The Startup Ecosystem of Portugal

Portugal has 10 cities in the top 1000 and has a vibrant startup scene that ranks 28th within the competitive global top 30.

COUNTRY RANKING

Since 2022, Portugal lost 1 spot in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index, having now positioned itself as 28th worldwide.

Population

10.3
Million

Regional Ranking

14th
-
2
In Western Europe

Global Ranking

28th
-
1
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

yellow and white tram on road during daytime
The business environment in Portugal has greatly improved over the years now that the country has begun to create a favorable climate for entrepreneurship, foreign investment, and digital nomads. Due to the low cost of living, good weather, and solid infrastructure, Lisbon ranks near the top among the attractive destinations for digital nomads, expats, and lifestyle business owners.
One of the most impressive resources of the Portuguese ecosystems is the availability of high quality engineering talent and English speakers. Additionally, Portugal offers plenty of benefits to non-European residents launching startups. To name a few, there are multiple ways of getting a permit to work or set up a company through the StartUP Visa, Tech Visa, or the Non-Habitual Residence Program (NHR). Moreover, due to the non-habitual tax regime and favorable tax policies for cryptocurrencies, Portugal is even more attractive to entrepreneurs interested in decentralized finance.
With easy access to the European market and the Schengen Zone, Portugal has the potential to become one of the strongest startup economies in Europe. The country’s economic ties to Brazil, with whom Portugal shares a common language, also provide Portuguese startups access to the huge Brazilian market.
The nation is home to high-tech companies that play a part in the exchange and sharing of knowledge, as well as to local innovators that have created successful startup stories, such as the exit of FarFetch, a luxury shopping platform, and the Portuguese unicorns OutSystems, TalkDesk, and Feedzai.
That said, Portugal’s startup scene can still improve, mainly by pushing more potential entrepreneurs to create startups.
The public sector is aware of the strategic importance of entrepreneurship, and there are an impressive amount of resources allocated towards improving local startup ecosystems. There are also a growing number of startup support facilities, such as Startup Portugal and Startup Lisboa. With the massive branding benefit for Portugal and its startup economy in the annual global dominating event, Web Summit, we hope to see this ecosystem reach its full potential in the coming years.

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ECOSYSTEM

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in Portugal

Our startup ecosystem map for Portugal includes a sample of 339 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 4 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 1 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

Portugal is ranked within the top 30 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

Portugal’s startup scene is best represented in Ecommerce & Retail, Energy & Environment, and in and Foodtech.

Top Cities for Startups in Portugal - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2022 National Rank & Change ▲
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
2022 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal ScoreQuantity ScoreQuality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
83rd
-
1
8.300
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
136th
-
16
5.384
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
0
432nd
-
136
1.017
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
0
441st
+
56
0.958
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
0
667th
-
84
0.421
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
0
949th
-
242
0.179
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
new
965th
new
0.173
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in Portugal
Freekick startup icon
Freekick
Jscrambler startup icon
Jscrambler
Unbabel startup icon
Unbabel

Startups

Successful Ecommerce & Retail startups in Portugal
Uniplaces startup icon
Uniplaces
BIZAY / 360imprimir startup icon
BIZAY / 360imprimir
Forall Phones startup icon
Forall Phones

Startups

Startups Ranking by Industry

Ecommerce & Retail icon
Ecommerce & Retail
#27 worldwide

On our map, you can explore a total of 114 startups for Ecommerce & Retail.

Energy & Environment icon
Energy & Environment
#27 worldwide

In Western Europe, Portugal's Energy & Environment is in top 27. Portugal has a concentration of about 44 of the region's total Energy & Environment startups that are represented on our map.

Foodtech icon
Foodtech
#27 worldwide

Portugal's Foodtech is ranked 27th in the world. Our database contains 35 for this industry.

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