First group of Portuguese companies joins ELITE, Euronext’s private companies ecosystem

• 11 Portuguese companies representing 9 different sectors join ELITE, Euronext’s European ecosystem of private companies accelerating sustainable growth and access to private and public capital

• First group developed in partnership with the World Trade Center (WTC) Lisboa and the sponsorship of BBVA Bank

• Demonstrates Euronext’s commitment to serve small and medium private companies as their key growth and financing partner

Lisbon – 6 July 2023 – Euronext, the leading pan-European market infrastructure, today announced the first group of Portuguese companies joining ELITE, Euronext’s ecosystem that supports small and medium private companies in their long-term sustainable growth by connecting them to skills, network and capital.

The first Portuguese group includes 11 companies and represents a wide range of sectors from technology to health care, from utilities to consumer goods, and from industrials to basic materials.

This new step in the expansion of ELITE in Portugal kicks off the programme of the recently launched World Trade Center (WTC) Lisboa International Academy by ELITE, based on a methodology already tested on more than 2,000 companies internationally, and on content and experts provided by the NOVA Business School.

This first group of pioneering Portuguese companies joining today will follow a structured programme designed to help businesses to prepare and structure for their next stage of growth, via a learning path and mentoring to support management best practice and entrepreneurship; promoting relationships and opportunities with potential investors; and facilitating access to a full range of funding options, from debt to equity, from private to public capital markets, delivered through:

1. Three core modules (two days each, making a total of six days) held in Portuguese at the NOVA Business School premises with a faculty based on academics and professionals. These will be supported by a pragmatic strategy tool to help the companies build a real and detailed strategic plan over the course of the three modules;
2. A calendar of four international workshops, one per quarter, supported by ELITE partners across Europe, deep-diving into different topics. Workshops already delivered in 2023 have focused on ‘Internationalisation’ (Lisbon, March), and ‘Entrepreneurship’ (Amsterdam, June), and will be followed by sessions on ‘Sustainability’ (Paris, September), and ‘Capital Markets opportunities’ (Milan, November). These workshops are open to the entire ELITE community and aim to champion the best of Europe’s businesses, providing them with cutting-edge business solutions and fostering unparalleled peer-to-peer networking opportunities.
3. Mentoring: high-touch regular contact to assess and debate each company’s priorities while supporting them to develop an action plan to implement the key actions defined.
4. Funding options: management teams are guided on how to access the most suitable funding for their needs, whether private equity, private placements or the debt or equity markets, both private and public. Once the company is ready to tackle capital markets opportunities, ELITE can bridge and fast-track its connection with professional counterparties including advisors, intermediaries and institutional investors. The ecosystem now serves a community of more than 1,400 companies from 23 European countries, and a large number of advisers and partners. To date ELITE companies have undertaken more than 1,300 corporate transactions – including M&A, equity and debt raisings, IPOs and debt listings - worth in aggregate approximately €20 billion, highlighting how ambitious companies can be once they are provided with efficient access to skills and relationships to leverage on private and public markets.

Isabel Ucha, CEO of Euronext Lisbon, said: “I am very excited to see this project kicking-off. This programme will allow these 11 companies to reinforce their knowledge in management, and will provide them with skills to be more ambitious and grow with sustainability. Participating companies will have unique access to an extended network of ELITE peers (over 2,000), and in addition to World Trade Center business centres in more than 300 cities around the world. A strong economy is made up of strong companies. Today’s competitive landscape and evolving context requires the use of new tools to take up challenges, manage changes and prepare for the future. And this is a role we are ready to play.”

Marta Testi, CEO of ELITE, said: “The 11 new Portuguese companies add to the 82 firms that have already joined ELITE since the beginning of 2023, a key year for us as it marks a new phase of growth in Europe as part of the leading pan-European market infrastructure, Euronext. We are thrilled to welcome these ambitious Portuguese companies and to start supporting them with access to skills, network and capital. We would like to thank our partner World Trade Center Lisboa, supported by BBVA as sponsor, which have contribute to the kick-start of ELITE in Portugal, leveraging on internationalisation as a key driver for companies’ growth.”

Luciano Montenegro Menezes, CEO of the World Trade Center Lisboa, said: “We are happy to launch this Academy. The launch of this project helps shape our aligned objective of supporting entrepreneurs and executives in upskilling and empowering their strategies and business opportunities. For WTC Lisboa, this represents a milestone in its strategy of promoting the internationalisation of the Portuguese economy.”

List of companies

+ one company that prefers to remain anonymous