The 2015 edition of the Academic Working Capital program ended with the AWC Investment Fair, held on December 17 at the Technological Park of the state of São Paulo. After three days of preparation at Workshop III, the groups had the opportunity to present their projects to investors and guests. The President of the Instituto TIM, Manoel Horacio, visited the stands of all groups and opened the event.
“I was extremely excited to see the presentation of their ideas,” he said. “There are new people, creating new things and believing in the future, and that’s what Brazil needs.” Sérgio Costa, Director of Business Development and Institutional Relations of Invest SP, continued the opening of the Fair. He spoke to the guests about the support of Invest SP to AWC and the importance of entrepreneurship. “You have to practice entrepreneurship in all areas of your life, be innovative, seek solutions, deal with uncertainty,” he said.
The Chief Strategy Officer of TIM Brasil, Luis Minoru, also attended the fair. “Innovation is manifested in various ways; we are seeing one of them here. To be present in the ecosystem of innovation and contribute for it to happen in Brazil are some of our main goals”, he said in an interview.
Check the coverage of the first, second and third day of Workshop III.
The first speaker of the day, Renato Freitas, talked about his career as co-founder of startups Ebah and 99Taxis. Renato explained the nine major lessons he had as an entrepreneur, such as how to find the ideal partners and employees, understand customer needs and think about the purpose of the business. “Usually we begin a startup with a very specific idea. But will it be here ten years from now?”, he asked.
Álvaro Novaes, founder and CEO of Futurojá Angels Asset Management, conducted the second lecture, late in the afternoon. Through images, videos and examples of true stories, Álvaro emphasized that entrepreneurs should have a purpose, passion for what they do and see beyond what others see. “You will succeed as entrepreneurs as you use the technology at the service of the human race,” he said.
Watch the full lecture by Renato Freitas (in Portuguese).
In addition to presenting their projects in the stands at Open Fair, held in the afternoon, the participating groups of AWC prepared five-minute pitches to explain the creation of their products and the business plan developed. The presentations were divided into two moments for different evaluation boards, composed of entrepreneurs, investors and experts in the area. After the pitches, the board members made comments, questions and suggestions to students.
The evaluators were Marco Poli, investor at Anjos do Brasil; Fernando Salatori and Alessandro Andrade, founders of startup Lean Survey; Rogério Nogueira, CEO of Weka and partner of startups Colaboradores and Captr; Felipe Gasko, national coordinator of the Promessas Endeavor program; Ana Lúcia Fontes, founder of Rede Mulher Empreendedora; André Mainart, director of Innovation and Incubation of Business at Stefanini; André Ghion, co-founder of accelerator Move2; Raul Javales, founding partner of consulting firm KeenLab; Leandro Queiroz, consultant at Sebrae Business School; and Marcos Simões, founder of startup BigoClub.
The coordinators of the program, Marcos Barretto and Diogo Dutra, closed the event.
