Portugal is the entrepreneurial ecosystem that only knows one path: growth

Portugal is increasing its entrepreneurial footprint in the world. Facts, numbers, strategies and successful cases prove it. There is no way to deny that entrepreneurship is already taking a relevant role in the national economy. Let´s start our factual analysis.

In the period between 2007 and 2016, Portugal created more than 300.000 companies and this number grows every year. For example: in January and February of 2018 the national entrepreneurs founded 8.820 new companies, a number that shows an increase of 12,1% when compared with the dara of 2017 for the same period.

If we analyse the investment and funding scene in Portugal, the title of the SEP Monitor Report stands out with a clear idea of the results – Portugal is Rising. The startup and scaleup ecosystem of the country is growing and, in 2017, 130 million dollars of new funding was secured. Portugal also registered 67 scaleups with more than 300 million dollars raised. Actually, Portugal announced, a few days ago, the second unicorn after the leading example of Farfetch: Outsystems.

The news about Portuguese startups and scaleups with success on Seed, Series A and Series B investment rounds are now common and this is one of the consequences of a clear strategy for the entrepreneurship promoted by the players of the Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem and the Government.

The Government of Portugal launched Startup Portugal - a strategy for the entrepreneurship in the country. This pack of several measures was created to support the development of the national ecosystem and today we already can say that, in Lisbon, the startups were responsible for creating more than 5.000 jobs on the last three years. If we look deeper, on the between 2007 and 2014, we also can see that startups were already creating 18% of the new jobs in Portugal.

So now Portugal doesn´t have just good weather and Web Summit. Portugal has a strategy, startups and scaleups succeeding in their funding plans, an entrepreneurial ecosystem with more responsibilities and impact on the economy and new plans to continue in the growth path in the future. 

ABOUT ANJE

ANJE – Portuguese Association of Young Entrepreneurs is a public interest association governed by private law. Since 1986, it has been institutionally representing young Portuguese entrepreneurs nationally and internationally and providing them with support for their business activities. It is now one of the main national players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, with around 5,500 members, 11 incubation and acceleration centres nationwide, two accelerators, over fifty employees and five regional centres (North, Centre, Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, the Alentejo and the Algarve).

Member of the Economic and Social Council, ANJE is a founding partner of the Startup Portugal Association, a member of the European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs (YES FOR EUROPE) and of the Ibero-American Federation of Young Entrepreneurs (FIJE) and is currently president of the Federation of Young Entrepreneurs Associations of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (FAJE-CPLP).

Over its more than 30 years in existence, ANJE has made a name for itself by encouraging the adoption of business models based on research and development, focusing on what is called qualified entrepreneurship in order to create conditions for young people to convert their knowledge into business value. Moreover, as a player that fosters and facilitates cooperation between institutions and the complementary nature of the actions taken by the various players and agents in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, ANJE works to facilitate cooperation between companies and universities, R&D units and innovation centres.

INCUBATION AND ACCELERATION NETWORK

In terms of incubation and acceleration, ANJE has over 140 physical spaces, from the North to the South of Portugal, where companies can be set up, besides many possibilities for virtual and co-working incubation. The network of 11 infrastructures has already launched more than 890 SMEs on the market and contributed to the creation of around 2,800 jobs. It is currently hosting 284 companies, 140 of which are physically incubated and 144 in virtual and co-working incubation. It should also be noted that some of ANJE incubators are part of the National Incubator Network (RNI).

FOUNDER OF THE 1ST BRAND OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PORTUGAL

ANJE pioneered the promotion of young entrepreneurship in Portugal by creating the first organisation devoted to the support of business initiatives – the Entrepreneurship Academy. After its 20th anniversary, the Entrepreneurship Academy has travelled a long way, helping introduce schoolchildren to business initiative. In fact, this project has supported over 3.3 million entrepreneurs, including several success stories in the Portuguese ecosystem. These results have brought recognition in the form of an award in the European Enterprise Promotion Awards 2017 "Investment in Entrepreneurial Skills”.

PIONEER ON THE SCALEUP MOVEMENT

ScaleUp Porto - The Growth Champions is a pioneering programme in Portugal, developed by Porto Municipal Council under the name ScaleUp Porto, in partnership with ANJE - Portuguese Association of Young Entrepreneurs. This is the first scaleup program in Portugal and tackles the growth challenges that scaleups face when they are expanding globally: access to market, capital and talent.  The ScaleUp Porto – The Growth Champions serves two different segments: Industry 4.0 and Venture-Backed Scaleups. The workshops were designed by senior leaders who have been scaling up before in their own companies in order to support the scaleup teams of the badge across five different functions: Marketing, Sales, Operations, Finance and People.

STARTUP MOMENTUM: HELPING STUDENTS GOING INTO THE MARKET

Startup Momentum is a support program for recent graduates and finalists of Higher Education who have benefited from social support during the course and who, at the end of their studies, intend to develop a business idea. It is a Startup Portugal initiative, with support from ANJE, Movijovem and the National Incubator Network (RNI). The program provides free incubation for 12 months, pocket money and accommodation for the winners projects.

WE’BIZ: A FAST TRACK TO GET FUNDING FOR SEED AND LATER STAGE STARTUPS

Project aimed at boosting the national scaleup movement, bringing the best Portuguese startups closer to the best European and American VCs.  The mission of WE'BIZ Talks is to foster the sharing of relevant knowledge with players and companies in the national ecosystem. These talks facilitate the achievement of this aim by promoting contact with experts from different ecosystems.

Facilitate the investment on Portuguese startups is the goal of WE’BIZ Pitch sessions, which enable this process through the organization of periodic investment rounds with investors from different entrepreneurial ecosystems of the world. Octopus Ventures, HP Tech Ventures, High-Tech Grunderfonds, ABC Venture Gates, Partech Ventures, Rocket Internet, Telefonica, Founders Factory, Firstminute Capital, Caixa Capital Risc or Earlybird Venture Capital are some of the firms involved in these initiatives.

THE INVOLVEMENT OF ANJE IN THE ERASMUS FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS PROGRAM

ANJE is one of the Portuguese partners of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program since 2016. In two years the Association supported 20 young and host entrepreneurs in mobility experiences. Recently, ANJE renewed the connection to this initiative until 2020. On the first two years of the program, ANJE helped 12 host entrepreneurs receiving entrepreneurs from other countries and eight young entrepreneurs on their learning journey out of Portugal. Austria, Germany, Bulgary, Cyprus, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Romania were the countries involved on the 20 international collaborations established with the support of ANJE.

On the new cycle of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, ANJE is supporting 22 exchange experiences: 12 with Portuguese host entrepreneurs and ten of young entrepreneurs. These numbers show that the project awareness in Portugal is growing and the businessmen and young entrepreneurs are valuing the program.

The applications for young and host entrepreneurs are open and the information is available here.