ENRICH MONTHLYDECEMBER 2019, VOL. 11

MONTHLY BUSINESS & INNOVATION NEWS COMPILED BY ENRICH IN BRAZIL

Dear Reader,

a warm welcome and thank you for your time and interest in oureleventh edition of ENRICH Monthly.

The year 2019 rounds up with many good news for the bilateralcooperation and collaboration between Europe and Brazil. Thehighlight of the year was the successful establishment of the ENRICHin Brazil as an Association in Brazil. This milestone will be acornerstone for further and more intensified relationship forEuropean and Brazilian Science, Technology and Innovation actors.

This year has been also a good year for the future of the Brazilianeconomy with the overhaul of the pension system. The longexpected pension reform is expected to increase foreigninvestments and restore the credibility of the Brazilian government.

On this note, our Monthly Success Story have prepared for you aninterview with Mr. César Couto Ferreira, who is a youngentrepreneur and facilitator of innovation, entrepreneurship,technology. He is someone who promotes internationalization,whereby always valuing the human nature. Mr. Ferreira is the Co-founder & Vice President of Expansion and Transcendence atFábrica do Futuro as well as a Co-Founder and CEO at FuturoAceleradora.

To all of our readers, we wish a merry Christmas and a happy NewYear!

All the best for you, ENRICH in Brazil Team

ENRICH is an initiative of the European Union, executed in Brazil by the CEBRABIC project, that has receivedfunding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreementNo 733531. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this publication lies entirely with the authors.

Edifício Armando Monteiro Neto, St. Bancário Norte Q. 1 BL I - Brasília, DF, 70040-010 Brazilwww.brazil.enrichcentres.eubrazil@enrichcentres.eu

© Hello Magazine

Christmas Editorial

SNEAK PEEK OF WHAT’S INSIDE: ENRICH in Brazil officially established as an association

BNDES and the German Development Bank signed a MOU

Rio Grande do Sul hosted the annual meeting of European ambassadors

German and Brazilian Bilateral Infrastructure Forum

Nokia's first WING deal in Latin America

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France meets Brazilian governors of the northeastern states

Fiat Chrysler Decentralizes Innovation Partnerships In Brazil

Brazil and Germany make cooperation for sustainable production

Brazilian stocks are expected to rise in 2020

Brazil's debt under control, tax reform next: economy minister

Fintechs are booming in Brazil and Latam

ENRICH Monthly Success Story: Building bridges between Europe and Brazil: Stimulating and fostering domestic and international startups

Brazil –Europe Direct

ENRICH in Brazil Officially

Established as an Association

The Brazil - Europe Innovation Center,Enrich in Brazil, was officially establishedin Brasilia on December 10th. Formallyconstituted as the European Network ofResearch and Innovation AssociationCentres and Hubs in Brazil - Enrich inBrazil, the Centre is the result of an almostthree years running project funded by theEuropean Union's Horizon 2020 programto promote cooperation in research andinnovation between Brazil and theEuropean Union. The Centre has theGerman Fraunhofer Gesellschaft e.V., theHungarian RCISD, the PortugueseInnovation Society (SPI) and ANPEI asfounding members. And with Natura,Braskem, the Swedish-Brazilian Researchand Innovation Centre (CISB), theConsulate General of Luxembourg in SãoPaulo and Fiocruz its first associatemembers. From the beginning of 2020,new members can join and the goal is toexpand and strengthen the group oforganizations (institutions, companies andprofessionals) dedicated to innovation inBrazil and Europe, in order to become athink tank and a hub. of partnerships andinternational business.

Governance will be exercised by theboard, fiscal council and advisorycommittee. There are five directors: Filipe

Cassapo, Executive Manager of Innovationin the FIEP System and representative ofANPEI, as president; Jan Eichbaum,Honorary Consul General of Luxembourgin Sao Paulo, as Vice-President; AlessandraHolmo, CISB's CEO, Bruno Vaz, Braskem'sInnovation Manager and LeonardoGarnica, Natura's Innovation Manager,make up the board. The Fiscal Councilconsists of Walter Machado, Luis Fradeand Flaudemira Paula, experiencedprofessionals from the third sector andinnovation ecosystems in Brazil andabroad.

