Meet Andreia Coutinho and André Facote, the dynamic duo behind Skizo – #Disruption22’s Top 3 winners.

Do you know how some couples bond over their love for cooking or golfing? These two bond over having a knack for identifying business opportunities. Together for over 19 years, they share a true love for entrepreneurship and became partners in multiple ventures — from a company that managed condominiums to a marketplace for luxury brands and now Skizo. Despite having very different educational backgrounds (she majored in Communications and Culture and he was at the Portuguese Marine Academy prior to switching to Business Management), there’s something about this pair that just seems to click.

A beach day with their son Lorenzo back in 2018 was all it took for them to come up with the idea of what Skizo would turn out to be — when they noticed he was grabbing plastic and putting it in his mouth (in true toddler fashion), they realized something needed to be done to help clean the beaches and give trash a more sustainable destination. What is particularly interesting about their story is that a few months earlier they were invited to present another business of theirs at Websumit — the marketplace for luxury brands. Due to ongoing poor sales, they had to shut down the company a few months shy of the event and found themselves in the situation of not having anything to present. In the spur of the moment, they put together a pitch deck in record time to showcase another business idea, which was introduced to the audience receiving an overwhelmingly positive response.

Skizo was born – and despite facing obstacles, Andreia and André refused to give up on their mission to make a difference. The initial plan was to transform ocean plastic into fabric, but traditional corporations preferred to import from cheaper sources. Instead, they redirected their efforts and created a brand that offers stylish personalized sneakers, complemented by earrings and sunglasses, all made from upcycled plastic. And after years of hard work, Skizo is now able to bring their original vision to life by offering a range of sustainable fabrics to select companies.

With no outside investment so far, they are all-in for Skizo — maybe just not on the weekends, when they made a pact not to talk about work. A promise they can’t always keep, but try their best to prioritize spending quality time with Lorenzo.

With a passion for innovation that truly sets them apart, Andreia and André are definitely a couple to watch.

Before starting this business, Miguel’s family had been running a ceramic factory for over five generations. It was a dying industry in a changing society, and he wanted to find a way to be more cost-effective by using most of the factory’s unused resources. This led him to develop the idea for Plasblock, a company that aims not only to increase pallet durability and performance but also to fight deforestation and landfilling.

When asked about the challenges he faced as an entrepreneur, he explained that the transition from a family-owned ceramics factory that had been struggling was incredibly difficult. They recognized that they needed to find new solutions for the business and understood that it was essential to work together to ensure a smooth transition. Plasblock fully operates within a circular economy philosophy, buying all its equipment second-hand to keep costs low.

This approach didn’t come without its set of shortcomings for Miguel, as he strived to find the balance between all factors and optimize resources. He stressed that the lives of entrepreneurs are never a straight line, but instead full of ups and downs and firmly believes that the worst phases often provide the best opportunities for growth and change. Throughout the years, the company faced many obstacles, including making costly mistakes and taking a long time to get things right. The only way to overcome this, according to him, is to make peace with the fact that there’s not a single recipe for success, and every business requires a different approach. By trial and error, he was able to figure out what worked best for his company.

He encourages fellow entrepreneurs to never cease to push forward – after all, he is living proof that with the willingness to keep moving ahead and the right attitude, a whole lot can be achieved.