Overview of the Portuguese startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem in 2023, with special emphasis on investment activity. By Armilar (www.armilar.com).

1. Portuguese
Startup Scene
2023
April 2024

2. 1
15
team members
About Armilar
A leading European VC
firm with 20+ years in
the VC arena
24
years of
investment
experience
70+
companies backed
in 9 countries
~€300M
invested
April 2024
2 Unicorns 3 Dragons

3. 2
Armilar's
motivation
for publishing
this report
As insiders, we often feel that traditional information sources poorly reflect the reality of the
Portuguese startup scene
• A relevant number of successful Portuguese startups move their headquarters (HQ) outside of
Portugal, particularly after raising funds from international investors. Consequently, they stop
being considered as part of the Portuguese startup universe in traditional data sources, even when
keeping most of their operations in Portugal
• Even in startups with HQ in Portugal, information on funding rounds is spread across multiple
information sources, mostly in Portuguese language, and there is no widely adopted aggregating
entity
As such, we felt the need to build our own database
We gather information based on publicly available, free sources, including (but not limited to) news
websites and investors' websites
Given that exact transactional data is frequently not publicly available, data in this report should be
considered as our educated guess of what happened in the Portuguese startup scene
We also provide the data we used in this report in our Rows workspace.
April 2024

4. 3
This report
accounts for
startups “with a
Portuguese
origin”, including
companies with
headquarters
abroad
% of total
1. For details on what is considered a Portuguese startup,
check the report methodology slide (page 14)
Source: Armilar database
% of the total number of rounds from startups
with headquarters in Portugal
Breakdown of Portuguese startups per
headquarters’ location1 Startups with HQ in Portugal per location
2023 data
63%
82%
37%
18%
Startups with
HQ in Portugal
Startups with
HQ elsewhere1
Number of rounds
€205 million 91 rounds
Amount raised
61%
11%
7%
5%
5%
4%
7%
Oporto
Coimbra
Aveiro
Lisbon
Leiria
Others
Braga
April 2024

5. 4
In 2023, the
market
continued the
contraction
that started in
the previous
year
# of rounds
Source: Armilar database
EUR million
Estimated number of deals Estimated investment amount
133
160
119
91
2020 2023
2022
2021
-24%
354
851
205
2022
2021 2023
1 417
2020
-76%
In 2023 (and 2022), a relevant number of companies raised internal bridge rounds.
These rounds are not typically announced and, as such, are not captured in these numbers
April 2024

6. 5
Lower Seed+
activity and a
reduction in
Series B+ round
sizes were the
main drivers
affecting the
market
Source: Armilar database
73
83
25
41
44
56
66 36
12
12
22
2020
9
2021
6
2022
5
4
2023
133
160
119
91
9
Pre-Seed Seed Series B and Beyond
Series A
Growth
’23 vs. ‘22
+64%
-45%
-59%
-17%
97 112
96
246
219
488
48
11
2020
13
2021
4
2022
51
76
64
9
2023
354
1 417
851
205
1 212
81
Growth
’23 vs. ‘22
+114%
-43%
-67%
-90%
International investors and local VCs,
the main investors in Seed and Series
A stages in 2022, significantly reduced
their investment activity in 2023
No publicly announced round >€100M in
‘23 (vs. 2 in ‘22 and 6 in ’21). Contraction
driven by lower capital demand (due to
burn rate reduction) and more prudent
(and portfolio-focused) investors
Driven by a shift of Portugal Ventures’ activity
from Seed in 2022 to Pre-Seed in 2023
# of rounds EUR million
Estimated number of deals Estimated investment amount
Pre-Seed Seed Series B and Beyond
Series A
April 2024

7. 6
Graduation for
next round is
relatively stable,
with a few
exceptions,
particularly in
Series B
Source: Armilar database
Pre-Seed to Seed conversion Seed to Series A conversion Series A to Series B conversion
Share of startups that
raised the next round
within a given period
(cumulative) 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
12 18 24 30 36
Months
6
2021 cohort
2022 cohort
2020 cohort
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
12 18 24 30 36
Months
6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
12 18 24 30 36
Months
6
With a challenging fundraising market, several post-Series A
startups have cut burn and raised Series A extensions, delaying
the next external fundraising round, and avoiding a down-round
from the “bullish” 2021 environment
% % %
April 2024

8. 7
While
Pre-Seed/Seed
round sizes
continued to
increase,
Series A rounds
contracted
Note: Analysis only include rounds with known amount
Source: Armilar database
Pre-Seed Seed Series A
Median round size
EUR thousand
100 114 150 332
2020 2023
2022
2021
+121%
658
2022 2023
2021
2020
1 275 1 323
1 844
+39%
2022 2023
2021
2020
4 250
8 000
7 338
4 140
-44%
April 2024

9. 8
The five largest
rounds
accounted for
less than 50% of
the total amount
raised, the lowest
since we started
tracking
1 Includes Equity and Debt
Source: Armilar database
Share of total amount raised Top 5 funding rounds in 2023 (by size)
70% 66% 63%
49%
30% 34% 37%
51%
2021 2022 2023
5 largest
rounds
2020
€354
million
€1 417
million
€851
million
€205
million
Other
rounds
Startup Round
Amount
raised Participating investors
A
€391
million
Armilar, Iberis Capital, Mustard
Seed Maze, Giant Ventures,
Seedcamp, Tom Blomfield, Ed
Vaizey, SmartLenders Asset
Management
Growth
$21
million
Iberis Capital, GED Ventures
Portugal, Point 72, Notion Capital,
Scale Ventures Partners, Caixa
Capital
C ext.
€18
million
Indico Capital Partners, Iberis
Capital, Lince Capital
Seed
€10
million
Lince Capital, Explorer
Investments
A
€15
million
Armilar, SCOR Ventures, Breega,
MS&AD, Stableton, Start
Ventures, Shilling, Firmin
Zocchetto (PayFit), Job van der
Voort (Remote), Humberto Ayres
Pereira (Rows), Nuno Sebastião
(Feedzai), Alessandro Petazzi
(Musement), Davide Dattoli
(Talent Garden)
April 2024

