Startup Leiria is a high-impact innovation hub in Leiria, Portugal, best known for building scale in a region—not just running events. A major milestone was its consolidation after December 2020, when the ecosystem brought together an incubator founded in 2004 (IDDNet) and an accelerator created in 2018, prioritising “one stronger institution” over fragmentation. Since then, the organisation has grown into an ecosystem of 180+ incubated companies, including a strong international footprint (reported as around 30 international projects/startups). Another visible marker of maturity has been its physical expansion, including operations in multiple sites in Leiria, notably at the Mercado. On the “success stories” side, startups from the ecosystem have continued to attract capital: BHOUT, Glartek, Leadzai and Mantis AI jointly raised €5.5M through the Portugal Ventures “Call Leiria Crescimento” and more than 50M€ outside. Strategically, Startup Leiria has also stepped onto the European stage through EIT HEI-funded projects (e.g., HEICE) and structured programmes that strengthen deep-tech entrepreneurship and regional innovation capacity.