By Eva Fayemi – Founder & CEO of Bond Agency
Portugal’s startup ecosystem has been steadily maturing – Lisbon is home to some of Europe’s most promising founders, strong talent, and a culture of innovation that continues to attract international attention. But there’s a blind spot that’s costing internationalisation and scale: channel sales and strategic partnerships.
In my work across Europe as a Partnerships Leader and co-founder of Bond Agency – a firm helping fast growth SaaS companies build scalable ecosystems – I’ve noticed that Portugal is falling behind when it comes to using B2B partnerships as a core go-to-market (GTM) lever. And it’s not just an execution problem; it’s a strategic omission.
The problem: Channel sales vaguely recognised as part of a scaleup growth strategy
If you take a walk through most incubator programs or accelerator decks in Portugal, you’ll see the usual suspects: product-market fit, hiring, VC fundraising, internationalisation. But rarely do you see structured mentorship, frameworks, or strategy around ecosystem development or partner-led growth.
Meanwhile, in markets like the UK, France, the Nordics, and Germany – where scaleups are breaking the €10M+ ARR ceiling – partnerships are not just included, they are critical pillars of growth strategy. Leaders are asking questions like:
- Which integrations will unlock a new ICP?
- How do we align incentives with value-added resellers in new markets?
- Can we co-sell with ecosystem partners like Microsoft, AWS, or HubSpot?
- Who already owns our buyer relationship?
Portugal’s scene is still stuck thinking of partnerships as affiliate programs or vague “biz dev.” Let’s be clear: when partnerships are treated as a side project, customer acquisition costs keep rising, sales teams get overstretched, and the product loses valuable market leverage.
Tangible impact: What the data says
Let’s put numbers to the trend. According to Forrester, a leading global research and advisory firm, companies that embrace an ecosystem strategy grow 2 to 3 times faster than those that don’t – and by 2025, 30% of B2B SaaS revenue is expected to come from partnerships. In some cases, up to 75% of global trade already flows through indirect channels, highlighting the scale of the opportunity.
Forrester reports that SaaS customers acquired through channel partners can have a 15-30% higher renewal rate, and high-performing SaaS firms earn 25-30% or more of revenue from indirect channels.
When it comes to platform-led GTM – think entering Microsoft’s Marketplace or becoming an AWS ISV partner – the barrier to entry is high, yes. But those who succeed report pipeline multipliers of 3–5x within the first year of being co-listed or co-selling with ecosystem giants. The real growth is exponential when you’re plugged into platforms that already own the market.
And this isn’t theoretical. I’ve seen startups grow from €200K to €2.5M in ARR in less than 18 months by building the right integrations, enabling third-party sellers or solution partners, and crucially – giving them ownership over implementation and mutual value creation.
Why it’s not happening in Portugal (yet)
There are a few reasons this strategy hasn’t taken off locally:
- Lack of awareness: Most early-stage founders are still taught to scale through paid ads and SDRs. The playbook hasn’t evolved.
- No local ecosystem experts: There are few professionals or mentors in Portugal who’ve built successful partner programs before – especially ones that scale globally.
- Short-term mindset: Partnerships are not a short-term hack. They take time to build and reward consistency – which is often at odds with seed-stage survival mode.
- No public infrastructure: We don’t yet have incubators offering dedicated “Channel GTM” tracks, or local incentives for partner-market fit development.
But these are solvable.
What needs to change
If Portugal wants to play in the same league as its northern neighbors, it needs to evolve beyond founder-product-market fit and build for founder-ecosystem-market fit. That starts with recognising Partnerships as a whole as a first-class citizen in our startup strategy playbook.
- Add channel & ecosystem strategy to incubator curricula: Startups should be taught how to build a partner motion – from ecosystem mapping to partner enablement.
- Attract & train ecosystem talent: We need more Partner Managers, not just SDRs. And we need to pay them well.
- Create an ecosystem fund or public incentive: Offer micro-grants or credits to startups building integrations or co-marketing efforts with strategic partners.
- Celebrate ecosystem wins: Let’s start highlighting success stories of Portuguese startups who leveraged ecosystems to scale.
Portugal has the ambition, the talent, and the creativity. What’s missing is a new lens on growth – one that sees the ecosystem not just as support, but as a revenue engine and a bridge connecting the Portuguese startup scene to global markets.
About the author:
Eva Fayemi is the Founder and CEO of Bond Agency, a company helping SaaS companies scale through Channel & Strategic partnerships, ecosystems, and platform GTM. She is based in Lisbon and organises quarterly Partnership Meetups to grow the local B2B ecosystem.
Featured image: Eva Fayemi, Founder & CEO of Bond Agency (Photo courtesy of Bond Agency)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in contributed opinion pieces are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Portugal Startup News.
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