Cartier’s owner Richemont chooses Portugal as its EU Tech Hub

Cartier’s owner Richemont chooses Portugal as its EU Tech Hub - Portugal Business News

Tech News Europe – Cartier’s owner Richemont chooses Portugal as its EU Tech Hub. Here are the reasons why the owner of the Cartier brand, the Richemont group, chose Lisbon as its EU hub:

The Cartier brand is owned by the Richemont group, that also owns luxury brands such as Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc, has chosen Lisbon for its first technology hub outside Switzerland with an investment estimated at tens of millions of euros.

While the owner of the Cartier brand has already recruited around 100 people for their new Tech Hub in Lisbon, the company intends to recruit 400 people by 2028, namely engineering profiles in the fields of AI, cloud, solutions, software, and machine learning.

The Richemont group will adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions to advance the realization of their Luxury New Retail (“LNR”) visionto open e-concessions on the FARFETCH Marketplace.

The Richemont Technology Center in Lisbon, that will develop the tech for its luxury brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc, has already invested in Real Estate with 3,200 square meters, located in the Green Campus of Parque das Nações, Lisbon’s prime area. 

The Lisbon tech hub is an extension of Richemont Geneva, which deals with technology on a global scale for the group, and will cover global technological needs, but also those of the entire group and its ‘Maisons’, that are the group's luxury brands.

The Richemont group has its headquarters in Geneva and a center in Shanghai that is not a hub as it is focused on developing specific applications.

Why did the owner of the Cartier brand, the Richemont group, choose Lisbon as its EU hub?

These are the main reasons why the owner of the Cartier brand, the Richemont group, chose Lisbon as their EU hub:

1 – The available talent

2 – The proximity of the Portuguese capital

3 – Its very good English literacy

4 – Since Lisbon is already recognized as “a European innovation hub, there has been significant investment from the government, including the municipality, and it has really become a city where it makes sense to invest”, according to Lucas De Gaulejac, Technology Competency Center manager at Richemont.

5 – Lisbon’s connectivity

6 – Lisbon’s thriving tech community

7 - “By having a location where we knew we had good partners, we also ensured that it has a long-term vision, and we know that Lisbon is investing in technology in the long term. Therefore, for us, it also makes perfect sense”, added Lucas De Gaulejac, who highlighted that several locations were analyzed, without revealing the names of the cities competing with the Portuguese capital.

The Richemont group intends to participate in Lisbon’s technological ecosystem and is willing to form partnerships with universities, institutions, startups, and incubators, among others.