Zalando, the huge German online fashion business, will open a technology centre in Lisbon next year. This will be the third centre the online company will have outside Germany, the others being in Dublin and Helsinki.
The expansion to Portugal will start in 2018 and will create 50 jobs in the first year - this is exactly the sort of maturing tekkie business that Lisbon is starting to attract.
Marc Lamik, head of innovation and partnerships at Zalando, said he is already recruiting software engineers, product managers and designers - which Portugal has in abundance.
The arrival of Zalando had the help of Invest Lisboa, an agency for economic promotion and investment in the Portuguese capital.
"We are very pleased that Zalando has chosen Lisbon to open the new technology centre," said Rui Coelho, executive director of the agency.
Lamik did not disclose the cost of Zalando's investment in Portugal but assured that the move had nothing to do with tax benefits.
“Invest Lisboa's support has, for example, helped us to choose the location to install the new centre,” said Lamik, adding that it will be in "downtown Lisbon."
The approach in the Algarve has been for several local councils to set up 'incubator' sites where local business ideas can be grown from seed. The region's inward investment strategy is weak and uncoordinated, despite having enviable lifestyle opportunities. Companies such as Zalando are opting for a settled pool of expertise in the vibrant setting of the capital. The Algarve's patchy group of incubators fails to address the market needs, one is sited in the middle of the International Autodrome, and remain poorly promoted.
The Zalando technology centre in Lisbon will "focus on developing a better digital experience" for the more than 21 million active customers of the online fashion store, which is available in 15 European markets. Portugal is not on this list and there are no plans to sell product in the country. Zalando ended 2016 with revenues of €3.6 billion from more than 70 million orders.
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