8 years in production · 250+ daily users
CarBase24
A fleet-operations tool in daily use across 5 departments.
Internal platform — Mercedes-Benz dealer group, Portugal
Caravel
Senior engineering for EU, UK and US scale-ups — and for companies entering the European market.
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Products & companies built
Services
How we can help
Fixed-scope projects or an embedded team — sized to where you are, not where a template says you should be.
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100% IP Ownership Transfer
Full copyright, source code, and IP ownership transferred to your company upon project delivery.
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EU GDPR Compliant
European privacy standards, data sovereignty, and secure cloud infrastructure built-in.
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24-Hour SLA
Direct founder-level communication with guaranteed sub-24h response time.
EU-Readiness Audit
from €2.5kA senior review of everything standing between your product and paying European customers. Delivered in two weeks.
- GDPR, accessibility & content-law gap analysis
- Localization, payments & tax readiness
- Prioritized fix list with effort estimates
MVP Sprint
from €15kConcept to a production MVP that European users can actually pay for. Fixed scope, fixed timeline.
- Discovery, architecture & delivery plan
- Production-grade build in weeks, not quarters
- Analytics, payments & compliance wired in
Dedicated Nearshore Squad
from €8k/moA senior European team in your timezone, embedded in your process and shipping from day one.
- Senior engineers — no juniors billed as seniors
- Your stack, your board, your standups
- Scale up or down with one month’s notice
Fractional CTO
from €2.5k/moTechnical leadership without a full-time hire — strategy, architecture, and hiring you can trust.
- Architecture & technology decisions
- Team hiring, mentoring & process
- Board-ready technical due diligence
Nearshore ROI Calculator
Calculate Your Engineering Savings
Estimate your team savings by partnering with senior software engineers in Portugal compared to local US, UK, or European rates.
3 Engineers
1 Dev (Solo)5 Devs (Squad)10 Devs (Pod)
Includes 100% IP ownership transfer & EU GDPR compliance out of the box.
Estimated ROI
Est. Monthly Savings€23,400 / mo
Est. Annual Savings€280,800 / year
Portugal Nearshore Pod€15,600/mo
Local Market Rate€39,000/mo
EU Market Entry
Expanding into Europe? Land it right the first time.
Coming to Europe from Asia or the Gulf? The code is rarely the hard part. It’s everything Europe expects around it — and we handle that.
- GDPR compliance (EU data protection law)
- EU payment systems (SEPA, local methods)
- Local languages, currencies and formats
- Hosting and data kept inside the EU
- Certified invoicing (legally required e-invoicing formats)
AmericasAsiaGulfEurope
Case studies
Outcomes, not output.
A few products we took from first commit to real scale.
Since 2022
AutoLeve
B2B SaaS for the automotive sector — stock, workshop and document management. Built for BF Automóveis and used daily since launch.
Client platform — BF Automóveis, Portugal
800+ users
EdTech marketplace
A learning marketplace powered by an AI matching engine.
Testimonials
Testimonials and Client Feedback
“He was instrumental in the development of our online store and several other projects — helping us overcome technical challenges and teaching us along the way. His competence and generosity make him an exceptional partner.”
SCSandra CondeProcurement, Sociedade Comercial C. Santosvia LinkedIn
“Not only a strong CTO with deep experience in SaaS architecture and AI-driven solutions — a pragmatic leader who understands how technology must translate into real business value.”
APAneta PaciorekFP&A · Business Analyticsvia LinkedIn
“A very proactive and professional IT leader — always approachable and a pleasure to work with.”
RSRui SampaioKey Account Manager, Mercedes-Benzvia LinkedIn
How we work
A short path from problem to shipped.
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Audit
We map the terrain — product, code, compliance, and the gap to your goal.
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Plan
A concrete plan with scope, milestones, and honest estimates.
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Build
Senior engineers ship in short cycles you can see and steer.
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Scale
We harden, hand over, or stay on — whatever the next stage needs.
100% IP & Code Ownership
No licensing loops, no vendor lock-in. Once our invoice is settled, every single line of code and intellectual property belongs completely to your company.
Our products
Built and run by us
Products we ship and operate ourselves — where we pressure-test the tech we later recommend to clients.
About the founder
Built by someone who has shipped.
Nelson CostaFounder · Fractional CTO · Porto, Portugal
16+ years building and leading software teams across Europe — hands-on from first commit to enterprise scale.
Former CTO and architect. Caravel is the senior engineering partner I wished more companies had when taking a product into Europe.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact
Let’s talk about your European move.
Tell us where you’re headed. We’ll tell you what it takes.
Headquarters
Porto, Portugal · WET (GMT/UTC+0)