Venture capital investment in Portuguese startups plummets by 50%
Portugal’s startups attracted €82 million of investment to March this year, but it was half of the amount invested compared to 2024.
In the first three months of the year, national startups raised €82.6 million, a 38.8% drop compared to the €135 million invested in the last quarter of last year, and a 49.9% drop compared to the €165 million raised a year ago from investors, according to Dealroom data.
The effect of the trade war and turmoil in financial markets are likely to be denting investor confidence with the current environment of uncertainty having a negative effect on the ability of funds to raise capital.
“With the economic uncertainty caused by the new US administration taking office in January, it is natural that there is greater caution regarding new investments,” Stephan Morais (pictured), managing partner of Indico Capital told online news source ECO when asked to comment on the investment data in the first quarter in the Portuguese entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“These figures reflect a slowdown in investment activity, which does not surprise us. We have been witnessing a general retraction from investors, greatly influenced by the macroeconomic context, and more recently, by factors of geopolitical instability”, points out Vasco Pereira Coutinho, CEO of Lince Capital.
“It is important not to read this data in isolation. The ecosystem has natural cycles and, often, these moments of correction are also opportunities to consolidate more solid and efficient projects. We continue to see talent, innovation and interesting value propositions in the market — capital may have slowed, but it has not disappeared,” he added.
Last year Portugal’s startups raised €463 million, practically double the amount raised in 2023. The start of 2025 has been marked by trade wars, with an impact on the markets. A climate of uncertainty is affecting the markets.
“The fall is certainly significant but not unexpected. The first quarter is normally slower in terms of business activity and macroeconomic uncertainty is certainly playing a part. What is important to stress is that this is probably a temporary fall and will not be the long-term picture”, says Thijs, CEO and founder of dealflow.eu and managing partner of ventures.eu .