The first event organized by theInnovation Centre was the InnovationTalks, which discussed “Opportunities forInnovation in Brazil-Europe Free Trade” onDecember 10th, and was attended by H.E.Ignacio Ybañez, Ambassador of theEuropean Union in Brazil, AmbassadorAchilles Zaluar from Itamaraty, ProfessorFábio Guedes, Vice President of CONFAP,Professor Maria Emília Walter, Dean ofResearch and Innovation at the Universityof Brasilia, and Sérgio Alves, MCTIC'sGeneral Coordinator of InnovativeEntrepreneurship. With a full house, theTalks inaugurated a series of debates thatwill be promoted, in Brazil and Europe, bythe Innovation Centre.

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3

BNDES and the German Development

Bank Signed a MOU

The directors of BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank),Petrônio Cançado, and KfW (German DevelopmentBank), Barbara Schnell, signed on December 12th amemorandum of understanding (MOU) for theimplementation of sustainable urban mobility systemsin Brazil. The document was signed in Madrid duringCOP 25 , the UN climate change conference.

The agreement provides support for structuringmobility projects that contribute to the reduction ofpollutant emissions, promote social inclusion, adoptinnovative technologies and favour the implementationof integrated multimodal solutions. BNDES and KfW willwork together in the preparation of the public call andthe selection of up to five projects that will have theirpre-feasibility studies - analyses based on existing datain order to identify if a particular project has theminimum conditions of realization - non-repayablefunds from the German bank (EUR 450 000 ≈ BRL 2million).

After the completion of the preliminary studies and theconfirmation of the proposals considered viable, BNDESwill finance, with reimbursable resources, the executionof the technical services necessary for the structuring ofthe projects.

Read more at (Portuguese): BNDES

Rio Grande do Sul Hosted

the Annual Meeting of European Ambassadors

© Bradutch

Due to its economic potential and strategic location inrelation to Mercosur, Rio Grande do Sul was thechosen state to host the annual mission of theambassadors of the European Union member states inBrazil. The event took place from December 4th – 8th.The objective is to allow the exchange of informationon economic, commercial and investment issuesbetween the two blocks.

According to Ignacio Ybañez Rubio, Ambassador of theEuropean Union (EU) in Brazil, Europe's relationshipwith Brazil is “close” in both its cultural and historicalaspects. “This attunement opens many doors toeconomic relations. Those in South America need tolook at Rio Grande do Sul, which is not only a Brazilianstate, but also a state integrated with the cultures ofArgentina, Chile and Uruguay, ”he said.

The European Union-led mission has representativesfrom Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia,Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, Finland, Greece, Ireland,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, CzechRepublic , Romania and Sweden.

Mr. Rubio also stressed the good trade relationsmaintained by Rio Grande do Sul with Europe. Henoted that the trade balance with the European Unionis positive for the Brazilian state. In 2018, Rio Grandedo Sul exported USD 4.1 billion (≈ EUR 3.7 billion; BRL ≈16.7 billion) to the European Union and imported USD1.6 billion (≈ EUR 1.4 billion; ≈ BRL 6.5 billion) from thebloc's countries.

Besides the economic highlight, represented by theopportunities that the EU-Mercusor Agreement willbring in the future, Porto Alegre, the state capital, isthe ideal place for Europeans to visit, Rubio noted. Herecalled that the city is the result of cultural influencesfrom various countries in the EU.

Read more at (Portuguese): Empresa Brasil deComunicação

Brazil –Europe Direct

On December 29th, ENRICH in Brazil was attending inthe German and Brazilian Bilateral InfrastructureForum held at the German Chamber of Commerce andIndustry in Berlin.

Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, Brazil’s InfrastructureMinister, was also at the event. He visited Germany onNovember 28th and 29th, at the invitation of FundaçãoGetúlio Vargas Europe (FGV is a Brazilian highereducation institution and think tank that aims tostimulate Brazil's socioeconomic development) andGerman company Deutsche Bahn. The minister wasaccompanied by a delegation of six representatives ofthe Infrastructure Ministry and the nationaldevelopment bank, BNDES. Other participants includedthe director of FGV Projetos, Luiz Carlos Duque, as wellas representatives of Siemens, the Sao Paulo Brazil-Germany Chamber of Commerce and Germandevelopment finance institution DEG.

The study tour began in the city of Hamburg, wherethe delegation met with representatives of HamburgPort Consulting (HPC), followed by a visit to the Port ofHamburg and a meeting with the port authority.

On November 29th, a bilateral infrastructure forumwas hosted by the Association of German Chambers ofCommerce and Industry in Berlin. During this event,Freitas presented Brazil as a country of investmentopportunities with a solid portfolio of concessionprojects and privatizations.

The event’s aim was to help attract significant amountsof foreign investment to Brazil in the infrastructuresector from investment funds and companies, besidespositioning FGV as a partner in investment-relateddecision making.

The minister’s study tour ended with a workshopattended by representatives of operators and investorsto present and discuss proposals for concrete projectsin the infrastructure area.

You can access the slides presented by Brazil's Ministerof Infrastructure, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, here. Itcontains information on the infrustructure sector,challanges faced by the sector, strategies and solutionsthat have been already implemented and are planed totackle the issues, and more on the subject.

Here you can also access a survey on the German-Brazilian Business Outlook (Portuguese and German)conducted by the the German Chamber of Commerceto Brazil. The Chamber runs the survey biannually incorporation with the its member companies, in whichthey are questioned about their assessments of thepolitical and economic development of Brazil and theirbusiness expectations for their particular industriesand organizations.

According to the survey, in 2020, about 47 percent ofthe firms are planning to increase their investments inBrazil relative to the previous year. Whereas only 9percent answered with no. The majority of the firmsexpect either no change or an improvement in thepolitical situation of Brazil. As for the economicsitutaion, 60 percent think it will get better in the newyear. From the total responces, 42 percent of the firmsexpect a GDP growth rate of 3-4 percent. Thequestionnaire comprises in total 27 questions giving anexclusive insight to the expectations of the Germanfirms active in Brazil.

Read more at: Fundação Getúlio Vargas and AHKBrasilien

Brazil & Innovation

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© Sara Tsog

Brazil –Europe Direct

German and Brazilian Bilateral

Infrastructure Forum

Nokia's first WING

Deal in Latin

America

Last month, ENRICH Monthly reported that Nokia hasteamed up with SENAI-SP (Brazil’s National Service forIndustrial Training) to implement the vendor’s portfolioof technology and connectivity solutions at SENAI-SP’slab in São Caetano do Sul. This month, the Finnishtelecoms equipment maker Nokia has signed its firstWorldwide IoT Network Grid (WINF) contract in LatinAmerica with TIM Brasil (a Brazilian subsidiary of anItalian telecommunications company).

The Brazilian market is the largest IoT market in LatinAmerica, with widespread adoption of IoT technologiesestimated to add USD 200 billion (≈ EUR 179 million; ≈BRL 812.4 million) to the country’s economy by 2025.Nokia’s first WING deal in Latin America enables TIM toleverage new business models to tap this opportunityand generate additional revenue streams. Additionally,incremental services, such as device management andanalytics, will help TIM extend SIM management

capabilities to create value added opportunities.

WING will enable local and multinational companies tobenefit from global IoT services. It features a distributedarchitecture that maintains all user data in-country, suchas in Brazil, to remain compliant with data sovereigntyand privacy laws.

TIM’s enterprise customers will be able to monitor andmanage in real-time their devices, ranging from assettracking and status sensors for logistics industries to thefully connected car with on-board diagnostics andtelematics. As part of the deployment, the Nokia IMPACTIoT platform, which simplifies the process of bringing andscaling multiple applications onto a single platform, willprovide IoT device management and service capabilityexposure.

