The EIF and Portugal: a longstanding partnership
Ever since our first investment in Portugal over 20 years ago, the EIF has worked to ensure that small companies could get access to finance. Through close collaboration with our local partners, pan-European funding programmes and regionally targeted measures, we have brought public and private resources together to create an environment where companies and entrepreneurs can fulfil their ambitions and expand their international footprint. Together we have helped build a thriving equity and VC ecosystem, stimulated growth and competitiveness and supported technological, social and green innovation.
Financing innovation champions
Portugal is one of the highest-ranking countries in the EU when it comes to innovation, thanks to its strong commitment to research and development, technology and education. It boasts a thriving startup community and is home to some of Europe’s best-known unicorns. The EIF has long deployed financing resources that have contributed to this development. InnovFin for instance, a programme that the EIF manages on behalf of the European Commission, has supported countless creative and disruptive businesses in Portugal. Other programmes, Portugal Tech I and II, launched with Banco Português de Fomento (BPF), aim to attract private and institutional equity investment into venture capital and technology transfer funds to support early-stage and seed ICT companies. Through these initiatives, we have facilitated and accelerated access to finance for innovators and helped them transform disruptive ideas into successful businesses.
Contributing to a sustainable blue economy
Seas and oceans are vital for economic prosperity as they provide food, energy and jobs. Yet they are under severe threat. As a largely coastal country, safeguarding the oceans is vital for Portugal so the EIF and the Portuguese national promotional institution Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento (IFD) have launched Portugal Blue, a EUR 50m equity partnership to support Portuguese companies active in the blue economy through sustainable and climate impact funds. With the EIF and IFD each contributing EUR 25m, this joint programme is expected to catalyse over EUR 75m worth of investments into funds focused on blue economy with a climate impact and sustainable development objective.
Making money care more
Investing in people is vital for a resilient economy. The EIF develops instruments that are channelling resources working for a fairer, more just society, and supporting those that create sustainable long-term positive impact and drive a fundamental shift in the thinking around value creation. We have supported companies and organisations in Portugal that are active in the education sector as investing in training and upskilling means investing in future wealth and sustainable growth. Meanwhile, we’ve engaged in bridging the financing gap for hundreds of Portuguese SMEs in the creative and cultural sectors helping creators, many of them young, to make a living from their talent and build a better future for themselves.
Taking SMEs to the next stage
Moving from a start-up to a grown business is a difficult transition for entrepreneurs. They often see their potential capped by the lack of adequate financing. Decisive action that lifts funding barriers is needed to allow them to scale and think global. To take SMEs to the next stage, the EIF and IFD have launched Portugal Growth, an initiative that focuses on the internationalisation of local SMEs and mid-caps via private equity and growth capital investments. Portugal Growth will invest EUR 100m in private equity funds, aiming to mobilise up to EUR 300m of public and private investment.
Keeping the wheels rolling
It’s at times of crisis and economic turbulence that SMEs need the most support and willingness to help with financing.
When COVID-19 struck, we raced to roll-out resources from the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), deploying record amounts of financing and supporting the markets down to their smallest actors. In Portugal, together with our partners we disbursed billions to help entrepreneurs weather the crisis thereby achieving real impact in contributing to the recovery of the country’s economy.
As ground is regained and one crisis recedes another one already looms, but the EU and the EIF will keep supporting small businesses in Europe and Portugal overcoming hard times with targeted interventions to promote their growth and development in the medium and long-term.
Got skills? Level up! Skills&Education Guarantee Pilot
Portugal’s workforce still shows a significant proportion of low qualified workers. Yet local business demand for ICT specialists continues to exceed supply.
Fundação José Neves aims to change this and is now able to offer Income Sharing Agreements (ISA) as a result of a guarantee provided by the EIF under the EFSI Skills & Education pilot. Students and adult learners can benefit from this scheme by deferring their tuition fees to when they start having a source of income.
This is the first time EIF is working with a non-profit organisation as an intermediary.