Porto is Portugal's number one startup ecosystem

The 2008 Economical and Financial crisis was also a catalyst for deep change and restructuring among the business environment.

The biggest challenge is to have more entrepreneurs in Portugal and Porto has been a powerful driver of economic growth and job creation in the country.

In 2015, 1,722 companies were incorporated in the city of Porto, 139 of which are industrial and 1,585 are services companies. These figures, which are included in the annual statistics of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), are aggregated in a study by Pordata, a database by António Manuel dos Santos Foundation. These figures (the figures for 2016 are yet to be included), show a 30% growth in relation to 2012.

Not only that but it is proof that Porto is reshaping the city business environment by creating new companies and jobs, by opening new markets and nurturing new skills and capabilities.

In the field of startups for instance, Porto is undergoing a cultural change regarding the economic governance mechanism. Policies in Porto recognise and reward the entrepreneurship levels and this further contributes to thrive the startup community.

According to another recent study, entitled "Portugal Rising: Mapping ICT Scaleups", published by the Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) together with CrESIT, with the support of Microsoft Portugal and the Activate Portugal Startups initiative, Porto ranks as the fastest moving startup city in Portugal, representing 36% of the ecosystem in the country.

Porto leaders facilitate this startup ecosystem because they champion innovation and entrepreneurship across functional areas.

A startup becomes a scaleup when it involves to specific high-technology markets, which are looking to grow in terms of market access, revenues, and number of employees.

Scaleups are said to be the next wave of innovation, evolving from startups and considered the collaborative road to sustainable growth as well.

Porto City Hall is heavily investing in this area and has developed the ScaleUp Porto strategy, in partnership with other entities. The main purpose is to boost the regional economy and to support local technological startups with the potential to scale internationally.

Lisbon is the Portuguese city with the largest number of Portuguese scaleups (42% of the total), followed by Porto, the second largest hub in the country.

The city of Porto has a favourable environment to startups, to business growth and consequently to employment creation. All of which drive urban growth and provides the revenues for much-needed improvements in transit and housing.