We had the privilege to speak to João Vasconcelos, Portugal’s Secretary of State of Business and former Government Director at Startup Lisboa, in regards to the thriving tech scene and causes for fintechs to come back to Lisbon. Apart from the attractive panorama and nice individuals, after all.
Why Portugal? Why Lisbon?
We have spent virtually two months in Lisbon ourselves now. The scene is vivid and the town has quite a bit to supply. Time to seek out out if it is actually a good suggestion to do or transfer enterprise right here.
Our host and pal Rodrigo, Mr. Vasconcelos and Jan from FinTech Weekly
Good day João, thanks for having us. Please inform us: the place are the regulatory issues and possibilities for fintechs and banks in Portugal?
The way in which we take care of regulation just isn’t very totally different from the remainder of the continent. I do suppose that we should transfer quicker than we are literally doing in the mean time. However the largest distinction right here is the mindset and the priorities of the federal government which may be very open to new companies. The most important challenges to fintech regulation in Portugal right now originate from a European stage somewhat than a nationwide stage.
Our banks are very open to innovation. Many issues are simpler to ascertain right here, as a result of we’re a somewhat small market with only a few competing techniques underlying. The identical applies for insurance coverage. We now have an open thoughts and we now have increasingly more profitable startups who work with quite a lot of banks worldwide.
The federal government has many curricula on know-how for the finance sectors, clearly as a result of we all know they generate jobs and innovation, which we’re very open to, after all. We now have a sandbox regulation, not the identical as within the UK as we now have extra strings hooked up, however in continental Europe we see ourselves as one of the progressive international locations on this regard.
Why Portugal? What’s the message you need to ship out to startups with revolutionary and disruptive enterprise circumstances?
I received’t want to clarify the standard of life, the low prices, the way in which the Portuguese welcome individuals who need to dwell right here. This has been our nature for the final 400 years. We went out into the world as an empire and now the world involves us – and we like to welcome them.
For instance, our prime minister is of Indian origin, which isn’t unusual after all however nonetheless somewhat uncommon in Europe. It does depict our multicultural mindset and lifestyle, which may be very highly effective by way of digital and inventive financial system. We can’t supply an enormous market or oil and gasoline, however what we now have is a novel staff of various individuals which took us 500 years to construct. Particularly Lisbon consists of individuals from numerous religions and cultures which allows us to grasp our companions from all areas of the world.
On prime of that, we’re a European capital with low price flights to different capitals, which is vital for startups. And we’re on the seaside, which may be very helpful, too (laughs). What occurs right here in the mean time jogs my memory a bit of little bit of what occurred within the 90s to Barcelona. In the course of the first wave, tourism flourished, the second wave introduced Erasmus college students right here who have been adopted by individuals who got here to start out their enterprise and dwell right here. It’s the setting the place a startup needs to be, and so they can discover it not solely in a single neighbourhood, however in your complete metropolis of Lisbon.
And one other very useful factor is that we now have 400 million euros to coinvest with VCs and enterprise angels, offering excessive probabilities of funding in your startup with few strings hooked up.
How is Portugal a superb entry to overseas markets?
If you wish to sort out e.g. the Brazilian market, I can guarantee you it’s higher to do it from Portugal as an alternative of going there straight. And the identical applies vice versa. All of the Brazilian corporations attempting to sort out the European market come to Portugal first and from right here, they go to the European markets.
Joao Vasconcelos in his workplace – you possibly can see he is a supporter of startups
Do you suppose that startups can function solely from and in Lisbon and develop competitively to startups in Berlin or London?
For London, it’s apparent. We’re in the identical time zone and our inhabitant’s high quality of English is sweet. Additionally, we now have greater than 20 flights per day to your complete UK. So you possibly can work in actual time along with your clients in London and your again workplace. Many huge companies already found Portugal. BNP Paribas have 4,000 engineers in Portugal, Siemens has 2,500, Cisco and Fujitsu have about 300 and IBM has round 400. And startups start to see the potential, too and they’ll have good networks right here as nicely. We lastly have a technology of Portuguese entrepreneurs who can take part on this entire motion.
The place do you see the largest possibilities within the tech scene concerning development?
We now have quite a lot of entrepreneurs and are attracting quite a bit, as I simply stated. We have to keep that. The VC and funding trade in addition to the non-public cash is a big upside – however we nonetheless don’t have the correct quantity of individuals to spend money on, but. So we’re attracting extra buyers with profound information of the industries in industries who know how you can make investments and who to spend money on in these areas. We now have the cash, however I feel the proper technique on who to spend money on and how you can truly appeal to them is lacking in lots of elements of Europe.
The core banking trade in Portugal is getting again on its ft however banks in lots of different international locations are struggling arduous to generate revenue. How do you see that disruptive corporations will truly work along with the banks?
The banks strive very arduous to be capitalised and to be worthwhile. The highest precedence of a financial institution proper now just isn’t innovation however survival. This can be a large alternative for startups to behave as banks produce other pressing issues to resolve.
In January we are going to announce the creation of a bunch to assist us with the sandbox I discussed earlier. We’ll invite huge companies, middle-sized corporations, startups and regulators. On this, I need two or three banks, I need PayPal, TransferWise, Goldman Sachs, the Financial institution of Portugal, I need WeChat. I’d like to be the primary nation in Europe accepting funds by WeChat. We’re a minimum of discussing that in that process pressure.
How do you see the tech scene in Portugal in three or 4 years?
I requested myself the identical query a few years in the past. And lots of issues I hoped to see about 5 years from now are already occurring. I can’t actually reply it.
Since WebSummit was introduced, the quantity of individuals and startups shifting or visiting right here is wonderful. It undoubtedly had an incredible impression and the implications are arduous to forecast as of now.
The artistic work house ‘Second Residence’ in Lisbon. We have been kindly invited to the opening ceremony by Mr. Vasconcelos
Benfica, Sporting or FC Porto?
One of the best soccer is performed by Benfica, and the championship shall be received by Benfica, however if you’re speaking about comparability to world-class golf equipment, it will likely be Benfica.
All three golf equipment are very revered, however when Benfica wins a championship, there are individuals on the streets – all around the globe. They’ve super help.
