Leading the Portuguese community for the future of Investment
We got in touch with Lurdes Gramaxo, Partner at the leading Iberian Venture Capital firm Bynd and President of the Portuguese association Investors Portugal, to learn more about the world of investment, entrepreneurship, and, above all, innovation.
Read the full insight right here.
Can you tell us a little about your background and how you became interested in the world of investment?
My background is in psychology but I have only worked for a very short period as a psychologist as I received an invitation to join the management of my family business and decided to embark on an adventure in a world quite different from the one I had known until then. At this point, I felt the need to invest in my education, so I took some courses and completed a postgraduate degree in management, finance and procurement.
The group was very successful in expanding the business, joining forces with a complementary group from The Netherlands, becoming one of the European leaders in the field that in 2012 was acquired by an American Private Equity firm and I left, after which I found myself in a situation of “what am I going to do next?”. It was at this point that I realized that it didn’t make sense to go into another company or pursue another career at that stage of my life. What I did know was that I would like to be connected to the world of entrepreneurship, which was having a boom in Portugal at the time. That’s how Bynd — at the time Busy Angels — came into my life. After a few conversations and meetings, we realized that there were synergies there and I ended up joining the company as a shareholder and partner in 2015.
Bynd Venture Capital, as I said before, was born as a group of business angels and evolved into a venture capital management company the year I joined the team. With a relevant track record and an experienced and professionalized team in this sector, we mostly invest in startups in the seed and early-stage phases that have a direct relationship with Portugal and/or Spain, whether through the founders or investors, the presence of the teams, the technology center or otherwise.
As the President of Investors Portugal, what path do you see and anticipate in the development of public policies to support the sector?
In addition to this more corporate side, I’m also very involved in the associative movement, both at the national and European level. Investors Portugal was created to bring together and represent the Portuguese community of investors, gathering Business Angels, Venture Capital firms, Corporate VCs, accelerators, incubators, crowdfunding platforms and other players who invest in early-stage companies. The mission from the association is to promote and represent the interests of investors by fostering lines of relationship and support between the various players in the national entrepreneurial ecosystem, by knowledge sharing, training and disseminating best practices and public policies discussion.
As far as to support and develop tech base entrepreneurship is concerned, in my opinion, we need long term vision and stable public policies that encourage private capital into the ecosystem. Venture capital and business angels has been crucial in leveraging the innovative businesses of startups and scaleups which, in turn, will foster the digital and greener transition of the Economy.
What are the main challenges facing investors? And opportunities?
We are living through challenging years, with an unstable geopolitical and macroeconomic situation without prospect of improvement in the short term, the consequences of which have also affected the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is at times like these that it is most necessary to define a national strategy for entrepreneurship that is clear and objective and that promotes continuity of policies for the sector. In this context, one of the main challenges is precisely to continue to get entrepreneurs to see Portugal as an attractive country in which to set up their businesses. In this way, we will be able to create more talented jobs and attract more and more investors, both national and foreign, who will see the country as a privileged place to make good investments.
What advice would you give to startups and entrepreneurs who are beginning their journey and need support?
As well as a good business idea, it’s essential to have a good team. So that’s the first thing I’d say: find a group of people aligned with the same goals, with the necessary complementary skills to carry out the project and driven by the same dream to make it real.
After that, I would say that it is very important to be very clear about what you want to do, how you want to do it and to be aware of the characteristics of the market — look for some kind of evidence that the market is looking for and needs the solution that is being proposed.
Last but definitely not least, have a lot of resilience, focus and determination. It’s going to be a rollercoaster ride, but one of the greatest pleasures in life is taking risks and stepping out of the comfort zone so that one day you can look back and say “we did it!”.