Read more at: Yahoo Finance

Brazil – Europe Direct

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© Nokia

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France meets Brazilian

Governors of the Northeastern States

Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and ForeignAffairs of France, met on November 19th with theBrazilian governors of the nine states of the consortiumfor sustainable development in the northeast. Thismeeting falls within the framework of the road mapsigned by Jean-Yves Le Drian and the nine governors onJuly 29th in Brasilia aimed at implementing projectslinking sustainable development and the provision ofquality public services. In keeping with his visit to Brazil,the minister reaffirmed France’s determination tocooperate with all regions of Brazil.

The minister for Europe and foreign affairs and thegovernors expressed their determination to continue toimplement this road map, in particular the efforts of theFrench Development Agency in this region of Brazil, thestrengthening of decentralized cooperation andacademic and scientific cooperation. The sustainabledevelopment of the northeast, environmental protectionand the fight against climate disruption were discussed.

Read more at: French Ministry for Europe and ForeignAffairs

Brazil – Europe Direct

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) wants to decentralize its innovationpartnerships across Brazil to ensure diversity in the answers to its businesschallenges.

"It is important to explore different [innovation hubs] to ensure differentviews of the same problem, to counter the risk of professional bias, whichends up blocking other perceptions," says André Ferreira, chiefinformation officer at FCA's Brazilian business. Although the Southeastregion is where the majority of Brazil's large corporations are based, thecompany notes there is an increasing trend of startups with offices basedelsewhere in the country.

FCA works closely with partners such as the Recife Center for AdvancedStudies and Systems (CESAR), in the Northeastern state of Pernambuco, inprojects in areas such as manufacturing, with projects focused on Internetof Things technologies. Pilots run in the state of Pernambuco, where thecompany has a production plant, include a challenge to develop analgorithm for distribution and transportation. According to Ferreira, theproject that took place in that region had a "clearly different perception" interms of solutions found.

In the coming months, Ferreira expects the decentralization of innovationefforts in Brazil will take shape through initiatives such as Nexos, aprogram started last month in partnership with the Brazilian Micro andSmall Enterprises' Support Service (Sebrae), to launch challenges forstartups focused on solutions around connectivity.

Read more at: Forbes

Brazil and Germany Make

Cooperation for

Sustainable Production

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestockand Supply will create the EnvironmentalAdequacy Ratio for qualification of theproduction chains of meat, soybeans andwood in Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará,Rondônia and Tocantins. The initiative topromote the conservation of the Amazonrainforest, is part of a technicalcooperation project between Brazil andGermany for the period 2020-2024.

The index will have the database theNational Environmental RuralRegistration System (CAR), provided forin the Brazilian Forest Code, thetransition guides for animal movementcontrol set for cutting and alsosurveillance information from the analoglabor exploitation to slavery .

The cooperation agreement signed onDecember 9th at the headquarters of theministry in Brasilia, involves Germandonation of EUR 25.5 million (≈ BRL 115million) and a contribution of EUR 12million (≈ BRL 54 million) from theBrazilian government.

According to a statement from theministry, the actions of the "seek tocreate tools to monitor theenvironmental situation of theseproduction chains, generate added valueto the products of the sectors with goodlevels of sustainability and providetechnical and managerial assistance toproducers with low levels ofsustainability" .

According to the Minister it is necessaryto bring people in and make themunderstand that the technology will givethem income. "[With] this income will bepossible for them to preserve and haveanother standard of living, but within thetechnology," said the minister,emphasizing that the intention is not toexclude any producer, but makeeveryone act without clearing withsustainability and respecting the laws.

Read more at: Brazilian Times

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© Forbes

Fiat Chrysler

Decentralizes Innovation

Partnerships in Brazil

Brazilian equities are expected to shine amid a fog of politicaland economic uncertainty in Latin America next year,outperforming regional peers due to record-low interest ratesand a pending line-up of market-friendly economic reforms.