10. 9
The
Portuguese
market
continues to
be mostly a
B2B market
% of total number of rounds
Source: Armilar database
% of total amount invested
Number of rounds Amount invested (EUR million)
72% 72% 70% 71%
28% 28% 30% 29%
2021 2022 2023
2020
160 119 91
133
B2C B2B
93% 96%
83% 78%
17% 22%
2020
4%
2021 2022
7%
354 1 417 851 205
2023
Increased share of invested amounts in B2C startups over the
past 2 years driven by
• A lower number of €100+ million rounds in B2B companies
• An increase in €5+ million rounds in B2C startups addressing
global markets
B2C B2B
April 2024

11. 10
Both local and
international
investors
reduced their
activity
# of rounds
1. Assuming total round size given that information of
amount invested per investor is not publicly available
Source: Armilar database
EUR million1
Rounds (in number) participated by local
and international investors
Rounds (weighted by amount) participated
by local and international investors
Participation in rounds
by investor origin
96 88
57 53
21 34
39
18
16
38
23
2021 2022
20
2023
2020
160
119
91
133
137 219
192
179
560
26
99
2022
2021
96
83
38
354
1 417
851
205
36
1 162
2020 2023
Portugal-based investors only
International and Portugual-based investors
International investors only
April 2024

12. 11
Zooming into
investors
based in
Portugal, non-
traditional
players are
increasing their
relevance
% of rounds (in number) having any Portugal-based
investor as one of the participants
1. Portuguese tax incentives system for Research
and Development (R&D)
Source: Armilar database
% of the total amount invested in rounds having any
Portugal-based investor as one of the participants
Participation in number of rounds Participation in amount invested
Portugal-based
investors 33%
43%
11%
32%
15%
11%
46%
48%
25%
10%
23%
27%
25%
7%
46%
37%
Business
Angels
CVC /
Corporates
Public
Entities
Other
investors
VCs
27%
36%
12%
36%
76%
17%
31%
56%
23%
65%
20%
25%
34%
36%
56%
26%
14%
21%
72%
Business
Angels
CVC /
Corporates
Public
Entities
Other
investors
VCs
17%
15%
29%
16%
50%
2020 2021 2023
2022
2023 was marked by a significant
increase in participation from
investors with SIFIDE1 funds,
supporting all types of stages
2020 2021 2023
2022
April 2024

13. 12
However, the ecosystem is still backed by a large and diverse pool of investors…
Most active investors in 2023 (# of rounds)
Source: Armilar database
27
11
8
6 6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3 3 3
Lince
Capital
GED
Ventures
Portugal
Iberis
Capital
M4
Ventures/C2
Capital
Shilling Fundo para
a Inovação
Social
Portugal
Ventures
Caixa
Capital
Demium
Capital
Antler Armilar Humberto
Ayres
Pereira
Mustard
Seed MAZE
Indico
Capital
Partners
Business Angel Public Entity
VC Other
International investor
+7
+0 -2
+7 -12
+6 -2
+4 -3
-1 -4
+3 +0
+3
Delta
vs. 2022
Portugal-based investor
April 2024

14. 13
…particularly in
the Seed stage
Source: Armilar database
Pre-Seed Seed Series A
Most active investors
per stage (# rounds)
19
3
3
3
2
Portugal
Ventures
Antler
Demium
Capital
FIS
Techstars
7
7
7
5
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
Lince
Capital
Portugal
Ventures
M4Ventures
C2 Capital
Shilling
Iberis
Capital
GED
Ventures
PT
Caixa
Capital
Core
Angels
FIS
Humberto
A. Pereira
Olisipo
Way
Indico
Capital
2
2
2
Armilar
Lince
Capital
Mustard
Seed
Maze
Business Angel
Public Entity
VC
Other
International investor
Portugal-based investors
April 2024

15. 14
Report
methodology
We define the Portuguese startup scene in a broad sense, including startups with Portuguese roots
but without their HQ in Portugal. In this report, we include
• Startups that have their HQ in Portugal (typically the standard definition in other databases)
• Startups that do not have their HQ in Portugal but that have strong links to Portugal, namely by
having Portuguese founders or international founders located in Portugal, and a relevant local
presence
Whenever a deal is made public, but round size or name (Seed, Series A, etc.) is unknown, we try to
estimate them. We classify the round name based on the perceived stage of the startup, using several
variables, and assume a standard round size for each stage
• To determine the stage, the main variables used are prior rounds information, number of
employees, round size, and product readiness
• To estimate the round size, we assume EUR 100 thousand for Pre-Seed, EUR 400 thousand for Seed
and EUR 3 million for Series A rounds; we acknowledge that this may evolve significantly with time,
and we will review this criteria regularly
April 2024

16. Armilar Venture Partners, SCR, SA
Rua Tierno Galvan, Amoreiras, Torre 3, piso 17
1070-274 Lisbon, Portugal
Tel: +351 216 030 166
www.armilar.com
info@armilar.com
www.linkedin.com/company/armilar/
twitter.com/armilarvp