The Portugal Fintech Report 2020
Ecosystem
Snapshot
Every year Portugal Fintech conducts an open survey to the truest source of information, our Fintechs, and develops a deep analysis on the sector. Numbers speak for itself, grounding the great development that the ecosystem had in the most recent years.
TOP 30 FINTECHS
For the purpose of this sub-chapter, we reflect only on data collected from the top 30 Fintech.
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FINTECHS PER VERTICAL
In terms of distribution per vertical, Portuguese Fintechs are biasing towards Payments & Money transfers, Insurtech and Blockchain and Crypto Verticals.
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
MOST POPULAR FOUNDING YEAR
2019
2020
7% of companies were founded in 2020
27% of companies were founded in 2019
2018
10% of companies were founded in 2019
2017
23% of companies were founded in 2017
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
TOTAL FUNDING TO DATE FROM TOP FINTECHS
€ 437,236,483
The top Fintechs have raised on aggregate over € 437 million euros.
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
MORE INSIGHTS ON FUDING
The top three verticals with regards to funding are:
The top three regions with regards to funding are:
On average
31%
of funding comes from
international investors,
considering 11 companies have
raised internationally
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
Lisbon and Porto are the main Fintech hubs for the Portuguese-based companies. Outside of Portugal, other common countries of headquarters of Top Portuguese Fintech are France, Germany, the US, the UK and the Netherlands.
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
SIZE
On average, teams are composed of
30 EMPLOYEES
with 14% being later.
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
BUSINESS MODEL
Approximately 85% are
B2B
GREATEST HARDSHIP
The greatest hardship for the Top Portuguese Fintech is the sales cycle, which for an ecosystem of predominantly B2B companies is particularly large. The second hardship mostly felt is the search for talent - although Portugal is a highly skilled country in terms of tech, both remote work and the establishment of hubs from larger players have increased competition for qualified workforce.
companies.
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
KEY FINDINGS
For the purpose of this sub-chapter, we reflect only on data collected from all respondents to the open survey, as well as other public sources of information duly identified
TALENT
To grow and scale, talent is crucial for fintechs. The most difficult position to hire in the job market is Engineers, and in terms of seniority it is more difficult to find people with ~5 years of experience. Most founders believe there aren’t enough developers in Portugal to fulfil the demand, and the cost of talent is expected to increase 1.5x.
WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT TO FIND OR HIRE IN THE JOB MARKET?
IS THE SUPPLY OF DEVELOPERS IN
PORTUGAL ENOUGH?
HOW MUCH DO YOU ESTIMATE THE
INCREASE IN THE COST OF TALENT TO BE?
CAPITAL & INVESTMENT
Capital capacitates fintechs to bring innovation to the sector. In Portugal, raising capital is a process that takes 6 months or more, but accessibility to investors has improved. Investment demand in early-stages is fulfiled by national investors, whereas in later stages international investors are the ones to respond to demand.
DO YOU THINK THERE HAS BEEN AN
IMPROVEMENT IN ACCESSIBILITY TO INVESTORS?
HOW LONG DOES IT TYPICALLY TAKE TO
FUNDRAISE?
WHAT ARE THE GREATEST OBSTACLES
WHEN APPROACHING INVESTORS?
WHICH DO YOU SEE INVESTORS POINTING OUT AS POSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PORTUGUESE FINTECHS?
€ 821 MILLION
TOTAL AMOUNT RAISED IN AUGUST YTD
By Portuguese startups in a total of 115 rounds, according to a monthly activity report.
Source: Portugal Startup Scene August 2021, by Pedro Almeida
INVESTORS VS. INVESTMENT DEMAND BAROMETER
Source: 2021 Portugal Fintech Survey
POLICY AND REGULATION
Policymakers and regulators have the power to unlock the potential of innovation in a country. In Portugal, regulators have put effort into increasing accessibility but there is still a pain with regulation fragmentation.
HOW DOES CURRENT REGULATION RESTRICT YOUR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT?
DO YOU BELIEVE THERE IS AN IMPROVEMENT IN ACCESSIBILITY TO REGULATORS?
WHAT IMPACT HAS REGULATION HAD ON YOUR FINTECH IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS?
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST ENABLER?
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST HARDSHIP IN REGULATION?
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE AGENDA FOR 2022 REGULATORY YEAR SHOULD BE?
WHAT REGULATORY
TOPIC SHOULD BE
CHANGED?
A vibrant ecosystem with no signs of slowing down
S
ince the Portugal Fintech Report’s first edition, there are evident signs that the industry has changed and evolved.
In 2021, we saw Regulators working hard to keep up with innovation by creating bridges between legislation and fintech.
With 5 unicorns, Portugal has grown as a hub for entrepreneurship, and specifically in fintech, initiatives such as Fintech365 have shown how mature players trust and want to interact with fintechs and embark on journeys that lead the way for innovation implementation.
Portugal rising as a startup hub
INSIGHTS BROUGHT BY IDC
Gabriel Coimbra, Group Vice-President & Country Manager
Based on an IDC research, supported by Startup Portugal and Portugal Digital, IDC published the “Startup & Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Report, Portugal 2021”. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive and indepth view of the Portuguese startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem. It provides a detailed view of where we are today, who are the major players, what are the key KPI, how Portugal compares with other nations. It is also the voice of entrepreneurs that chose Portugal as the best place to start-up.
The report was developed based on existing IDC research, public data, a survey carried out among more than one hundred startups founders, and more than 30 in-depth interviews with key ecosystem’s stakeholders.
KEY KPIS OF THE PORTUGUESE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM
NASCENT ECOSYSTEM IS A STRONG ASSET FOR THE COUNTRY
The data of the report leads to the conclusion that the Portuguese ecosystem is still young, but it is one of the best assets Portugal has, with small-scale but fast paced and steadily growing companies representing over 1% of the country’s GDP.
SPECIALIZED TALENT IS A
MAIN DRIVER
There is significant process on the development of the startup ecosystem. Quality of life, the sun and sea, cost of labor, and specialized talent have obviously something to do with it.
PORTUGAL IN THE
EUROPEAN MAP
It has become a highlight in the European startup scene, especially after hosting the WebSummit in 2016, putting the country on the map as one of the hippest places to be in.
The arrival of international and experienced capital, together with the maturing of local investors has also attracted the attention of some talented engineers with a global mindset.
SOME OF THE KEY PLAYERS OF THE PROTUGUESE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM
A PLACE OF GOOD IDEAS
INTERNATIONAL-BY-DESIGN
The proverbial local capacity to improvise and find unconventional solutions probably also play a role in terms of originality of some of the startups, with plenty of good ideas and originality.
A weakness turned strength, as the local market is quite small, it forces nascent startups to address international markets by design. This is an important differentiator when looking at other ecosystems with bigger critical masses, where most often the internalization part comes quite later in the path. It is usually more efficient to build for the world from the very beginning, with global product validation.
STILL A LONG WAY TO GO
Despite the very positive evolution, the ecosystem should not rest on its laurels, as there is still a long way to go. The world changes quickly and Portugal is not yet directly comparable to London, Paris, or Berlin, for example. In fact, some international investors estimate that the country is probably close to a decade behind these reference ecosystems, and competitors like Poland, Romania and Baltic countries are closing in.
Ironically, perhaps the most relevant threat to the ecosystem is the very same one that startups face on a daily basis: failing to embrace change, learn with their mistakes and grow with a sense of urgency.