The latest Reuters quarterly poll shows Brazil’s benchmarkIbovespa stock index extending this year’s rally to end 2020 at130,000 points, according to the median of 18 forecasts fromtraders, brokers and economists. If confirmed, the stock indexwould mark a 200 percent rise from the 43.500 level in 2015.

The overhaul of Brazil’s costly social security system played amajor role in restoring investor confidence, as it promised tosave BRL 800 billion (≈ EUR 175.2 billion) over the next decade.The government is pursuing reduction of state size andprivatization of state enterprises. Next step, as alreadyannounced would be reform of the tax system.

“Brazil is one of the few countries going through such a hugestructural change, which should allow us to stand out fromothers, particularly in the second half of 2020,” said Luiz Ribeiro,a portfolio manager at Deutsche Bank’s asset managementcompany DWS.

Lucas Tambellini, strategist at Itaú BBA, also said optimism inBrazil’s equities market is rising, with local investors looking forhigher returns as the central bank pushes interest rates lower inthe fixed income market.

Read more at: Finacial Post

Brazil's Debt Under

Control, Tax Reform Next:

Economy Minister

Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes saidon December 18th he had reached agreementwith Congressional leaders on modernizingthe country’s complex tax system next yearand one option could be taxing on-linetransactions.

Brazil has brought its snowballing public debtunder control with reform of the costlypension system and spending cuts, he said,while interest rates are at record lows afterthe central bank cut its benchmark Selic rateto 4.50% on Dec. 11.

Speaking to reporters on GloboNews channel,Guedes said foreign financial capital outflowsare not a concern and quite normal now thatBrazilian interest rates are less attractive.

Servicing Brazil’s public debt will cost 100billion Reais ($24.5 billion) less each year dueto lower interest payments, the minister said.

The government will speed up theprivatization of state companies and boostinvestment in infrastructure, be it roads, port,railways and airports, he added, forecastingGDP growth of 2.5% next year.

The government wants to introduced afederal value added tax that would eventuallybe adopted by states and town councils.

Guedes said resurrection of the unpopulartax on financial transactions known as CPMFwas out of the question and strongly opposedby the President. Instead, a tax on digitaltransactions is being studied, Guedes said,but he gave no details.

With low interest rates, early repayment tothe Treasury of transfers to developmentbank BNDES and the proceeds from the saleof state companies, Brazil’s gross public debtwill end this year at about 77.2% of grossdomestic product, he said Treasury SecretaryMansueto Almeida.

Read more at: Reuters

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Brazilian Stocks are

Expected to Rise in 2020

Brazil & Economy

© Sergey A.Khakimullin - Fotolia

© CNN BusinessDavid Velez co-founder of Nubank

Brazil & Innovation

When David Vélez, co-founder of Latin America's largestfintech company Nubank, walked into a Brazilian bankbranch to open an account six years ago, he was appalledby the experience. First, he had to check his bag in alocker outside. Next, he waited to pass through a securityline manned by three armed guards. He sat there for 45minutes and finally spoke to someone, who acted likethey were doing him a favour by deigning to talk aboutopening an account. Then, he was sent off to make aphone call to bank employees elsewhere and was laterforced to return to the bank a half-dozen times over thenext four months.

In Latin America, the half of the population have no bankaccounts and often no credit histories. In Brazil, fivebanks control almost all of the market and charge highfees — with annual interest rates on credit cards recentlyaveraging nearly 300 percent on unpaid balances,according to the Wall Street Journal. These bankscontrolled in 2018 more than 80 percent of the totalBrazilian financial system assets and 85 percent of allloans. It exemplified almost a monopoly, whereconsumer preferences and needs are neglected for thebenefit of the banks.

The Brazilian market is huge with 55 million "unbanked"

people. In Brazil, as elsewhere, unbanked status makeseveryday life difficult: Customers must make purchasesin cash, or shell out for preloaded debit cards or moneyorders. If they receive a check, they have to pay extra ata check-cashing facility. And with little to no chance ofsecuring a traditional loan, they may be forced into high-fee services similar to the US payday loans if they need toborrow money.

