We all know Lisbon is very much on the news. All the major media outlets, from the New York Times, to CNN or BBC, are hailing the Portuguese capital as THE place to visit, and one of the coolest (and at the same time hottest) cities in Europe. A-Listers like Eric Cantona, Monica Bellucci, Madonna or more recently Michael Fassbender all seem to know this…
‘Wired’ magazine also felt something, since they just did a story about Lisbon in their last issue, part of the special edition ‘Europe’s 100 Hottest Startups’, that annually covers the most important and relevant startup hubs in Europe.
The Portuguese capital was featured for the second time in a row, with several startups being showcased and Beta-i also being highlighted as a “key-incubator in the Lisbon scene”, and a “place to visit”.
Under the intro “Portugal’s vibrant capital is a buzzing, historic city that balances a laid-back vibe with a hunger to grow”, Wired goes on to say Lisbon is “a thriving city and the core of the country’s startup ecosystem”, defining it as “a Global city: 62% of investment into Portugal comes from abroad. Lisbon is by far the biggest draw for these funds, taking two-thirds of that total”.
In the following pages, they ask successful founders from startups Codacy and Unbabel to recommend their best sites and bites in the startup city,
Besides these references, Wired also highlights companies such as Attentive, and Uniplaces (alumni from our flagship program Lisbon Challenge), as well as Landing.jobs, a startup where we invested.
Wired found that “Portugal has a multilingual population rated as highly proficient in English. Forty-two per cent of its inhabitants speak two languages and 23 per cent speak three. A quarter of the population has a higher- education qualification”.
They also believe “operating costs in Lisbon are some of the lowest in Europe. Cheap office space is abundant, with low corporation tax helping fledgling firms to get a footing. Salaries are also competitive compared to northern Europe”.
So, it looks like ‘Wired’ has been busy trying to really understand what’s happening in Lisbon… Are you?