European cities such as London, Paris, Berlin and Barcelona are usually mentioned in the same breath as San Francisco or New York when talking about the largest start-up centers in the world. But in recent years the name of another city appears more and more as a European center: Lisbon.

Nowadays, the Portuguese capital city is considered one of the fastest growing start-up centers on the continent.

A 2017 report by the Startup Europe Partnership found that Lisbon’s ecosystem is growing at twice the European average and has already produced several unicorns.

According to the EU report Startup Monitor 2018, Lisbon stands alongside London, Berlin, Paris and Copenhagen as major centers for startups in Europe.

According to fDi Markets, a data service of Financial Time, Lisbon was the fastest growing Western European capital for green foreign investment in 2018. The city attracted 42 projects worth $1.1 billion.

It is true that Portugal, a country of 10 million inhabitants, fell into a financial crisis in 2008 and a debt crisis between 2011 and 2014. Indeed, it is not placed high on the list of the strongest economies in the European Union. But it seems that there are other reasons that attract more and more entrepreneurs to Lisbon.

We will take a closer look at what makes Lisbon so attractive for business:

• Based on the 2019 World Peace Index, Portugal is the third safest country in the world and the second most peaceful country in Europe after Iceland.
• Lisbon is ranked fourth in the world in the StartUp City index conducted by the UK’s leading freelance market PeoplePerHour, which examines a variety of factors such as the cost of living, quality of life, ease of starting a business and the cost of office space.
• According to the location evaluation tool fDi Benchmark, labor costs and living costs in the fields of IT and software are lower in the Portuguese capital than other European technology centers such as London, Berlin and Barcelona. This provides startups with a longer track.
• Portugal’s real estate market is still very competitive despite the increase in prices in recent years.
• Various government initiatives have made it easier for Lisbon to attract non-EU technical talent. These include the Portugal startup visa and various types of tax incentives and attractive residency programs.
• Portugal is well located geographically. The fact that it is close to the US and other major technology centers in the world, as well as its pleasant climate, adds to its charm.
• The education system in Portugal has developed over the years and produced remarkable gains. Highly trained professionals and graduates of Portuguese academic institutions fuel the technology scene in Lisbon.
• There is a high level of proficiency in the English language among Portuguese, especially the younger generation.
• The developed infrastructure in Lisbon gives entrepreneurs another reason to move to this city.
• The soft landing program of the Portuguese government helps foreign entrepreneurs and investors set up their businesses in the capital Portugal.
• Lisbon’s profile as an attractive business center received a boost when it replaced Dublin as host of the Web Summit, Europe’s largest technology event. Its ambitions to become a technology hub grew even stronger after it was announced in 2018 that it would remain the host for another 10 years.