So Vélez decided to build something entirely new, aptlynamed Nubank: a financial institution that would offerno-fee accounts and credit cards, welcoming the largelyignored Brazilian unbanked population to their first-everbank accounts after they answered a few simplequestions via an app. He brought his vision to fruitionwith Edward Wible, an American, and Cristina Junqueirafrom Brazil.

Six years after its founding, Nubank is a bona fide techunicorn reportedly raising money at a USD 10 billionvaluation. One of the most valuable startups in all ofLatin America, Nubank has already attracted marqueeinvestors including Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs,and it has signed on nearly 20 million customers in Brazilalone. The company is also expanding to Mexico andArgentina.

Brazil & Tech

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FINTTECHS

ARE BOOMING

IN BRAZIL AND

LATAM

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Brazil & Innovation

Similarly, another fintech startup Magnetis, tapped intothe Brazilan market of wealth management. According toLuciano Tavares, the CEO of Magnetis, less than 1percent of Brazilians have access to wealth managementservices. Magnetis wants to make a positive impact onthe lives of its clients. Loosely translated fromPortuguese, its mission is to “impact people’s lives withunparalleled customer experience and technology sothey can invest in what matters”. So Tavares like othertech companies uses technology to make financialservices accessible to every Brazilian.

Here’s how it works: Potential clients start by completingan online questionnaire. “It’s very important tounderstand the individual needs of each client, so that’sthe building block for the rest of the process,” Lucianoexplains. Does the client wish to buy a car? Make a downpayment on a home? Save for retirement? Or perhapsthey’d like to live off their investment income? All ofthese questions help clients determine their financialgoals, investment horizon and risk tolerance.

Once financial objectives have been identified and riskprofiles defined, Magnetis’ algorithms kick into gear andsuggest a personalised fund of-of-funds portfolio for theclient. And unlike banks and brokers, which currentlyprovide the bulk of wealth management services toBrazilian investors, Magnetis does not receive any

rebates or commissions from the products itrecommends, ensuring that clients receive unbiased,independent advice.

From there, clients can invest directly online, monitor,and track their portfolios over time while the algorithmstake care of portfolio optimisation, rebalancing andensuring optimal allocation levels to meet the clients’investment objectives.

The good thing about Brazilain markets is that "Brazilianshave a strong presence online. They’re also very eager totest new services. So this creates a great environment forFinTech to flourish", said Tavares.

According to the Cambridge Centre of AlternativeFinance (CCAF), LATAM and the Caribbean grew by awhopping 94 percent from USD 342 million (≈ EUR 307million; ≈ BRL 1.4 billion) in 2016 to USD 663 million (≈EUR 594 million; ≈ BRL 2.7 billion) in 2017.

Brazil, Mexico, and Chile led the sector with 78 percentof the region’s growth, with Brazil jumping ahead ofMexico and Chile to become the region’s market leader.Reportedly, today the Mexican and Brazilian marketsmake up about 2/3s of the Fintech’s in the region.

Read more at: CNN Business , Julius Bär , CrowdfundInsider

Brazil & Tech

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© Crowdfund Insider

Building Bridges Between Europe

and Brazil: Stimulating and

Fostering Domestic and International Startups

10

Success Story

by Thaís Soares, SPI

Based on an interview with CésarCouto Ferreira for ENRICH in Brazil.

This month, the ENRICH Monthlyinterview series spoke with CésarCouto Ferreira, Co-founder & VicePresident (VP) of Expansion andTranscendence at Fábrica doFuturo as well as a Co-Founder andCEO at Futuro Aceleradora. He is aPortuguese citizen from the coastalcity of Porto, and has been living inBrazil since 2014. He holds adegree in Biotechnology from theCatholic University of Portugal.

Ferreira has always had apassionate for communication. Inthe past, he went to work at aRadio show to gain experience inpublic speaking and develop hiscommunication skills. Being anentrepreneur, he describesinnovation as a medium that helpsbroaden and deepen hisknowledge that in turn feeds all ofhis passion. As a CEO of a companythat promotes and fosters startupsand innovation ecosystem, Césarenjoys sharing his expertise withothers. The human being is asubject César was alwaysinterested in.

