Over the past decade, Portugal has evolved from a tourist-driven economy to a major destination for international investment. Today, the amount of foreign direct investment reached €213.7 billion, equal to roughly 70 percent of the country’s GDP. That momentum has made the Iberian country an increasingly attractive European hub for multinational companies, which are pouring heavily into cloud computing, shared services and commercial real estate alongside some of Portugal’s largest homegrown employers.
Below are some prominent names taking advantage of the region’s strategic position and booming tech ecosystem.
Multinational Companies in Portugal to Know
- Jerónimo Martins
- EDP
- Galp
- Sonae
Top Multinational Companies in Portugal
Headquarters: Lisbon, Portugal
Industry: Retail, Grocery
What they do: Jerónimo Martins is Portugal’s largest company by revenue, generating $40 billion in annual sales. It operates more than 6,500 stores through brands including Pingo Doce, Poland’s Biedronka and Colombia’s Ara. Headquartered in Lisbon, the retailer oversees one of the largest grocery networks in Europe while directing its international operations from Portugal.
Headquarters: New York City, New York
Industry: Fintech
What they do: iCapital provides the technology infrastructure that banks and wealth managers use to access private equity, private credit, hedge funds and other alternative investments, supporting more than $1.2 trillion in platform assets. As the company’s designated global R&D and tech center, the Lisbon hub leads software engineering for its flagship marketplace, automated compliance tools and API integrations.
Headquarters: Munich, Germany
Industry: Industrial Technology
What they do: Operating in Portugal for over 120 years, Siemens develops industrial software, smart-grid technology and automated factory systems used around the world. While its engineers in Lisbon and Porto build AI, cloud and digital twin software for a client base that spans more than 190 countries, the company’s Corroios plant manufactures SICHARGE DC fast chargers exported to highways and transit networks across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Headquarters: Lisbon, Portugal
Industry: Energy
What they do: Galp operates across the energy value chain, from oil and natural gas to electric vehicle charging networks and utility-scale renewable power projects. The Lisbon-based company maintains operations throughout Europe, Brazil and several African markets while spearheading Portugal’s multi-billion transition toward clean energy and green hydrogen.
Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
Industry: Fintech
What they do: Riskified uses artificial intelligence to help many of the world’s largest online retailers detect fraud and approve legitimate purchases. Founded in 2013, its Lisbon office has grown into an engineering hub where software developers and machine learning teams build the systems that evaluate upwards of $140 billion in e-commerce transactions every year.
Headquarters: Maia, Portugal
Industry: Retail, Telecommunications
What they do: From its Maia headquarters, Sonae manages an international empire, generating more than €11 billion in revenue across retail, telecoms and real estate. It underpins Portugal’s consumer market through brands Continente, Worten and NOS, while driving international expansion through property group Sierra, various health and beauty platforms as well as global venture capital investments.
Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
Industry: HR Technology
What they do: HiBob is the company behind Bob, a human resources platform used by more than 5,000 organizations and upwards of 1.2 million employees to automate core HR workflows, including payroll and performance reviews. Its Lisbon hub serves as its primary European R&D center, where local engineers design and scale the platform’s core cloud features.
Headquarters: Mountain View, California
Industry: Internet, Cloud Computing
What they do: Google answers an average of 100,000 search queries per second, powering the internet for more than 4 billion users. Beyond its core consumer apps — Search, Gemini, Gmail, Maps and YouTube — the tech giant uses Portugal as a key operational and connectivity base. Its Lisbon office coordinates enterprise cloud and AI integration across southern Europe, while strategic landing stations in Sines route major transatlantic subsea fiber cables like Equiano and Nuvem, which connect Europe to North America and Africa.
Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
Industry: Automotive Software
What they do: Mercedes-Benz.io develops the software behind Mercedes-Benz’s digital customer experience, from online vehicle purchasing to connected-car services and mobile apps. Portugal acts as the company’s primary software hub, with its Lisbon and Braga offices housing roughly two thirds of the subsidiary’s total tech workforce.
Headquarters: Lisbon, Portugal
Industry: Energy
What they do: EDP has grown from Portugal’s national electric utility into a global green energy giant whose subsidiary, EDP Renewables, ranks among the largest producers of wind and solar power in the world. From Lisbon, the company manages its clean energy project portfolio spanning Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
