Lisbon

The lowest burn rate in the corridor for a technical team, with grid and solar projects to prove things on.

Portugal

Fit for ClimaFlow

Every point traces back to a named figure below.

Fit score /100

Weak fit

Lisbon is hard to justify against your priorities right now: customers is where it falls down.

Cost86

Best here: Prime office rent €300

Talent22

Best here: Visa and relocation route 82/100

Customers6

Best here: Public procurement openness 74/100

Capital9

Best here: Grant and public funding access 82/100

Quality of life74

Best here: Cost of living 66/100

Speed65

Best here: Coworking desk €220/mo

Where it is strong

• Lowest combined salary and office cost of the fourteen cities
• Good English, and a visa route that makes relocating founders straightforward
• Growing solar, storage and green-hydrogen project pipeline

Watch out for

• Small domestic market and thin local capital — expect to sell and raise abroad
• Senior industrial hires can be scarce

Cost to operate

Cost to operate figures for Lisbon
Figure	Value	Source
Prime office rentHeadline rent for good-quality central space. Fringe and industrial space is cheaper.	€300	Commercial property benchmarks (CBRE / JLL market reports)2025Verified secondary source
Coworking deskWhat a small landing team actually pays in month one, before signing a lease.	€220/mo	Published operator pricing (city averages)2025Requires review
Headline corporation taxCombined national (and local, where it applies) headline rate. Reliefs are not included.	20%	National revenue authorities / OECD corporate tax statistics2026Verified primary source
Employer social chargesThe real cost of a hire is salary plus this. It moves first-year budgets more than rent.	23.75%	National social security authorities / OECD Taxing Wages2026Verified primary source

People

People figures for Lisbon
Figure	Value	Source
Senior engineer salaryMidpoint for an experienced engineer. Cheap talent and deep talent rarely sit together.	€40,000	Salary benchmarks (Eurostat earnings, national tech salary surveys)2025Verified secondary source
Technical talent depthSize of the local engineering and climate-technical workforce you can hire from.	68/100	Eurostat / national labour statistics on ICT and engineering employment2025Verified secondary source
English working proficiencyHow easily an English-first team can hire, sell and handle paperwork locally.	74/100	EF English Proficiency Index2025Verified secondary source

Living

Living figures for Lisbon
Figure	Value	Source
Home rent, one bedroomWhat relocating a founder or first hire actually costs them each month.	€1,300/mo	Eurostat housing costs / Numbeo cost-of-living data2025Verified secondary source
Cost of livingEveryday costs excluding rent, indexed against London.	66/100	Eurostat purchasing power parities / Numbeo2025Verified secondary source
Quality of lifeHealth, safety, environment, transport and commute — what keeps a team once it is hired.	82/100	OECD Better Life indicators / Mercer quality-of-living ranking2025Verified secondary source

Capital

Capital figures for Lisbon
Figure	Value	Source
Climate-tech VC investedHow much climate money is actually deployed locally, and so how many investor meetings exist.	€150m	Dealroom climate-tech funding data2025Verified secondary source
Grant and public funding accessBreadth of grant routes a company based here can apply to, national and EU or UK level.	82/100	National innovation agencies, Horizon Europe and Innovate UK programme scope2026Verified secondary source

Climate-tech

Climate-tech figures for Lisbon
Figure	Value	Source
Testbeds and industrial demandPlaces to run a real pilot: test rigs, port and grid infrastructure, industrial buyers.	62/100	GreenLaunch ecosystem directory (named testbeds, catapults, ports and utilities)2026Requires review

Market access

Market access figures for Lisbon
Figure	Value	Source
Population within two hoursHow many customers a salesperson can reach and return from in a single day.	5m people	Eurostat urban and functional area population2025Verified secondary source
Public procurement opennessHow realistically a foreign SME can win public and utility contracts here.	74/100	EU Single Market Scoreboard / UK Cabinet Office procurement data2025Verified secondary source

Setup

Setup figures for Lisbon
Figure	Value	Source
Time to incorporateHow fast you can have a local entity able to sign contracts and open a bank account.	5 days	National company registries (Companies House, KVK, Bolagsverket and equivalents)2026Verified primary source
Visa and relocation routeHow straightforward it is to move a founder or key hire here and keep them.	82/100	National immigration authorities (skilled-worker and startup visa routes)2026Verified secondary source

First-year cost estimate

3 people, 3 desks.

People (salary + employer charges): €148,500
Workspace: €7,920
Entity set-up and admin: €5,750
Total: €162,170

Indicative only, in euros for comparability. Lab, industrial and equipment costs are not included.

Biggest risks

• Small domestic market and thin local capital — expect to sell and raise abroad
• Senior industrial hires can be scarce
• Local-language capability is needed for public-sector and corporate sales in Lisbon.

Next steps

1.Meet AICEP Portugal Global — free soft-landing help before you spend anything.
2.Shortlist two solar buyers or testbeds here and ask for a scoping call.
3.An entity here takes about 5 days, so you can leave it until a contract is close.

Soft-landing support

Programmes that help you land here.

AICEP Portugal Global
National agency for foreign investors establishing in Portugal.
Enquire
Startup Lisboa
Landing programme and workspace for international founders.
Enquire

In the local ecosystem

From your ecosystem directory.

Startup LisboaAccelerators

Open the directory

Entity and set-up note

A Portuguese Lda can be set up in under a week, including online registration.

Indicative benchmarks compiled from public sources for comparison. Confirm figures with a local adviser before committing budget.