Portuguese startup Oscar set to expand in Europe

  • ECO News
  • 22 August 2022

Spain, France and Germany will be the startup's first three international locations.

Oscar is a mobile app born in 2020, even before covid-19, to help families find services to take care of their homes and also their pets. More than two years later, the Portuguese startup is preparing for European expansion and will have new investors by the end of this year.

Available for Android (Google) and iOS (Apple) operating systems, Oscar has over 150 services available, from water leaks to baths and grooming, to equipment installation and repair. There are 11 categories and 500 technicians available.

“We want to be a service app and not just a repair or cleaning app,” João Marques, the company’s founder and leader, highlights to ECO. With over 100,000 downloads in two years, the application works throughout the Lisbon metropolitan area and in some cities in the Porto region. There are also already tests to launch the operation in Coimbra.

European expansion and more capital

After consolidating the operation in Portugal, the European market is already in Oscar’s sights. “We are looking, in the short term, to Spain, France and Germany,” highlights João Marques.

Supporting the growth beyond Portugal will be a new round of investment, which should be concluded: “by the end of this year”. So far, the startup has already raised over two million euros in funding – the construction company Melom and Olisipo Way led the capital injection.

In the longer term, Oscar sees Mexico and Brazil as “interesting countries” to enter the Latin American market. Gardening and moving will be the next two service categories to be made available on the app.