Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince called out Portugal over visa delays and bureaucracy, saying the country is "not serious" about investment. The company aimed to expand its Lisbon hub to 800 employees and make it its EU headquarters — but those plans are now uncertain.
🔻 Core issues:
- Visa backlog of over 347,000 cases (per AIMA)
- Broken promises — including the Via Verde fast-track program, which remains inaccessible to most startups
- Investor frustration and threats to shift focus to Latin America or the Middle East
🧩 Quote:
“If the engineer can’t get in, the company will go somewhere else.”
What’s at stake:
- Delayed tech center launches
- Capital flight and reputational risk
- Drop in global startup ecosystem rankings
💡 Portugal remains attractive — but investor patience is limited. Without serious reforms, it risks becoming a “digital campsite” for nomads, not a home for the next unicorn.
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