Specialising in Marketing and Management, Marco Galinha is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Grupo BEL S.A., which he founded in 2001.

Under the management of the Portuguese entrepreneur, the Group quickly grew into a universe of companies, with national and international representation, based on a policy of responsible and sustainable growth. He soon showed an aptitude for business, having left his degree in Informatics and Computer Engineering at the Instituto Superior Técnico to found his first company, BEL Network Solutios (software development) at the age of 20.

As well as his success in business, he excelled in competitive sport, winning the Down Hill BTT national champion title in 1995.

The matrix of responsible entrepreneurship that has always guided his business approach has led him to project the Group’s future in the long term, diversifying the areas in which it operates and building a valuable property portfolio. The company’s core area is Distribution and Logistics, where it has been working to consolidate companies, concentrating, and optimizing resources.

This journey began in 2004 with the creation of BEL Distribuição. In 2017 another important step was taken in this process, with the acquisition of SDT and in 2019 of ADR, companies that are currently merging with the aim of developing synergies and improving BEL Group’s service in this area. In 2023, acquired Amaral & Filhos Distribuição, owner of the Poupança Cash & Carry chain and in 2024 assumed majority control of VASP, leading logistics and press distribution in Portugal.

His innovative vision and focus on development led him to invest in innovation, creating the Innovation Centre in 2015, a research center dedicated to the technological development of his projects. In 2018, he became a major shareholder in the Active Space Group, which includes Active Space Technologies, an engineering company that supplies electromechanical systems to the space, aeronautics and nuclear industries and regularly develops projects with the main space agencies.

Aware of the vital importance of communication in modern societies and in the business fabric, in recent years he has also extended the BEL Group’s activities to this area, in particular the recovery of a historic group such as Global Media, where Marco Galinha’s personal commitment made it possible to save some of the country’s leading media outlets and ensure their future.

In 2011 he was honored as young entrepreneur of the year by the newspaper “Região de Leiria” and in 2014 and 2016 he was named “Portuguese of Value” by Lusopress. In 2015, he received the AFCEA Medal – Association for Communications, Electronics, Information and Information Systems for Professionals – “for Outstanding Services”.

He was a Councilor at the CES – Social Economic Council (2016-2019) and Vice-President of ANJE – National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (2016-2019) and from 2016 to 2023 he was a member of the General Council of CIP – Portuguese Business Confederation. In 2016 he took part in the SIC program Shark Tank as one of the ‘sharks’.

Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors