The experience provided unique opportunities for startup representatives.

Swedish-Brazilian Research and Innovation Center – is resuming its agenda of in person actions and between the 13th and 16th of September arrived in Sweden with six Brazilian startups for a mission focused on the topic Artificial Intelligence. Participants were able to visit more than 10 points of interest in the Nordic country, such as universities, innovation hubs and large companies such as Saab, Volvo Cars, Volvo Group and ABB through an initiative in partnership with Saab and CNPq and support from Ignite Sweden, . The participating startups were: Deep Ambiente, Daoura, Pix Force, upLexis, Aquarela Analytics and Panorama.id.

The experience was transformative, especially as it provided unique opportunities for startup representatives. Daniel Moura, one of those selected for the trip and the Pix Force CEO, highlights the fact that he was placed “right at the goal” with extremely relevant players. “In just 5 days, we met with at least 5 gigantic companies, in addition to 3 accelerators and technology parks. Holding such meetings would already be a feat within our country, let alone outside our borders,” he says enthusiastically.

“We understand that Sweden can be the first step in our internationalization process,” indicates the CEO of Aquarela Analytics, Marcos Santos. This statement shows the proportion of warm welcomes found by Brazilian startups on the other side of the world, with the Swedes showing that they are genuinely interested in exchanging knowledge and experiences. “Everyone we met during the trip was very kind and really willing to teach and learn from us,” says Julia Nakayama, also from Aquarela Analytics.

This same opinion is supported by Lucas Rocha, CTO of Panorama.id: “There was a clear Swedish interest in Brazilian intellectual capital.” Also in this sense, Daniel Merege, CEO of Daoura and Marlon Teixeira, CEO of Deep Ambiente, point out that Brazil and Sweden are not so far apart when it comes to technology, with national startups being on an “equal level” with European ones. This also makes us think that it is possible, as Eduardo
Tardelli, CEO of upLexis, says, “to optimize existing government/university/company initiatives” here.

The way the Swedes deal with innovation also caught the attention of Brazilians. Lucas, from Panorama.id, points out that, in Sweden, he saw how “long-term thinking leads to the best way to achieve grandiose goals, both as entrepreneurs and as citizens.” Daniel, from Daoura, indicates that we can “learn a lot from them regarding the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation based on technological development since university. The Swedish model is very much focused on the applicability and resolution of real problems, and therefore it has many successful ventures on a global scale.”

CISB’s work was also indicated as fundamental for the success of the enterprise, not only in managing the entire mission, but also in early preparation, guiding participants on the best way to establish lasting and effective bridges with companies, organizations and Swedish universities.

The Future

And it is these bridges that will ensure the sustainability of the relationships born during the mission. The participants were unanimous in stating that they are sure that there will be deals made in the coming months and years, all born from this personal contact with the Swedes.

Now what should be done, as Julia, from Aquarela comments, is continue the conversations and apply the experience to create even more connections and partnerships. In practical terms, Marlon, from Deep Ambiente, says that they have already been contacted “by Synerleap and MobilityXLab, which Volvo Cars, Volvo Group, Ericsson, among others are part of, with indications of possible POC acceleration and development.”

Alessandra Holmo, Managing Director of CISB, concludes by stating that the days with these startups in Sweden were extremely exciting, as all members of the mission were able to fully take advantage of the opportunity to connect not only with Swedish companies, universities and innovation hubs, but also with each other. “The future does not hold surprises, but success for everyone involved in this project.”