Tech & Startup Exits in Portugal

10 min readAug 26, 2018

Last update: August 23rd, 2021

As co-founder and CEO of Infraspeak, co-founder of Founders Founders (scale-up incubator), and former Head of Technology Center and Acceleration Program at UPTEC, I’m deeply involved in the Portuguese Startup ecosystem.

As a hobby, I keep track of the “Hot Startups in Portugal”, “VC Funds actively investing in Portuguese startups in the pre-seed, seed, series A, series B, and late stages” and the most relevant events happening in the Portuguese Startup Scene like “exits”, “funding rounds” and “startup post-mortem articles”.

This article is about the most relevant startup exits by Portuguese startups:

IPOs

Farfetch (E-Commerce, Fashion || London, Porto, Guimarães, Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase, Angellist
Stock exchange: NYSE as “FTCH”
Exit Valuation: $5.8B
Exit Date: Sep 21, 2018
Total Funding before Exit: $721.5M
Investors before Exit: JD.com, Eurazeo, IDG Capital, Temasek Holdings, DST Global, Vitruvian Partners, Condé Nest, Index Ventures, e.Ventures, Advent Venture Partners, and more
News about Exit: Business of Fashion

Raize (Fintech, Marketplace || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Stock exchange: Euronext Lisbon as “MLRZE”
Exit Valuation: 10M€
Exit Date: Jul 12th, 2018
Total Funding before Exit: unknown
Investors before Exit: unknown
News about Exit: Portugal Startups, ECO (PT), Jornal Económico (PT)

Acquisitions

Chipidea Microelectrónica (Semiconductor, Wireless || Lisbon)
Crunchbase
Acquirer: MIPS Technologies (USA)
Exit Valuation: $147M (Cash & Stock)
Exit Date: Aug 27th, 2007
Total Funding before Exit: $27.5M
Investors before Exit: Armilar Venture Partners, Kennet Partners, and more
News about Exit: Crunchbase

WeDo Technologies (Revenue Assurance Software || Lisbon, Braga)
Crunchbase
Acquirer: Mobileum (USA)
Exit Valuation: $70M (source)
Exit Date: Aug 14, 2019
Total Funding before Exit: Unknown
Investors before Exit: SONAE IM
News about Exit: Crunchbase, BusinessWire, Lightreading

Enabler (Retail consulting and integration services || Porto)
Acquirer: Wipro (India)
Exit Valuation: $52.5M
Exit Date: Aug 7th, 2007
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: CNET, BusinessWire

Mobicomp (Mobile Development || Braga)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Microsoft (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed ($35M unofficial)
Exit Date: Jun 26th, 2008
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, TechCrunch, Expresso (PT)

GoContact (Telecommunications, Call Center || Aveiro)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Broadvoice (USA)
Exit Valuation: €21M
Exit Date: Jul 22, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: None (Bootstrapped)
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Salestechstar, Archinewsy

Primavera Solution (ERP || Braga)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Oakley Capital (United Kingdom)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Estimation: More than 20M€, less than 80M€)
Exit Date: Jun 22, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: None (Bootstrapped)
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, UK Investor Magazine, Private Equity Wire

doDOC (Document Management || Coimbra)
Website, Crunchbase, Angellist
Acquirer: Envision Pharma Group (UK)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Estimation: More than 15M€, less than 30M€)
Exit Date: Mar 22nd, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: $3M
Investors before Exit: Palm Drive Capital, LC Ventures, Green Innovations, Techstars, Right Side Capital Management, Techstars Boston Accelerator, Star Power Partners LLC, Rising Ventures, and more
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Envision Pharma Group

James (Machine Learning || Lisbon, New York)
Also known as: CrowdProcess
Website, Crunchbase, Angellist
Acquirer: Undisclosed (Estimation: Google (USA))
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Estimation: More than 7M€)
Exit Date: 2019
Total Funding before Exit: $3.9M
Investors before Exit: Seedcamp, Kima Ventures, Frontline Ventures, Rising Ventures, big Start ventures, Gael de Boissard, and more.
News about Exit: unknown

B-parts (Automotive, Recycling Marketplace || Porto)
Also known as: Netpeças
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Groupe PSA (France)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Estimation: More than 5M€, less than 12M€)
Exit Date: Jul 24th, 2020
Total Funding before Exit: 700K€
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures, Indexignition, and Manuel Araújo Monteiro (BA)
News about Exit: BusinessWire, CollisionWeek

ShiftForward (Advertising, MarTech || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Velocidi (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Estimation: More than 3M€, less than 12M€)
Exit Date: Apr 12th, 2018
Total Funding before Exit: 1M€ (unconfirmed)
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures, Brian Fitzpatrick (BA), and Florian Heinemann (BA)
News about Exit: Crunchbase, PR Newswire

Drivit (Insurance, Mobility || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Zego (UK)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Unofficial Estimation: More than €2M)
Exit Date: Dec 9th, 2020
Total Funding before Exit: €500k
Investors before Exit: EDP Ventures and big Start ventures
News about Exit: Tech.eu

