One of the more impressive takeaways from Portugal Fintech Report 2021, the report on the fintech ecosystem in Portugal, presented by Portugal Fintech Association. The document shows that fintechs are more accessible to investors and that Portugal is becoming a country of choice for international expansion of many of these innovative companies in the financial sector.
The Portugal Fintech Report annually distinguishes 30 Portuguese fintechs that stood out in the national and international panorama. In total, the Top Fintech startups in Portugal raised more than €437million in investment. The verticals with the highest funding were Cybersecurity and Regulatory Technology, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency and Insurance. This year, similarly, to last year, Portugal Fintech highlights six emerging and fourteen international fintechs operating in Portugal.
“The Portuguese fintech ecosystem today has a high degree of maturity, which places it at the level of other global hubs. On the one hand, the report shows how Portugal attracts new startups and entrepreneurs in different verticals. On the other hand, the interest of mature institutions in working with fintech startups, showed how 2021 was a turning point in the cooperation between these two universes”, explains João Freire de Andrade, founder of Portugal Fintech.
The report shows that older companies are more open to innovation, associating with fintechs to accelerate their digitisation processes. Examples of this are the success stories, presented in the report, which show the results of cooperation between fintechs and financial institutions such as the Fintech 365 program, a Proof-of-Concept oriented program empowered by Microsoft for Startups and executed by Fintech Solutions, the advisory arm of Portugal Fintech.
In addition to providing relevant data on talent, capital, investment, and regulation in the sector, the report explores why Portugal is rising as a startup hub, with insights from IDC stating that Portugal’s specialised talent is a main driver, as well as the fact that it has been the host for Web Summit since 2016 and its international by design environment boosted by the need from startups to address international markets from an early-stage.
The report is supported by several partners, including VISA, Morais Leitão and Accenture, who explain the importance of the relationship with fintechs for the development of innovation in the financial industry.
