Palma Sistemas, DigiFarmz and Elysios stood out among the seven finalists for presenting innovative solutions, entrepreneurial profile and evolution during the program

The search for innovative solutions for economic recovery after the pandemic crisis is one of the objectives of the BRDE LABS Program, created by the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE). In Rio Grande do Sul, the program was coordinated by the accelerator VENTIUR, with the support of  three universities that integrate the Alliance for Innovation through its technological parks – UFRGS (Zenit), PUCRS (Tecnopuc) and UNISINOS (Tecnosinos).

Launched in May, BRDE Labs had 188 startups registered in the State. Of these, 30 participated in the pre-acceleration stage and 12 were chosen for the acceleration stage. Held between August and November, the acceleration ended last Monday, November 30th. On the occasion, Demoday was held, an online event for reporting results and presenting the seven finalists, who had been chosen on the 26th, through an online banking. They are: Alloy, Digifarmz, Elysios, Essent Agro, Faba, Optim and Palma Sistemas.

During the Demoday, each finalist startup had four minutes to present their business, as well as its development throughout the program and two more minutes to interact with the bank. According to the evaluation of the technical committee and of the bank, the startups Palma Sistemas, DigiFarmz and Elysios were the ones that showed the best performance, being confirmed as the winners of the 2020 edition of the BRDE Labs Program. As a prize, they receive R $ 25 thousand, R $ 15 thousand and R $ 10 thousand, respectively.

“BRDE operates on three innovation pillars: in credit, operating lines and being the bank that has most invested in innovation and technology; participating as a shareholder in investment funds, a type of initiative extremely suited to the innovation ecosystem, and with the support of programs such as BRDE Labs ”, said BRDE president, Luiz Corrêa Noronha. “We are very satisfied with the result of this work, which presented several solutions. We have startups that have developed tools for agribusiness, for small, micro and medium-sized companies, as well as solutions for health ”, he celebrated.

For the President of the Board of Ventiur, Carlos Klein, the pandemic put the program’s organizers facing a great challenge: to execute it 100% digitally. “It allowed us to grow, through an acceleration model that worked. We had startups with good technological density, which are the result of academia. We were able to demonstrate in the program the capacity we have to have an impact on society ”.

The Secretary of Innovation, Science and Technology, Luís Lamb, highlighted the importance of BRDE Labs, which shows the union of efforts in favor of the State. “This partnership has contributed to instituting a culture of innovation, showing a little of what we want to build for the State: an innovative economy that adds value to our productive economic matrix”.

According to the director of innovation at Unisinos and CEO of Tecnosinos, Susana Kakuta, BRDE Labs is the result of a dream that began with the launch of the public notice. “We had no doubts that this would be a project that we could carry out collaboratively through the Alliance for Innovation. We work on a daily basis fostering the growth of startups, in order to enable Brazil’s insertion in geoeconomics. And that means the emergence of strong and scalable startups, like the ones we saw here ”.

The superintendent of Innovation and Development at PUCRS, Jorge Audy, highlighted that this is a project that counts on the participation of each of the innovation ecosystems that make up the Alliance for Innovation. “It is very important for us in terms of ecosystem action to have this role. This edition of the BRDE project in Rio Grande do Sul was a success. I was impressed with the excellent level of projects presented by the companies, which had a developed degree of maturity and high potential for growth ”, he says.

The director of Ufrgs Zenit Park, Roberta Bussamara, stressed the importance of the initiative, especially in this period of exceptionality that we are experiencing. “BRDE Labs is a program that will have positive impacts on the development of the State and on the resumption of the economy in the post pandemic. We believe that entrepreneurship is an important engine of innovation and a key factor in the search for quick responses to the challenges of our society ”.

ACCELERATION

14 bootcamps were carried out, focusing on communication, management, legislation, leadership, credit lines, marketing, digital technologies, sales, among others. In addition, follow-up meetings and training events focused on the development of entrepreneurs.

During the acceleration process, startups were accompanied by the accelerator and by professionals appointed by BRDE Labs, Ventiur and Aliança para Inovação. This network of mentors added knowledge, market experience and opened doors for startups through their connections. Specific activities were also conducted to support startups in aligning their solutions with the needs of the market for the post-crisis period.

THE WINNING STARTUPS

Palma Sistemas

Palma uses technology to save lives. The startup has developed a device for hospital management that controls the level of hygiene in risky environments, avoiding contamination, worsening of patients, deaths and financial losses to health systems. The system works from hardware that reads the employee’s badge (doctor or nurse) when entering or leaving a certain environment, releasing an amount of alcohol gel for cleaning. This information is collected, processed and monitored to verify which blocks and employees are actually protected.

DigiFarmz

Develops a platform for intelligent agronomic recommendations in plant health. The tool combines research data, climatological information, cultivar genetics, sowing dates, location and other parameters, to present intelligent recommendations. The beneficiaries are producers, agronomists and consultants who carry out the phytosanitary management of soybean diseases and who now have new parameters for better decision making.

Elysios

Its platform “Caderno de Campo Digital” is a system that gathers all data from the rural property and provides a tool for management and analysis. It can be used by the farmer to manage his property and cultivation, both open and protected, or for a cooperative to integrate its producers and assist them in a more digital and optimized way.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE FOR INNOVATION

The Alliance for Innovation is an articulation between UFRGS, PUCRS and Unisinos, which aims to enhance high impact actions in favor of advancing the innovation and development ecosystem. It is a joint work of the three universities that, in the vision of the future, have the construction of a more welcoming ecosystem, better to undertake and live. In addition to offering innovative opportunities to train and attract talent, the movement to change the region intends to engage society, in addition to other institutions, public authorities, companies and associations.