Mycujoo (Broadcasting, Internet, Sports || Zurich, Amsterdam, Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Eleven Sports (United Kingdom)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Unofficial Estimation: More than €2M)
Exit Date: Nov 9th, 2020
Total Funding before Exit: $1.9M
Investors before Exit: Carsten Thoma, Go4it Capital, Sapphire Ventures, and more
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Eleven Sports, Digital TV

iMobileMagic (Mobile || Braga)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Smith Micro Software (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed ($2M unofficial)
Exit Date: Jul 16th, 2016
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Portugal Startups

Abyssal (Underwater Operations Software || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase, Angellist
Acquirer: Ocean Infinity (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Estimation: More than 1.9M€, less than 7.6M€)
Exit Date: Apr 30, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Splash247

Comparamais (Price Comparasion || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Lendo AB (Sweden)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed (Estimation: More than 1.8M€)
Exit Date: 21 June 2021
Total Funding before Exit: €600k
Investors before Exit: 5 undisclosed Business Angels
News about Exit: Jornal de Negócios

Peta Pilot (Analytics, GovTech, Tax, Big Data || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: SOVOS (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Jul 7, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: $2.2M
Investors before Exit: Alpac Capital
News about Exit: Crunchbase, PRWeb

Saphety (Analytics, GovTech, Tax, Big Data || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: SOVOS (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Jul 7, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, PRWeb

Hapibot (Software Development, AI || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: TeamViewer (Germany)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: May 11, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: None (Bootstrapped)
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, PR Teamviewer

HeartGenetics (Bioinformatic software, Genetic tests || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Impact Lab Group (Italy)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Nov 17th, 2020
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: Armilar Venture Partners
News about Exit: Genomeweb

i2S Insurance (Insurance || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: gfi Informatique Group (France)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Sep 19th, 2019
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: ECS Capital and Pathena
News about Exit: gfi Group Press Release, Alantra

Lymphact (Biotech || Évora)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: GammaDelta Therapeutics Limited (United Kingdom)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Jun 8th, 2018
Total Funding before Exit: €275K
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures and Busy Angels
News about Exit: Portugal Startups

Musicverb (Music, Booking || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase, Angellist
Acquirer: VIP-Booking (Denmark)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: December 1st, 2017
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Portugal Startups, Complete Music Update

Watchful Software (Cyber Security, Software || Coimbra)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Symantec (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Jun 8th, 2017
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: Critical Software, Critical Ventures
News about Exit: Crunchbase, tech.eu

Inosat (Fleet Management, Information Technology || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: FleetMatics (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: September 1st, 2016
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, PRNewswire, Streetinsider

Inovretail (Retail Consulting and Information Technology || Porto)
Website
Acquirer: Sonae IM (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: July 16th, 2016
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: Undisclosed
News about Exit: Sonae IM Press Release, Portugal Startups

Donaegis (Information Technology, Security || Coimbra)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Prosegur (Spain)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Mar 23rd, 2016
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Portugal Startups

Blip.pt (Web Software Development || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Paddy Power Betfair (United Kingdom)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Jan, 2016
Total Funding before Exit: None
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: Dinheiro Vivo (PT)

FiberSensing (Hardware, Sensors || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: HBM (Germany)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Jun 22nd, 2015
Total Funding before Exit: $3.1M
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures
News about Exit: BusinessWire, ComputerWorld

BestTables (Food, Booking || Lisbon)
Acquirer: TripAdvisor (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Apr 9th, 2015
Total Funding before Exit: 230k€
Investors before Exit: Shilling Capital Partners
News about Exit: Portugal Startups, Observador (PT)

Anubisnetworks (Security || Lisbon, Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: BitSight Technologies (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Oct 21st, 2014
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures
News about Exit: VentureBeat, Portugal Startups

Private equity / Founders buyouts

Vortal (Construction, Procurement, Marketplace || Lisbon, Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Stirling Square Capital Partners & TA Associates via DOCU Nordic (Sweden)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Aug 23rd, 2020
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: Vallis Capital Partners and Pathena
News about Exit: Vortal Blog, Private Equity Wire

Nonius Software (Hospitality || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase, Angellist
Acquirer: António Silva and Leonel Domingues (Founders) with the backing of Private Equity player OXY Capital
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Sep 15th, 2015
Total Funding before Exit: 7M€
Investors before Exit: Caixa Capital and Beta Capital
News about Exit: Press Release Caixa Capital, PortugalStartups

Soft-Acquisitions

Acqui-hires, symbolic acquisitions, small acquisitions, and other similar types of acquisitions

Springkode (E-commerce, Fashion || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: PlatformE (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Mar 2nd, 2021
Total Funding before Exit: Unknown
Investors before Exit: LC Ventures, Farfetch, and more.
News about Exit: Fibre2Fashion

