Portuguese government puts forward €25m package of measures in an attempt to save the country’s tech sector amid global Coronavirus pandemic

THE Portuguese government has announced a new package of measures worth €25 million in an attempt to safeguard the country’s tech and startup ecosystem.
As the Coronavirus economic shutdown has worsened, entrepreneurs across Southern Europe are panicked startups are at serious risk of disappearing if national governments don’t help.
After weeks of talks with the pop-up movement #tech4covid19, which represents founders, accelerators and investors, the government has produced a new set of economic relief measures totalling €25 million.
These will cover financial support such as employee incentives and company financing, a fund offering co-investment with private investors and a social innovation investment fund.
Early reactions suggest that, while this might not be as big as other countries’ responses, the rules seem sensible and well structured.

The reason such measures are so important is that in this pandemic crisis we must take care of our public health as well as of our economic health.
Some founders are worried that government processes will take too long for measures to benefit startups who are in urgent situations. But the government has assured that they are working hard to design measures that can have an immediate impact, speed is critical and they are confident that we will be able to provide the support that this ecosystem requires.