According to a report by ECO, the study also shows that the capital attracted record investment this year, with investment funds injecting 122 million euros into startups located in Lisbon, 3.6 times more than in 2018 (34 million euros), of which 102 million were raised by funds based in Lisbon.

“Domestic investors are prepared to support their ecosystems and foreign investors are increasingly looking at the city and getting involved too”, said Christiana Manzocco, director of government marketing at Dealroom.co.

Investment volumes applied mainly to Pre-seed and Seed investment rounds (94%). Only 6% of investments are focused on Series A funding rounds.

Margarida Figueiredo, municipal director of economy and innovation at CML, drew a picture of the city that, with 2.9 million residents, generates a GDP of 71,432 million euros and that, in the last year, saw the creation of 6,063 companies (256 more than in 2020) and the metropolitan area 15,165 (651 more than last year). “More than 40% of companies in the city are less than five years old,” she pointed out.

With the increase in the number of companies in the Portuguese capital, more foreign residents also came to the city. In 2020, 330,701 new residents from all over the world decided to move to Lisbon, and 22,400 international students. “We have a very interesting talent pool, very reputed internationally, but we have to work harder,” she said.