Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has publicly criticized the Portuguese government for failing to fulfill promises made to international tech investors, citing visa delays and excessive bureaucracy as major obstacles to the country’s ambition of becoming a serious technology hub.
“Governments of the last six years are not serious about making Portugal a real technology hub,” Prince told Observador, adding that Lisbon is being reconsidered as the company’s European headquarters due to persistent operational challenges. “I can’t invest if I can’t have people coming to Portugal to train the teams,” he said.
Prince, who recently called Portugal an “unserious country” on social media platform X, stated that Cloudflare has 15 visa renewal cases “dragging on for years” and employees stuck in limbo due to expired residence permits. Despite efforts to escalate the issue, he claims that “at all levels the Portuguese government has disappointed me.”
Cloudflare has had an office in Lisbon since 2018 and has invested millions of euros in the country, including plans to hire at least 100 new employees—over half of them Portuguese citizens. However, Prince says the scale of investment could have been “double” had the government delivered on commitments to streamline immigration and reduce bureaucracy.
He also refuted claims of receiving tax incentives or being involved in an incident at Tires aerodrome, calling the latter “factually baseless.” According to Prince, Cloudflare’s choice of Portugal was motivated by its talent pool—not tax advantages.
While the company will maintain its Lisbon office, its status as a European HQ remains uncertain. “We are not going to close the office,” Prince confirmed. “But I don’t know if I can commit to growing it to 1,000 employees.”
Prince also revealed that he stopped recommending Portugal to other companies three years ago. “It has the right ingredients, but serious problems,” he said. “Until they are resolved, I recommend caution.”
Related News