On the last day of the Brasil Investment Forum (BIF) 2021, the sanction of the legal framework for startups was celebrated
The perspectives for market growth and the anticipated celebration of the sanctioning of the legal framework for startups, expected to happen this month, set the tone for the panel “Innovation: Startups and Unicorns: investment opportunities in mobility, finance, health, and security”, held on Tuesday (June 1st) as part of the Brasil Investment Forum (BIF) 2021, an event organized by Apex-Brasil, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Brazilian Government.
About the legal framework, the Secretary of Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Paulo Alvim, highlighted that it is a very significant advance, for being a collective construction that involved more than 70 public and private institutions, in the last four years. “Startup is the business model of the 21st century. A major advance we achieved is to create legal conditions, favorable business environments for startups to emerge and develop,” Alvim pointed out.
With the participation of private companies, the event was moderated by the chief of the President’s Office of Apex-Brasil, Igor Brandão, who classified the dynamics of the Brazilian market in this segment as sensational. Brandão mentioned the growth of startups in Brazil, which tripled in the last five years. “We went from 4,000 on average to 14,000 this year.” In relation to unicorns, he highlighted that 18 have been mapped and another 12 should emerge in the next reports.
Solutions for the future
Speaking about prospects for the future, the Managing Partner of Redpoint eVentures, Anderson Thees, said he was optimistic about the segment, and recalled that the innovation industry is seasonal and cyclical. “We have learned over time that most great companies and success stories are created during and immediately after major crises. The current crisis is global, and unprecedented. We are clear that the solution will be digital. Few times will we have such an obvious moment to start great companies,” emphasized Thees.
The CEO of IDB Lab (IDB innovation lab), Irene Arias, stated that the solutions of the future need to be designed with interoperable systems and security networks in mind. She also defended the need for the responsible use of data in Artificial Intelligence and invited entrepreneurs to contact the institution she represents. Arias also made a warning: “This digital emergency needs to be very deliberate to make room for correct models, otherwise we will have problems in society”.
The president of the Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein, Sidney Klajner, pointed out the need to “create an appropriate condition, both regulatory and attractive, for the country to increasingly attract investors. Klajner also stated that a digital transformation in society is necessary, and mentioned examples of telemedicine projects that allow medical care to indigenous communities and regions far from large urban centers, as well as virtual visits by medical specialists to ICUs in hospitals with specialized care deficiencies. And he concluded: “5G is a giant opportunity for the use of technology”.
The vice president of Technology at Dasa Group, Danilo Zimmermann, said that the pandemic came to accelerate and ratify solutions, as well as demonstrate that whoever has the best technology – turbocharged with data, machine learning and experts – walks to really lead to a better experience. “It’s time to start new projects. If you still have projects on standby, it’s time to accelerate. We will continue to invest in digital transformation and innovation,” Zimmermann assured.
Legal framework for startups The vote on Complementary Law Project 146/19 was concluded by the Senate on May 11, and was forwarded to presidential sanction, expected to take place this month. According to the bill, startups can be classified as companies and cooperative societies active in innovation applied to products, services or business models; and with gross revenues of up to R$16 million in the previous year and up to 10 years of enrollment in the National Register of Corporate Taxpayers (CNPJ).
