VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE BUSINESS
TBY talks to Pedro Vargas David, CEO of ALPAC Capital and Jorge Brás, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of PATHENA
How do you target companies with significant scale-up potential?
We focus more on B2B and sometimes B2G; we do not invest in B2C as a rule. We look for Portuguese companies that have already proven themselves in their home market. When the moment comes to expand and go international, this is where one starts having different views about expansion strategies. The right way forward is not necessarily pushing these Portuguese companies too quickly into the US or UK market, or trying to position themselves in Silicon Valley. Portuguese companies looking at their first international moves need to go to markets they understand, where it makes sense, and they will be more appreciated than in Silicon Valley.
What are your top priorities and initiatives for the next two years?
We are fairly positive about the economy in the next two years, both in Portugal and the various regions where we operate. I would encourage more people to start looking at Portugal as a destination for investments. In terms of the development of our companies and how we take them internationally, we have to continue to change the perspective of the capacity, services, and products that Portuguese technological companies can provide. The degree of quality and the number of things around the world today that rely on Portuguese technology is surprising.
How do your platforms such as ebankIT and i2S Insurance Knowledge provide your customers with a competitive edge?
i2S offers insurance software solutions covering a generic portfolio of needs to support insurance operations. It has a core system that guarantees the business can get up and running. We complement this with modules covering various aspects of the business, such as a configuration tool to easily simulate and launch new insurance products and analytics tools. One of our key strengths is offering our customers a user-friendly capability to simulate and then launch new insurance products without needing to go to their IT departments to change the software. We have our software running in seven countries. We have supported several greenfield operations for new businesses and directly implemented these packages in less than six months. On the banking side, ebankIT provides a complete suite for omni-channels by integrating them, such as online banking and mobile apps, in real time. This is a flow of real-time integrated information that provides flexibility. After testing this in the domestic market, we have been cutting deals in different countries. For example, we recently closed a deal with a bank in Canada. In 2017, ebankIT grew 100%, and we expect the same pace of growth to continue.
VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE BUSINESS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Focus: Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries
Making an Impact
Established in 1996, the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP) is a mechanism geared at linking and sharing the experience of Lusophone countries. Besides Portugal, this includes Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
read articleFocus
Don’t Mind the Disruption
Having won the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, Lisbon hosted the 2018 event. The relevance? Well, the contest began back in 1956 as a showcase not only of song, but of then-nascent live television broadcast technology. Today, Portugal is on the cutting edge of new technological developments.
read articleInterview
João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernandes , Minister , Environment and Energy Transition
The Ministry for the Environment and Energy Transition is focusing on decarbonizing the economy, valuing the territory and its habitats, and striving for a more circular use of the country's resources.
read articleInterview
António Braz Costa , General Manager, Portuguese Technological Centre for the Textile & Clothing Industries (CITEVE)
CITEVE has transformed the industry by promoting value addition, adopting the latest technologies, and ensuring the highest standards of environmental sustainability.
read articleFocus: New airport
Right Time to Seize Missed Opportunities
Portugal has seen its air traffic figures increase by as much as 80% in the last five years. As a result, its transportation infrastructure, and Lisbon's airport in particular, cannot cope with the rising numbers. A new airport project that will turn a military base into a commercial airport is now under discussion to bring much-needed relief to air traffic.
read articleInterview
Germano de Sousa , President, Grupo Germano de Sousa
Grupo Germano de Sousa's success can best be summed up by its understanding that science and medicine only really progress when technological development is combined with a deeper respect for human values and professional ethics.
read articleInterview
Isabel Capeloa Gil , Rector, Universidade Católica
Having pioneered the introduction of multiple subject areas to Portugal's tertiary education scene, Universidade Católica is aspiring to establish the country's first private medical school and introduce cutting-edge digital transformation.
read articleInterview
Carlos Guillén Gestoso , President, Escola Universitária de Ciências Empresariais, Saúde, Tecnologias e Engenharia & President, Atlantica University
Atlantica University differentiates through its company-university model and an MBA program in partnership with the University of California, Berkley, among other initiatives, to produce practical theoreticians.
read articleFocus: Public teaching staff
An Age-old Problem
Over a decade of austerity measures combined with an ageing population have seen the average age of the Portuguese public teaching staff progressively climb to one of the highest in the OECD. With frozen salaries, an extended retirement age, and precarious working conditions, today the sector faces one of its biggest challenge yet.
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Pedro Queiroz , General Manager, Federation of the Portuguese Agri-Food Industry (FIPA)
Portugal's economic recovery has seen its F&B sector emerge with annual turnovers of EUR16 billion, thanks to FIPA's undeterred focus on stable policies, excellent nutrition standards, and sustainability.
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