In his sabbatical year, Ferreirawent to Brazil with an aim tounderstand the country and sawthe entrepreneurship potential, sohe decided to move to Brazil andmake use of his previousexperience as an expert onPortuguese Ventures. This was theinitial scope of his collaborationwith Europe.

Today, as the Co-founder and VPfor Fábrica do Futuro, Ferreirabuilds bridges between Europeand Brazil, from Portugal to Spain,UK, Sweden, Slovenia and Greece.César is also a mentor at theFounder Institute, and also amentor for the Founders' Foundersin Portugal, he is part of theAdvisory Board of several startupsin Europe. A lot of the Fábrica doFuturo mentors are Europeans. Healso joined a group of Portugueseentrepreneurs that moved fromPortugal to Brazil – the DiásporaPortuguesa, creating synergies inBrazil.

Fábrica do Futuro is the biggestaccelerator and incubator in thestate of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil).It is an ecosystem which bringstogether and powers innovativeinitiatives. Its pillars are ICT, IoT, AI,AR, VR, Fintech and Martech.Besides being an incubationenvironment, Fábrica do Futurostimulates integration among localentrepreneurs and those fromother regions, becoming a hub ofconvergence and striving to be anindustry benchmark.

Operating as a nest for Brazilianand foreign startups, Fábrica doFuturo employs collective andcollaborative logic to bolster theecosystem, the primary aim ofwhich is to gain scale in Brazil.Right from the start, it createsconnections with other centresaround the globe to engage,exchange and build partnerships topromote circulation of knowledge,people, companies, culture andwealth.

Fábrica do Futuro is currently on anexpansion movement to São Paulo andother states, including Europe in thefuture (Portugal and Spain). They havetheir own NGO responsible for mentalhealth.

For Ferreira, the most valuable aspect ofcollaborations he experienced was theprocess of Bringing criteria to innovationin Brazil. The country holds the 66th

position on the innovation rank incomparison to its GDP – 6th mostpowerful country in the world. He sees agap between the current situation inBrazil with respect to innovation and itsfuture potential. Ferreira believes thatthere is space to improve theproductivity of the country, he believesin the Brazilian people. "They [Brazilians]can improve their roles, bringing truevalue to innovation making use of theEuropean knowledge and experience inthis field, generating a matureinnovation ecosystem to the country",he said.

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© César Couto Ferreira

César Couto Ferreira

César says his collaborations showthat a lot of bridges can be built inBrazil in order to accomplish thisgoal of improving the innovationecosystem in the country, mirroringthe best European practices andlessons learned.

“Brazil is not for beginners”. A lotof aspects could be listed aschallenges for Ferreira. Forinstance, cultural differences and

business behaviour. With hisinternational background, Ferreirasees however such issues as aregular component ofinternationalization process whichcan be overcome. He also points asa challenge the bureaucracytradition in Brazil – being anentrepreneur, he informs thatBrazil needs to work on its legalaspects of the innovationecosystem and decrease the

number of rules to open a newbusiness and to promoteinnovative ideas.

We thank César Couto Ferreiravery much for sharing his valuableexperience and being an“Ambassador” for increasingscientific and technologicalcooperation between Europe-Brazil.

Success Story

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Top tips from César Couto Ferreira for going international:

1. Put humans first!

2. Never forget your legacy – and also be willing to understand the legacy of your destination country. You need to fit the environment where you want to work at.

3. Believe that everything in the world can be more than just a “who”, it can also be a “why”. You need to have a purpose on your ambition.

4. Don´t create an inner circle of expats while in the destination country. Make sure you are with the locals, understanding their culture.

5. Create synergies that can truly transform and impact the world. Don´t think you want to create something new just for Brazil. But go beyond that and create for the entire world.

6. Good people share their knowledge. I believe that true innovators and true people that believe in change and believe in impacting the world, share what they know, are open to everything new and believe in collective intelligence.