsored by the MIT Portugal Program, Caixa Capital, and the Lisbon University Institute that focuses on innovation and establishing direct contact with the U.S. market.
