Hub Criativo do Beato, now branded the Beato Innovation District, is one of Europe's largest innovation and entrepreneurship campuses. Located on Lisbon's eastern riverfront, it occupies approximately 35,000 square metres of a former military industrial complex — the historic Manutenção Militar — where flour, bread and biscuits were once manufactured for the Portuguese armed forces. The City of Lisbon launched the regeneration project in partnership with Startup Lisboa and Unicorn Factory Lisboa, which manage the site on behalf of the municipality.
The campus follows a distinctive economic model: selected tenants are responsible for renovating the historic buildings they occupy, reducing the need for public investment while ensuring that spaces are adapted to users' actual requirements. This approach has attracted a diverse community of startups, scale-ups, global technology companies, investors, researchers, freelancers and creative professionals. Key anchor tenants include Factory Lisbon (a large co-working and events space), as well as studios, a hardware prototyping facility, restaurants, and community spaces.
Beato has a strong focus on proptech, urbantech and sustainability, and serves as a living lab for testing new technologies and services in a real urban environment. The Lisboa E-Nova agency operates a dedicated living lab on site exploring energy and sustainability solutions. The campus also hosts cultural programming, public gardens and direct waterfront access, integrating the innovation district into the surrounding Beato neighbourhood.
The district is a central element of Lisbon's broader strategy to position itself as a leading European hub for technology, entrepreneurship and urban innovation, complementing other initiatives such as Smart Open Lisboa and the Web Summit ecosystem.