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Dear community,
I hope you're well and Autumn vibes have arrived slowly and surely on your shores.
This will be our last letter as we just handed over our Porto i/o Downtown building keys. After ten glorious years, we felt it was time to sunset Porto i/o as a physical space. It was a hard call, but we find comfort in knowing the spirit of Porto i/o will live on... through you all.
Time flies. I still vividly remember how Turi and I fell in love with the place that would become Porto i/o Downtown. We instantly knew this extraordinary building was the nest to bring our idea to life. We restored it with love, thanks to the invaluable help of local talent and artisans. We then started filling it with beautiful people who contributed to the mystique of the project.
Over the last decade, we evolved, reinvented ourselves and became the roof to many things: the first tech hub in the heart of the city, a soft landing pad for new projects in town, the first community for people visiting or relocating, an incubator for freelancers, a meeting point for creative events, and a hive for all things digital. All this, with the common denominator of having the best talent as its beating heart: YOU, our community.
We expanded into new spaces: Riverside, Seaside, Braga, and Santa Catarina. We grew into new concepts—some of which were a tad too early for the city's reality—and helped others create their own place and build their own community. We invited our friends from all over the world to share their own journeys in three beautiful editions of Cowork Buzz. And we survived a pandemic thanks to a shared spirit of community.
For ten years, our spaces were home to thousands of people, hundreds of events, millions of conversations in dozens of languages, and the birthplace of beautiful, life-long friendships and collaborations, culminating in many new projects.
We should all be proud of what we created together. We will be remembered as one of the pioneer intercultural communities in the city, making the "future of work" a reality in Porto's present.
Porto i/o is heritage.
And we are all part of its legacy.
It is hard to say goodbye to a place we all called home. We might leave the spaces, but these spaces will never leave us. The spirit of Porto i/o and the spirit of our community will live on through all of us beyond its walls, as it has for the past ten years.
When Turi and I started Porto i/o, we wanted to build a space where the community would be the beating heart. Little did we know that our vision would be amplified to this pure awesomeness, thanks to you all. This happens when beautiful people get together.
To you, Porto i/o teams, I have so many emotions and good feelings. You made this project your own and influenced Porto i/o more than you'll ever imagine. I carry your kindness, hospitality and good spirit with me daily. Thank you for so many good moments, great laughs, incredible lessons, and for challenging me to become a better person. I learned so much with you and from you. It would be unfair to mention specific people, but you know who you are. You have my gratitude, love, and admiration forever.
In my heart, I wrote millions of love letters to each and every one of you, from the dozens of Community Managers to the hundreds of partners and supporters to thousands of coworkers who shaped this place as their own. I'm humbled and grateful for it all and for you all.
And you, Turi, thank you for being the most extraordinary partner, a great mentor, and a true friend. Porto will always be your home.
Life is made of cycles. This is the beginning of a new one. And I wish you all the very best whatever you are doing and wherever you are headed next. Let's keep in touch. You know I'm always ready to have coffee.
It has been an absolute honour and a great pleasure welcoming you.
Much love,
Nuno
❤️
Muito obrigado, e até já!
PS—If you're looking for another coworking space in Porto, our friends at CRU, Typographia, and Marechal 1551 will take great care of you. If you're looking at Matosinhos, there's only one place to be: Seaside Cowork, the new face of Porto i/o Seaside, now curated by people from our community.
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