Fyde (Cybersecurity || Palo Alto, Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Barracuda (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Nov 11th, 2020
Total Funding before Exit: $5.2M
Investors before Exit: Bright Pixel, Wells Fargo, DNX Ventures, Vertex Ventures, and Portugal Ventures.
News about Exit: Barracuda Blog, CRN

Attentive (Business Intelligence, SaaS|| Boulder, Lisbon, Braga)
Website, Crunchbase, Angellist
Acquirer: Outsystems (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: May 7th, 2020
Total Funding before Exit: $2.2M
Investors before Exit: Indico Capital Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, Right Side Capital Management, and Techstars Boulder Accelerator
News about Exit: Daniel’s Blog Reveries, Daniel’s LinkedIn

Bitmaker (Web Software Development || Porto)
Website
Acquirer: Acqui-hired by IT Sector (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: September 5th, 2019
Total Funding before Exit: Bootstrapped
Investors before Exit: IT Sector
News about Exit: Dinheiro Vivo (in Portuguese)

Yoochai (Marketplace, Retail, Shopping || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Go-PopUp (Spain)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Jun 18th, 2019
Total Funding before Exit: Bootstrapped
Investors before Exit: None
News about Exit: ECO (PT), Press Release Go-PopUp

B-Guest (Hospitality || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Nonius Hospitality Technology (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Apr 20th, 2018
Total Funding before Exit: Undisclosed
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Portugal Ventures Press Release

GuestU (Hospitality || Lisbon, Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Nonius Hospitality Technology (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Apr 17th, 2018
Total Funding before Exit: €2.7M
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures, Techstars, METRO Accelerator
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Portugal Ventures Press Release

Codeplace (Education, Marketplace, Tutoring || Porto)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Academia de Código (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Mar 21st, 2018
Total Funding before Exit: €765K
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures, Rockstart Accelerator, and Nicholaus Oostdam
News about Exit: Crunchbase, Portugal Startups

Pepfeed (E-Commerce, ShoppingTech || Braga)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Followprice (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Feb 9th, 2017
Total Funding before Exit: Unknown
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures
News about Exit: Crunchbase, tech.eu

MyChild (Education, Parenting || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Brightwheel (USA)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Nov 3rd, 2016
Total Funding before Exit: €665K
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures
News about Exit: Crunchbase, EdSurge

Gleam (Analytics, Apps, Fashion, Lifestyle, Mobile || Lisbon)
Website, Crunchbase
Acquirer: Farfetch (Portugal)
Exit Valuation: Undisclosed
Exit Date: Aug 8th, 2016
Total Funding before Exit: €940K
Investors before Exit: Portugal Ventures and Faber Ventures
News about Exit: Observador (PT)

Final comments:

This list has the unique goal of bringing visibility and credibility to the Portuguese startup ecosystem, helping both entrepreneurs and investors.
It’s not an exhaustive list. If you believe something is wrong or someone else should be added to this list, let me know.
The list is ordered by “Exit Valuation” and “Exit Date”.
Any acquisition under 250k€ or below the total amount of funding raised previously is considered a soft-acquisition.
For the sake of readability and focus, this list excludes very small exists.
The list is mostly focused on tech startups (SaaS, Marketplaces, PaaS, E-commerce, etc.), but also includes some relevant cases of biotech startups, creative industries startups, and other booming sectors.

Interested in the Portuguese Startup Scene?

Check out my other articles about it:

Update Log:

Ago 23rd, 2021: GoContact €21M acquisition by Broadvoice added; Primavera Solution acquisition by Oakley Capital added; Abyssal acquisition by Ocean Infinity added; Comparamais acquisition by Lendo AB added; Hapibot acquisition by TeamViewer added; Peta Pilot and Saphety acquisition by SOVOS added.
Mar 27th, 2021: DoDOC acquisition by Envision Pharma Group added; Drivit acquisition by Zego added; HeartGenetics acquisition by Impact Lab Group added; Springkode soft-acquisition by PlatformE added.
Nov 18th, 2020: MyCujoo acquisition by Eleven Sports added.
Nov 14th, 2020: WeDo Technologies acquisition by Mobileum added; Vortal acquisition by DOCU Nordic added; Fyde soft-acquisition by Barracuda Networks added.
July 26th, 2020: B-parts acquisition by Groupe PSA added; James (aka Crowdprocess) acquisition by Google added; Attentive soft-acquisition by Outsystems added.
November 7th, 2019: Nonius Software private equity + Founders buyout added; i2S acquisition by gfi Informatique Group added; Bitmaker soft-acquisition by IT Sector added.
August 16th, 2019: Yoochai soft-acquisition by Go-PopUp added.
April 25th, 2019: Inovretail acquisition by Sonae IM added.
September 2nd, 2018: Inosat acquisition by Fleetmatics added.
August 28th, 2018: Fibersensing acquisition by HBM added; Gleam soft-acquisition by Farfetch added.
August 27th, 2018: Published.