A study was carried out in partnership between Aliados Consulting and the FES Agency on the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on the national entrepreneurship ecosystem. The startups expressed widespread pessimism and the thought that the worst is yet to come. The study reveals that 73.1% of startups are suffering a negative impact from the pandemic. Sales losses of 43.9% of respondents exceed 60%. The majority, 62.8% of startups, consider that their value is being negatively impacted.
Regarding the course of the pandemic, 60.3% of startups believe that the situation will still get worse, with 44.9% concerned about the scenario of possible closure of their business. Even so, despite the pessimistic scenario, most companies are still not considering cuts in employee salaries (70.5%) and 75.6% do not foresee redundancies. The companies questioned support the measures introduced by the Government, namely the simplified layoffs and the ease of access to finance. But also the relief of the tax burden and the advance and acceleration of the payment of financing for the Portugal 2020 program.
In contrast, there are also startups whose impact of the pandemic is being positive, in which 6.4% say that their sales are positive, considering that the majority are linked to the area of ​​health and well-being. And when it comes to working to combat the coronavirus, 53.8% of companies are committed to investigating solutions to mitigate the pandemic.
Ins Santos Silva, executive director of Aliados Consulting, emphasizes that startups and the entrepreneurship ecosystem have been a strong bet for the national and local government. He also stresses that it is crucial to support them in this period to guarantee their survival and the country's competitive future. We intend this report to raise awareness of the problems that startups are facing and of possible specific solutions for these companies.
The study was carried out between March 21 and March 24, and was based on the participation of 78 entrepreneurs, CEOs and directors of startups that have offices in Portugal. Most of the interviewed startups are from the districts of Lisbon and Porto and have up to 10 employees, with 46.2% using venture capital.
