Zabala Innovation opens its 13th office in Portugal, consolidating its international strategy

The consultancy firm Zabala Innovation continues its international expansion with the opening of a new office, in this case in Lisbon. The Portuguese office is the company’s thirteenth, following eight offices in Spain (Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Pamplona, Seville, Valencia, Vigo and Zaragoza), two in France (Paris and Bordeaux), Belgium (Brussels) and the United Kingdom (London). Founded in 1986, Zabala Innovation is a benchmark when it comes to managing innovation and obtaining national and European funding to promote cutting-edge projects.

With its new office in Portugal, Zabala Innovation has consolidated and deepened its roots in this country. “We have been working for years with Portuguese companies and centres within the framework of European projects”, emphasises Ramón Vallés, the firm’s Director of International Corporate Development. “In this new phase, we intend to strengthen cooperation with our clients in Portugal and expand our range of services in the different national financing instruments,” he adds.

Throughout its more than 35 years of international experience, Zabala Innovation has learned to anticipate its customers’ needs with loyalty and efficiency in a market that is becoming increasingly global and complex. Its presence in the very heart of the European Union allows it to promote strategic alliances between the actors who contribute to the construction of a more social and sustainable world. Thus, its arrival in the Portuguese capital is a further step in its international strategy to support innovation.

A promising context

The context in which this expansion is taking place is particularly favourable. In addition to leading industrial sectors with a large margin for growth, Portugal has an investment plan of 23 billion euros until 2027, with which it seeks to boost innovation in its companies and increase its participation in the most important European funding programmes such as Horizon Europe, LIFE, Innovation Fund and CEF. Moreover, the number of innovative Portuguese SMEs has been growing steadily in recent years and the country’s R&D tax credit system is one of the most attractive instruments for promoting competitiveness in Europe.

“The Portuguese government aims for R&D investment to account for 3% of GDP, which is why the National Innovation Agency (ANI) is increasing its programmes to support innovation and R&D, and is promoting the internationalisation of Portuguese R&D,” says Pedro Ferreira, director of Zabala Innovation’s Lisbon office. “In this context, the extensive experience of our consultancy firm can contribute to success, as we have a team of experts in national and European funding programmes,” he adds.

Zabala Innovation’s strategy in Portugal

In this context of driving innovation, the Portuguese capital has important advantages such as its central geographical position, its good infrastructure, and the ease of doing business and transparent administration. Clients at the new office will receive help and advice on topics as diverse as subsidy programmes, tax incentives, social innovation, sustainability, and strategic consultancy.

“With the opening of the Lisbon office, we will be able to offer a more complete and proximate service, as it will be a local team that will accompany our clients in the different countries in which we operate, but with the same excellence that characterises us,” says Vallés. “In this way, we want to contribute to strengthening the collaboration between Portuguese and European entities, encouraging them to participate in projects so that innovation reaches the market, generating wealth for the country and its society”, he concludes.