The last few weeks are being raced to the 2017 Academic Working Capital groups, but it happens for good reason: they are working hard to present their projects in the best possible way at the Investments Fair. This year, the event that marks the closing of the edition will be held on December 13th, starting at 10 a.m., at the Technological Park of the State of São Paulo (São Paulo-SP). The groups will have the opportunity to present their solutions in individual booths for investors and other players in the market, and the five groups that stood out this year will pitch to a panel of invited experts.
André Perez and Luíza Zuvanov are collecting feedback on the BeThink platform to improve the solution until the day of the Fair. André studies Electrical Engineering at the University of São Paulo (USP) and Luíza studies Biological Sciences at the University of Brasília (UnB). They have created an electronic lab and mobile lab protocol to help and improve the productivity of scientists and researchers. Ten laboratories of the Biomolecular Sciences Institute of USP and three laboratories of the Biological Sciences Institute of UnB are testing the product.
One of the difficulties of the pair is to show the benefits of this solution to those people outside the academic environment. At the Fair, André and Luíza intend to provide a smartphone or a computer in order to enable visitors to navigate the platform and learn about its features. They are also building a more eye-catching visual identity and studying the best approach to pitch if they are selected. The expectation is to draw the attention of at least one investor. “When we talk about investor, we are not necessarily talking about money,” explains André. “Is someone who can help with inputs, guidelines, who embrace the project.”
In turn, the Colloc group knows the pitch by heart, but is thinking about the best way to present the solution at their stand. The team formed by students of Civil Engineering, Vitor Leineker and Guilherme Pereira, and Computer Science, Naian Barros and Guilherme Lopes, from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), has already made pitches in events linked to entrepreneurship – moreover, the group won the 6th place in Demoday Paraná 2017, promoted by the Department of Urban Development of the State of Paraná.
The Colloc platform allows companies to make available and rent heavy construction equipment. So far, there are about 15 customers and 80 equipment registered for rental on the platform. More than 20 rents have already been made with the solution, and the group receives a commission on each operation. One of the students’ strategies for the Fair is to try to record customer testimonials on video to present at the stand. “We prepared a very good graphic material, we improved our brand,” says Vitor. The group intends to take advantage of the Fair to make contacts that can help expand Colloc’s operation to São Paulo in the future.
