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Portuguese startup ecosystem: Pros & cons for investors & founders - YouTube
Channel: C茅dric Waldburger
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Hey, everyone, it's been a few days and Elean,
and I have come to Lisbon.
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We've been here enjoying the good food and
meeting lots of people along with the good
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weather for the past few days.
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Today, I just want to mention a few things.
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Why we've come here and why I think Lisbon
or Portugal, in general, is such a good ecosystem
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for startups.
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Right now.
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We are spending four weeks of our summer here
with the intent to both take a bit of time
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off and enjoy the good weather and the good
food as well as get to know the ecosystem
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here a bit better because I do believe that
Portugal right now offers a lot of incentives
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for startups and founders to come here and
to thrive.
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I believe that in the next few years, we'll
see a lot of big companies come out of Portugal.
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And that's why we want to make sure we spend
a bit of time with the ecosystem here and
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get connected.
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So what are those incentives?
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Well, it starts with what I've already mentioned
two or three times because it's so good, there's
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good food, there's great weather for most
of the year, fairly warm.
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It's close to the water great sceneries, great
lights, So living here is kind of nice.
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Then second, I think the ROI on your living
expenses are great.
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Portugal is still reasonably cheaper, at least
good bang for your buck.
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Here in Lisbon, a bit less so than when you
move outside of Lisbon, for example, up in
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Braga or Porto, things are even a bit cheaper
down here.
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But even here, I would say you're paying less
for a good meal or for a night out, and you
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will be paying in Berlin, and you get much
better weather.
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Number three, and this is where it becomes
a bit more startup specific.
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It's fairly easy to get someone to move here
and set up here, get a visa to get a work
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visa.
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So politically, the system is set up in a
way right now where it does allow for good
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talent to come in and start work here.
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Number four is a program called 200 M. 200
M is a government fund that matches local
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funding into startups.
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So let's say Tomahawk.VC or even a local investor
here decides to invest in a startup that's
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based in Portugal, and then the government
will match that funding one to one, so if
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we invest 500 k, the government will invest
500 k as well.
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And they give me as the outside investor an
option to take over their stake for the next
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two or four years depending on the startup
the area that they're in, and so on and so
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forth but for a very reasonable interest rate.
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So that basically means for me, as an investor,
I can come in, I can invest, and then two
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or three or four years down the road, I can
double down onn my stake, and I can double
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my commitment for a very little cost, which
is something that's great and very attractive
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for investors.
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And if it's attractive for investors, that
means it's also great for startups, because
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it's easier to raise bigger rounds here.
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And then last but not least, the fifth factor
why I think it's great to build your startup
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here is that there's quite a bit of talent
being brought out of Portuguese universities
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as well.
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They have two big technical universities between
Prague and Porto.
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And then there's also a very well known Technical
University near Lisbon.
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So that's three technical universities basically
within three hours of driving off each other.
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So there's a lot of talent that is available
here for you to build your startup with.
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Are there, downsides?
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Of course, there are downsides as well.
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Number one, Portugal is a very small country,
there's only a population of about 10 million.
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The upside that I see in that is that there's
always a lot of incentive to think bigger
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than your home market, something that startups
in Switzerland need to learn quickly as well,
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where the market is even smaller and more
fragmented.
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But even with 10 million, that's not a big
market.
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So clever founders realize that they build
their MVP here, they test their product, but
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then they don't try to perfect their product-market
fit here.
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But instead, they try to move out and go into
a different market quickly.
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Second, there are not all the funds locally,
right now, there's probably three or four
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bigger venture funds and an equal amount of
angel groups.
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So raising capital from local investors doesn't
give you too much choice.
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It's a fairly small ecosystem.
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But like us like Tomahawk.VC, there are lots
of funds from the outside now looking at Portugal,
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especially Lisbon, and creating more regular
touchpoints.
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So that shouldn't be an issue going forward.
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One question that I've had for a lot of people
that I met in the ecosystem here is the next
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natural market for anyone growing their startup
in Portugal.
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Is that Brazil?
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Or is it Spain, Spain being its neighboring
and Brazil being a huge market that's far
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away, but shows the same language.
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And from what I've understood so far, most
companies here, when they grow past Portugal,
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they would rather expand to Europe, including
Spain, instead of crossing the Atlantic and
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going into Brazil, just because the cultural
gap is too big between those two countries.
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But if you have any insights, please do let
me know in the comments.
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To quickly summarize, I think there are lots
of factors that speak for Portugal as the
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place where you want to build your next technology
startup.
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We are definitely going to spend more time
here.
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We're very interested in this market.
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We're going to keep networking with everyone
that's based here, and we're going to look
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into how we can partner with the local ecosystem.
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If you have any ideas for us where to look
next, other areas in Europe, or elsewhere
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in a world that you think are perfectly positioned
to bring out great companies in the future,
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please let me know in the comments, and with
that, have a beautiful day.
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Stay curious, and I'll talk to you soon.
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