The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro is advancing its strategy to develop and strengthen a local technology ecosystem. The local administration reported the latest milestones of that strategy, including $200 million worth of deals being signed during innovation event Web Summit, which took place in Rio this week.
"We turned Web Summit into a major business generation platform for the city. For the first time, we've seen investors, venture capital funds, entrepreneurs, and the academia all interacting in the same space, with a view of closing these commercial deals," Vermeulen added.The authorities also noted other initiatives focused on boosting the local tech ecosystem are underway, in areas such as skills development for the digital economy.
However, developing a strategy to connect with key strategic partners and suppliers is crucial for entrepreneurs, Bueno noted."The grandeur of an event alone does not guarantee success for a founder", the founder pointed out. "I do all my events in São Paulo because there are no large companies wanting to sponsor smaller and niche events like mine, or enough people wanting to pay to attend", said Fernando Paiva, a journalist and chief executive at Mobile Time. The company's corporate events typically attract an average of 250 delegates to discuss topics such as bots and trends in the mobile space.
In addition, the city sought to integrate Startup20, a startup engagement group with the world's largest economies, to Web Summit. The meeting happened within Riocentro, the convention center where the main conference took place, convening 420 participants, with delegations from 22 countries and the European Union.