We are a Portuguese investment holding company, committed to building a diversified portfolio of businesses capable of creating sustainable and long-term growth cycles. We bring together the best talent to make a positive impact on the world, Making it Better!
We are an investment holding company focused on creating long-term value, supported by ambition and innovation. We aim to add value to our portfolio companies, contributing to sustainable growth.
Our portfolio is made up of companies with a great legacy, companies with accelerated growth prospects and also a start-up investment company.
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Semapa Next, a venture capital firm owned by Semapa Group, was established in 2018 with the aim of diversifying the portfolio and gaining exposure to companies with high growth potential. Simultaneously, it brings the Group closer to new business models, as well as differentiated know-how and talent. Led by Hugo Augusto, the Semapa Next team comprises individuals with experience in investment, operations, and entrepreneurship.
Daniel Nascimento, Principal of the company, explains that Semapa Next “primarily invests in European-based companies, from Series A to later stages. Semapa Next’s thesis is agnostic, meaning we invest in all types of sectors and business models. We are not unique in this approach, but we want to differentiate ourselves in what we offer to the companies we invest in and how we try to help them.”
Thus, Semapa Next aims to bring added value to the companies it invests in, based on three pillars: the first relates to leadership, particularly in supporting the definition, construction, coaching, and recruitment of first and second-line management teams, bringing experience and skills that founders lack – “the best companies are those that can recruit people with diverse backgrounds and experience in similar situations, who already bring well-defined playbooks,” says the Principal of Semapa Next.
The second pillar is access to Semapa Next’s and Semapa’s network, which includes, for example, later-stage investors or consultants and specialists in specific areas such as product, finance, logistics, and talent.
“When we invest, it’s a common situation that there’s no team member dedicated to the financial area; there’s only an accountant who produces monthly financial statements,” says Daniel Nascimento. Thus, the third pillar is the financial component, which “often involves building a Finance area, with recruitment of a CFO or Head of Finance, implementation of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) to produce management accounts that allow controlling business drivers and defining performance benchmarks based on the operating sector.“
Investment opportunities reach Semapa Next in “multiple ways, from events we participate in, through other investors we’ve invested with, from founders of companies we’ve invested in or know, among other examples. There always must be what’s called a pitch, a presentation of the company by its founders so we can assess whether it’s a company that fits what Semapa Next does, if it’s at the maturity stage and in the geography, we invest in. It’s an exhaustive and permanent job,” says the Principal of Semapa Next.
If the company fits well with Semapa Next’s investment criteria, it moves to a more in-depth analysis. “It ends up being a process of mutual discovery, we want to know more about the company, the market, the teams, and how we can add value,” describes Daniel Nascimento. Overall, this is a process that tends to last two to three months until the investment is completed.
Among the proposals that Semapa Next receives, there are three major trends, according to Daniel Nascimento: “two of them are ClimateTech and the defense area – a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The third trend is Artificial Intelligence, with numerous companies launching projects that have this technology as a base, whether for voice interaction, image, among many others.“
In 2024, Semapa Next’s portfolio already includes sixteen companies, having made four new investments this same year:
The areas in which these companies operate are diverse, mostly with pronounced technological know-how: ClimateTech; DeepTech; SpaceTech; Fintech; Construction Tech; FoodTech; PropTech; Sustainability; CyberSecurity; e-commerce; Vertical SaaS; Gaming; Logistics.
A company with eyes set on the future, Semapa Next reflects the culture of Semapa Group by investing in companies with exceptional talent, with the ambition to become global leaders in their sectors of activity.