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Note · 2026 · 3 min read

Closing Portugal's early-stage gap

There is a clear gap in Portugal between a validated idea and the rounds that follow, made worse by rounds that are, in general, smaller than in comparable markets.

Closing the first ticket remains hard, in part because the market still has few instruments genuinely designed for early-stage risk. The result is a natural misalignment between the stage a startup is at and the mandates of the capital available to it.

I'd like to see more early-stage capital with a real appetite for risk, and better incentives on both sides, for investors, as the UK already does, and for startups themselves, including the participation and equity mechanisms our law still doesn't allow us to offer employees.

Most of all, I'd like a closer dialogue between startups, incubators and regulators, with sandboxes and room to experiment responsibly. We can innovate without stalling growth. We just have to decide to.

Drawn from Isabel Carapeta's interview with PME Magazine, 11 February 2026. Read the original
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