“Porto quickly became an extremely attractive city to live in and invest. I believe that what really makes a difference are the people, the fact that the city is welcoming and that everything is close, the sea, the river and the best of the Portuguese cuisine. I have a great admiration and pride for the city and a deep belief in its future”.
José Neves, Founder & CEO Farfetch
Porto is the perfect place to work, live and enjoy. It is a safe city, sunny, with a rich culture and heritage, resulting from nine centuries of history, providing a high quality of health services, international schools, excellent flight connectivity to all parts of the world and a booming tech-driven economy and a stimulating R&D environment.
Known for being very welcoming and open to foreign cultures, it truly helps everyone integrate, while offering a unique quality of life for locals and everyone who has chosen Porto as their home. Currently, there are 66,720 foreign residents and 11,769 international students in the Porto Area. Also, during recent years, Porto has seen a big boom in foreign investment, with currently 301 foreign multinational companies in the city and 872 in the Porto Metropolitan Area.
When it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship, in the last decade, Porto has seen a remarkable development in the ecosystem, being a dynamic birthplace of many startups. Porto is the leading city in Portugal in the creation of technological startups, accounting for 36% of the national total.
The connection between knowledge, a strong entrepreneurial community, private and public partners and the support of the Municipality, makes the city a vibrant and competitive hub.
“In 2016 Porto had more companies getting funded by VC firms than Lisbon, making clear that talking about entrepreneurship in Portugal implies talking about Porto. All of this was not achieved by chance – It is a result of years of investment by the main city driving forces: the entrepreneurs, the University and the political administration.”
Cláudio Fernandes, Founder AdClick