Nor specific data for Portugal Ventures, which is the public venture capital investment body. Have you already surveyed the companies in which PV is a member?
We have been in constant articulation both with Startup Portugal, with the National Incubator Network, with Portugal Ventures, or with representatives a little more inorganic of what the ecosystem is… And also with the investors, with the associations, in the sense of listening to how they are looking at the situation. I believe that, at this moment, it has still been relatively short time to have definitive data on what will actually end or which, with some support, could resume some normality in the post-crisis. q the information we have is that there is no absolute data on the part of this ecosystem that will in fact definitely be impacted and close doors. We don’t have that data.
The information we have from both Portugal Ventures and Startup Portugal is that, in fact, there is an expectation and some anxiety in relation to the evolution and the way in which these restrictive measures will or will not continue over time. And, even from an international point of view, how will Europe and the world be more or less repaired in terms of measures to restrict freedom and freedom from economic activity and trade. From this point of view, there is some uncertainty that needs to be clarified as soon as possible, so that objective decisions can be made in relation to what is the diagnosis of the situation. As of today, we still have no idea of what the negative balance in terms of companies will be in the post-crisis.
What we know is that every year around 15% of new companies are created in Portugal, which also gives an idea of the level of dynamism that our business fabric has under normal conditions. We know that typically 11% close. There is already a very significant rate of substitution here, and therefore it is natural that these percentages, this year, know an oscillation, a variation in relation to those that are the usual annual data, the averages.
What is certain is that the Government felt this need to establish a package of concrete measures to support these businesses. In these new measures, there are two that reinforce the previous two: the 200M was adapted to the reality of Covid-19 and the social innovation fund. Regarding the 200M, how did you adapt the fund?
We have in fact specific and exclusive measures for startups, the package of more than 25 million euros that materializes in those five initiatives and that aim to respond to the daily pressure that these companies have in terms of their cost structure, such as human resources , which typically represent a large slice. We tried to inject some support that, in practice, guarantee the maintenance of the activity and jobs so that, at the moment of the resumption, they are fully capable of responding to whatever economic normality is.
We created a specific measure to support these companies in terms of their current operating costs and hence the extension of the incubation voucher for another three months, in the amount of 1,500 euros, in the specific context of Covid-19. The objective is to ensure that, from an operational point of view, they do not suffer any interruption or come into default. Then, we have measures more focused on supporting calls investment, for more fund investment. And there are two specific lines, the fund we called Mezzanine and the Portugal Ventures fund, which, in practice, intend to function as support tools for projects that had somehow already seen their recognized potential. And in relation to which we can have a reinforcement of the investment, which guarantees its sustainability but, at the same time, ensures its continuity and that everything that has already been invested is not lost because of this period of exception.
Then, in fact, these two measures, which are not really new, were already available. What we wanted to do was highlight them, not being part of the package. We considered that the specific package is worth 25.3 million euros – this is direct support for startups. And there is this additional package of over 242 million euros, which corresponds to lines that are already in force and for which we just wanted to reiterate their relevance and availability in terms of available funds because, in practice, they are very, very short , far from being exhausted. Therefore, this may also be the time for us to be more intentional in using these lines.
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