Picture: Pitch’s presentation of NanoTropic in 2016.
The Investments Fair is the final event of Academic Working Capital – simultaneously, it is the initial step for groups to finally enter the market. The students present their projects in booths, and the five groups that stood out during the year, pitch a bank of invited experts. For Fusion and NanoTropic, startups and AWC 2016 participants, this is a learning experience.
Leandro Rodrigues and Pedro Morais, from Fusion, says they had prepared a formal three-minute presentation for the visitors coming to their booths – but the pair from Divinópolis-MG were surprised at the event. “It was like a chat, people raised their hands to ask questions. It was much better than if we had spoken for three minutes without any feedback,” recalls Pedro. “This shows that people were interested, it was not something robotized. We felt much more prepared and excited,” adds Leandro.
The maturity that the group got with the Fair was what Gustavo Suckow, from NanoTropic (Curitiba-PR), considers one of the more important lessons learned. “It was the first time we had this type of interaction and it was very good,” he says. “We saw that it was what we wanted to do.” With the feedback received, Gustavo and his colleagues Leonardo Kalinowski and Yuri Matos realized what they would have to improve on the project to attract more investments.
Both startups were chosen to present a pitch at the event. Gustavo comments that this opportunity greatly contributed in order to NanoTropic improve its pitch. “We are way more professional,” he affirms. When Leandro and Pedro found out that they were one of the groups selected during Workshop III, they went back to the hotel and rehearsed the presentation for over 2 hours. “There were people in the acceleration program we participate [FIEMG Lab] who never had this experience in practice. Everything we learned there is priceless,” says Leandro.
For 2017 groups, Leandro and Pedro recommend taking advantage of the Fair to make as many contacts as possible. “Sometimes we were ashamed to call some people to talk, but we do not need to be afraid. We have to call them and ask for feedback,” advises Pedro. Making the pitch in a clear way, punctuating well the problem to be solved and the solution proposed, is the tip from Gustavo for the groups that are selected to present themselves. “The market numbers and other details are important, but it has to show that the solution is good, innovative and that the market will buy it.”
This year, the Investment Fair will take place on December 13th, starting at 10 a.m., at the Parque Tecnológico do Estado de São Paulo (Technology Park of the State of São Paulo) (São Paulo-SP).
