AI Salon — the global community connecting AI founders, builders, investors, and partners — has arrived in Porto. We launched on 16 October at Porto Business School's Innovation X Hub, alongside chapters already running in Dubai, Montreal, Miami, and 37 other cities across Latin America, Asia, North America, and Europe. Teet Torim leads as director. I co-direct. The partner list reads like the city's serious infrastructure for AI and growth. Here's what we're building, and how to be part of it.
AI Salon is a global community founded by Jeffrey D. Abbott of Blitzscaling Ventures. The model is simple and intentional: bring AI founders, builders, investors, and ecosystem partners into the same room, regularly, in cities where serious work is happening.
What it isn't: another monthly AI meetup with a sponsor demo and a pizza. The Salon model is curated, partner-driven, and structured around the kind of conversations that actually move companies forward.
Forty chapters globally. Porto is the latest.
Porto is one of Europe's most underrated AI ecosystems. The infrastructure is here — Porto Business School, Porto Tech Hub, ScaleUp Porto, Innovation X Hub, a steady founder pipeline through programmes like the European Innovation Academy, and a growing pool of investors paying attention to the region.
What was missing was a connecting layer. AI Salon's job is to be that layer — the place where the founder building the AI MVP, the operator running the mid-market firm, the investor looking at the next thesis, and the partner running the accelerator can compare notes in person.
That conversation moves the city forward faster than any single programme can.
The launch consortium is the strongest sign of how seriously Porto's AI community is taking this. Partners include:
We hosted the official launch at Porto Business School's Innovation X Hub. Founder Jeffrey D. Abbott flew in from Miami. The room filled with founders, builders, investors, and partners from across Porto and the wider region — exactly the cross-section the Salon model is designed to convene.
What made the night work wasn't the speeches. It was the conversations between speeches — the kind of unscripted "tell me what you're actually building" exchanges that don't happen at corporate AI conferences.
That's the format we'll keep.
Every AI Salon chapter has a small ritual: the global mascot, the Meerkat, travels to each new city. Before the launch, I took the Meerkat for a walk around Porto. We ended up at my favourite spot in Foz, looking out over the Atlantic. (Just in case Jeffrey didn't make it there this trip — we already had the photo.)
It's a small thing. But the small things are what make a global community feel local. Forty chapters, one Meerkat, every founder who joins gets the same welcome ritual. That's the point.
The Porto chapter runs monthly events. Each one is curated around a theme that matters to the local ecosystem — AI strategy for mid-market companies, infrastructure for builders, capital for AI founders, the operator's view of agentic systems.
The model is partner-led: each event is co-hosted with one or two of the consortium partners, drawing their networks into the room alongside the Salon's standing community.
We'll publish the upcoming event calendar through AI Salon's channels and through NTA Partnerships. For founders, builders, investors, and partners interested in being part of the community — formal application is light, the entry test is whether you're actually doing the work.
Why we said yes to directing this: AI Salon's model fits the way we already think. Bridging the gap between AI tools and real-world results doesn't happen in a vacuum — it happens in cities, in rooms, with peers who can pressure-test what you're building. The community layer is where adoption actually compounds.
Porto matters to us because it's where we live and work, and because the city is on the verge of being recognised as one of Europe's serious AI hubs. Helping that happen — through this community, alongside our other engagements like Lovable Build Days and our AI Strategy Days — is the kind of long-game work that compounds.
If you're a founder, builder, investor, or operator in Porto or visiting the city, come to a Salon event. The next one is on the calendar. We'll see you there.
Who is AI Salon Porto for?
Founders building AI products. Operators integrating AI into established businesses. Investors thinking about AI thesis areas. Ecosystem partners running programmes that touch AI. The room is curated to be cross-section — that's the point.
Is it free to attend?
Yes, for community members. Attendance is curated rather than ticketed — you apply through the Salon channel, and the consortium partners help curate the room.
How often does Porto host events?
Monthly. Each event is themed around something the local ecosystem is actively working through — strategy, infrastructure, capital, governance, or specific tooling areas.
How is this different from other AI meetups in Porto?
The curation, the partner network, and the global Salon model. Each chapter operates with the same playbook — the conversation in Porto connects to the conversation in Dubai, Montreal, and Miami, with founders moving across the network.
Can my company partner with AI Salon Porto?
Yes. Partnership conversations happen through Teet directly. If your organisation runs programmes, infrastructure, or networks that fit the Salon model, the consortium is open to expansion.
How does AI Salon connect to Non-Tech AI Advisory?
Distinct entities. AI Salon is a global community we direct in Porto — independent of NTA's advisory practice. The two share an audience (mid-market and founder-led companies thinking about AI seriously) but operate on different models. AI Salon is community; NTA is engagement.