Investment and Internationalisation

Invest in Portugal

The AICEP – Business Development Agency is an agency with a liaison role regarding the promotion of investment in Portugal, also assuming the role of sole intermediary for the promotion of large-scale national or foreign investment, offering personalised service in all phases of the investment process as well. It also deals with developing and executing policies that aid in the internationalising of the Portuguese economy, the promotion and publicising of economic activities, namely those in the area of goods and services, and in the promotion of the image of Portugal and of Portuguese brands outside the country.

Support for Internationalisation

AICEP  - Business Development Agency is responsible for developing and executing support policies for the internationalisation of the Portuguese economy, for the promotion and the divulging of economic activities, namely in the area of goods and services, the image of Portugal in the world and of Portuguese brands abroad.

International Internships

The NetworkContacto – a contact network for international exchange programmes.

This network serves as a link between the participants in the InovContacto Programme, acting as an informal knowledge network. NetworkContacto is also a vehicle through which information is transmitted to Portuguese companies with an interest in international markets. The studies done by the almost 1,000 interns during their time in various foreign countries are available at NetworkContacto.

The objective is to capitalise on the knowledge acquired by participants in the project, maximising to the fullest their usefulness in the Portuguese business fabric which deals with foreign markets, with information about the perspectives and tendencies, opportunities and shortcomings for business, sectors of trade, products and legal matters.

Training and internships provide an added benefit in terms of improved human resources, given the extent to which the experiences and new skills acquired by the participants will fill in the gap that some Portuguese companies have felt in keeping up on the international stage.

Risk Capital

API Capital, Sociedade de Capital de Risco, SA – is a public limited company, supervised by the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM), which is a member of the Portuguese Risk Capital Association (APCRI) and of EVCA – the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

Its strategic line of action is to manage risk capital funds for “large investment projects.” Funds may extend to projects of smaller scope and/or ones promoted by SMEs, as long as they: (a) can attain the appropriate dimension for inclusion or (b) are unmistakably meritorious, with strategic, practical and propitious repercussions for large-scale projects, especially with regard to knowledge-intensive SMEs (KI-SMEs) projects.

API Capital seeks to cooperate with private and public initiatives, focusing on high yield returns, for risk capital funds and management and handling activities that it been selected for.

  Inovcapital is the main risk capital company with the Ministry of the Economy and of Innovation, contributing greatly to the development of the Technological Plan and to the sustained growth of the Portuguese economy through the promotion of entrepreneurialism and proactive participation in business capital.

The result of the merger of PME Capital and PME Investimentos into a single risk capital entity, Inovcapital assumes national scope and importance, with specific responsibilities that deal with the financing of innovative businesses, especially start-ups.

Assuming a new philosophy for action in the market, it is rigorous in its intimate handling of participating companies, focusing decisively on pro-active measures, dynamics and innovation. Its core idea-statement can be put this way: “Successful partnerships for innovation.”

This new risk capital will serve to reward innovative projects that set sights on competitiveness and the internationalisation of Portuguese companies. Its greatest investment capacity comes from the concentration of resources in a single entity, and the pursuit of opportunities made available by the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF/QREN) will have the effect of boosting national risk capital.