to me, a specific program that began on May 10 with a visit to the headquarters of the Salvador Cayetano Group in Vila Nova de Gaia, as well as the Losch Digital Lab in Porto and Uptec (the startup hub and attached science and technology park of the University of Porto).
On the afternoon of May 11, the Minister of Economy, LSAP, an event organized by the startup ecosystems of the two countries, opened in Lisbon. The aim of the conference, titled “Interconnected Ecosystems Driving Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” was to showcase the potential for potential synergies between the two countries. Within fairly nascent but very dynamic ecosystems, Luxembourg and Portugal have followed sometimes similar, and sometimes different, trajectories over the past ten years. Introducing the event, the Minister of Economy said: “Luxembourg and Portugal not only share the same values, but also the same ambitions. Just like the Portuguese government, the Luxembourg government is committed to supporting the startup ecosystem. After the official launch of In July 2021, it is now necessary to further develop interactions with other ecosystems, and Portugal is the partner of choice in this context. Therefore, today's event provides an ideal opportunity to strengthen our relations.
His intervention was followed by an intervention , President of the Chamber of Commerce, on which the House of Startups Luxembourg, the largest hosting infrastructure, relies. He pointed to the advantages of cooperation within the framework of strengthening the European ecosystem. “The public and private sectors work in close collaboration, which is undoubtedly a guarantee of the success of the startup ecosystem in Luxembourg (…) We are a small country within Europe: it is our integration with others that will make us stronger on a global scale.” International arena.”
At the beginning of a promising ecosystem
As if to illustrate the foundations of a collaboration that aims to be more global in the future, Mike Rivers, co-founder of the Luxembourg startup During this event, in front of an audience of about 120 people, an important partnership was signed with the Portuguese bank Banco de Investimento Global. The bank's CEO, Peter Rodriguez, stressed the importance of attracting talent to his company, even though he was unable to find the right profiles for all types of jobs.
Skeeled offers a recruiting platform sold as a “cloud solution.” On his LinkedIn account, Mike Rivers noted that Portugal, and especially Uptec (which the economic delegation had visited the day before), had been a starting point for Skeeled for more than five years. He added: “Yesterday was also the starting point of the economic mission to Porto, and then to Lisbon. In a way, I am proud to see all these people coming to visit Uptec, because at that time, if we had not taken the first step towards this specific technological center, this place would not have been It will help existing companies in Luxembourg develop their programs in a great environment.” Today, Skeeled has eight engineers based at its R&D center in Porto, and now has a prestigious client in Portugal giving it every credibility to continue its international expansion.
Present at one of the round tables organized during this event were Yannick Oswald, He stressed that one of the great advantages of Portuguese start-ups lies in their talent, which he described as “super visible, compared to the rest of Europe. Moreover, many foreign companies come to Portugal to recruit talent. According to him, in this country today there are three or four companies A startup that is now able to reinvest in its development, and will serve as locomotives for others. “A very successful ecosystem is developing here.”
According to Carlos Silva, a Portuguese investor present at the forum, there is more tech talent in Europe than in the entire United States. one of the members of the afternoon committee and One thing he remembers: “What is certain is that the Portuguese ecosystem has developed here three times faster than anywhere else.” The Luxembourg startup ecosystem has every interest in not slowing down its growth, or in stimulating more collaborative investments… if it wants to maintain a favorable competitive position against the United States, which still dominates the scene.
