A team from the Higher Agrarian School of the Polytechnic University of Coimbra won third place in the National Poliempreende Competition. The project, called HydroKat, consists of an innovative food product with high water content, specifically developed to promote cat hydration in a practical and effective way. The results were announced on September 3rd, in Faro, during National Poliempreende Week 2026.
The HydroKat team is composed of Bruna Silva, a student, and Marco Silva, a graduate of the Higher Agrarian School of Coimbra. The product consists of a gelatin that aims to address relevant challenges in animal welfare, namely in illness situations such as chronic kidney disease, and in mobility contexts, such as vacation travel with companion animals.
The idea was developed in the initial phase with the support of professors Ana Calado Lopes, a veterinary doctor, and Ivo Rodrigues, and, in the business plan, by the Poliempreende coordination team at UPCoimbra. The project won the Institutional Regional Poliempreende Competition, which allowed it to advance to the national phase of the competition.
For Cândida Malça, rector of UPCoimbra, the award demonstrates students' capacity to innovate and undertake, as well as the potential for market transfer of research conducted in the university's teaching units. The Poliempreende Competition is the largest network for promoting entrepreneurship in higher education in Portugal.
