Portugal is in the middle of an economic boom and more and more French-speaking people are deciding to come and live in Lisbon or elsewhere. Many are taking the plunge thanks to the tax advantages the country offers for their retirement but also to set up a business in the country. In order to testify to the French economic fabric in Lisbon and to accompany you in your approach, you will find below a range of resources that may be of interest to you if you too are planning or have already started the adventure.
Luso-French Chamber of Commerce in Lisbon
First of all, I would like to remind those who wish to set up a business in the region that there is a Luso-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lisbon. You will find the website here: it offers a lot of information and contacts to take the temperature of the French-speaking economy in the country. The emails presented react quickly and you can easily get the information you want.
The website of the CCI Luso-française de Lisbonne offers various practical information such as :
- The development of a professional network in Portugal via an events agenda
- Services to help companies set up in Portugal: commercial & financial data, location studies, market research, participation in trade fairs, etc.
A collection of the latest economic publications on Portugal
If you too would like to come and set up a business in Lisbon, please contact me using the button below. I will put you in touch with a French-speaking person who will be able to accompany you directly in the administration to create your company.
Business creation fair in Lisbon
An event that could be of great interest to French entrepreneurs in Lisbon: the business creation and employment fair. It has been organised every year for the past two years by the association “Entreprendre” and if I mention it to you it is because it is growing and is likely to become a reference very soon, if it is not already the case!
The aim of these entrepreneurs’ fairs is to facilitate meetings and exchanges between business creators and companies based in Lisbon and, of course, to facilitate the creation of a network within the French-speaking community. This event, which takes place at the French Embassy in Lisbon, only exists since 2016 but is attracting more and more participants :
Salon entreprendre 2016: 200 participants, 15 exhibitors and 5 conferences
Salon Entreprendre 2017: more than 300 participants, 15 exhibitors and 10 conferences
These are not the only actions undertaken by the association since there is also a unit for employment. This consists of acting as an intermediary between the French embassy in Lisbon and the companies based there. It is a way of putting forward French-speaking expatriates and companies that wish to recruit French-speaking people: information that can be useful to you.
Finally, the association proposes the Entrepreneurship Thursdays in Lisbon: gatherings around aperitifs and between entrepreneurs to exchange, get to know each other or debate about each other’s entrepreneurial experiences. For more information, I invite you to visit their website here.
French startups in Lisbon
For your information and because it may interest you in the preparation of your project, you will find below a list of some French startups located in Lisbon, Portugal. This may be relevant if you wish to make contacts or apply for a particular job. Being French, they may be interested in a French-speaking profile or partnership.
- Wipoz! : connecting chefs and individuals with qualified fitters
- Random lunch: application designed to draw employees from the same company to have lunch together.
- Mate – Social dating: application to discover the activities around you
- Gadael : leave and working time management in open source
- Lu-et-lou films : social network of amateur video makers
- Station W: transforming restaurants and bars into ephemeral coworking spaces
- Les cartons: empty apartments online
- Harpoon.jobs: simplifying the recruitment process for companies
- Whaller: quick and easy solution for setting up a private social network
These are just a few examples, they are numerous and I invite you to browse the web more to discover them, some projects are exciting.
Frenchupers, a community of French entrepreneurs
Another point to know if you want to start your business in Lisbon: the Frenchupers network which was developed recently and which will allow you to develop very quickly a network of French-speaking entrepreneurs in the region. The association regularly organizes events such as aperitifs, afteworks or conferences in the city of Lisbon. You can visit their website (here), create an account and fill in your profile to make your business visible to the French speaking people of Lisbon.
The website offers some interesting features for entrepreneurs:
- The possibility to create circles and thus follow each other’s news or allow others to follow yours.
- A calendar of all past and upcoming events to give you an idea of the community’s dynamics.
- A “Talks” section where everyone can intervene, comment, ask questions, post & request information.
- A directory with the profiles of all registered French-speaking entrepreneurs living in and around Lisbon.
- A “Startup” section that presents all the projects that have been posted by the participants.
A real goldmine if you are a new expatriate in Portugal and want to interact with those who make up Lisbon’s French-speaking economy. In my opinion, it’s the most accessible professional French-speaking social network in Lisbon. Having been to some events myself, you will find all types of people, from very different backgrounds and often settled for a very short time. So they too are seeking to create a personal and professional social fabric.
Meetups and Facebook groups
One last point that should not be overlooked is the use of Facebook for professional purposes. You are more used to doing it for personal use, but French-speaking entrepreneurs in Lisbon have made do with the means at their disposal and many groups have been created in the region. To be a member of several of these groups, you may notice some drifts of posts that have nothing professional about them but they are still good ways to expand your network and contacts. You can find Facebook groups in particular areas, in cities like Lisbon but also Setubal, Porto or others, but also groups of freelancers who meet regularly to work together and exchange on projects, ideas or experiences.
Finally and for those who don’t know, I invite you to register on Meetup. A website where everyone can create groups in a particular field in order to organize meetings, workshops, conferences and other events. The Frenchupers community was originally a Meetup group before expanding via its own platform.
You will find all the Meetup groups near Lisbon here and will certainly be able to join the one you are interested in among the multitude of existing specialties:
- Development
- Francophones
- Culture
- Language
- Digital nomads
- Social networks
- Webmarketing
- Blockchain
- Food
- Startups
- Artificial intelligence
- And so on.
One point to note: even if there are French-speaking Meetups in Lisbon, most of the events will be held in English so that there will be a maximum of members and interaction.
To finish and if you want to know more about French companies in Lisbon, I invite you to watch different Youtube videos on the subject!
