Founded in 1986 as a result of the ambition of a group of technology entrepreneurs, in Greater Florianópolis, Acate (Santa Catarina Technology Association) was born to support the sector and the emergence of new businesses. At the root of the problem they wanted to solve was the fact that people went to study in the capital of Santa Catarina, but then ended up leaving the city because they had nowhere to work. The founders wanted to create opportunities to house this skilled workforce. Thus, the first technological incubator emerged, Celta, which began to foster the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Today, the association is the main entrepreneurship and innovation association in Santa Catarina and its mission is to support startups and large companies to strengthen the technology sector in the State. According to Iomani Engelmann, president of Acate, the ecosystem currently represents 6.5% of Santa Catarina’s GDP, with companies that earn over R$25 million per year.
In total, there are 1,500 companies associated with Acate, some of which work at the hub headquarters, opened in 2015 on the SC-401 highway – known as the “Innovation Route”. In addition to the main headquarters, the entity also has smaller rooms in the “CIA Downtown”, in the center of Florianópolis, and in the “CIA Sapiens”, located in the “Sapiens Parque” technology park, in the north of the Island. There are also offices in São Paulo and Boston, in the USA, aimed at companies from Santa Catarina that need support and structure.
Its incubator “Miditec”, created in 1998, has leveraged hundreds of companies and has already been recognized three times as the best in the world by the UBI Global World Rankings. The president of Acate also highlights the development of “Linklab”, an open innovation laboratory that seeks to solve technological challenges for traditional companies alongside startups.
Another Acate initiative is the “business verticals”, segmented monthly meetings to discuss market strategies within the Agtech, Construtech, Education, Energy, Fintech, Manufacturing 4.0, Peopletech, Health, Security Tech, Smart Cities and Retail sectors. “The idea is to further strengthen the ecosystem and minimize the chances of error, as it is a collective learning process among entrepreneurs,” he said.
The association seeks to work very closely with the state government. “This was strengthened with the unprecedented creation of ‘innovation secretariats’, which have greatly facilitated dialogue and the opening of public policies for the sector, enabling two main themes: encouraging labor actions and access to credit” , said Engelmann. Together, they created a fund to help startups, with loans of up to R$350,000 (raised equally by the association and the State).
Among the hub’s main advances in recent years, Engelmann cites the expansion of the network of incubators with Sebrae (currently there are 10), the reinforcement of events (especially the annual Startup Summit, in Florianópolis) and the increase in internationalization to encourage entrepreneurs to operate in the foreign market. With this in mind, it has partners in several countries around the world, such as Estonia, China, Germany, Canada, Belgium, the United States, Portugal and Colombia.
“We invest a lot in our partnerships, especially with Sebrae, to start the entrepreneur’s journey, and we are also looking to strengthen the middle of it, aimed at those businesses that earn over R$20 million”, he highlighted. One of the challenges for the future, he says, is to increase the attraction of investments with local funds, as there is currently a shortage compared to other Brazilian regions, such as São Paulo.
Main companies
Among the startups highlighted in the acceleration, incubation and approximation programs are Prevision, Aquarela, Ritmo do Esporte, Equilibrium (now incorporated into Grupo Boticário), Nina Tecnologia and Deepen. The most active Corporates in the ecosystem are Engie, Celesc, Whirlpool, Porto de Itapoá, Arcelor Mittal and WEG.
What is it: innovation hub
Foundation: April 1986
Address: Rodovia SC 401, 4100 – Km4 – Saco Grande, Florianópolis (SC)
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Number of companies: More than 1,500 members
More information on the website.
What is it: innovation hub
Foundation: April 1986
Address: Rodovia SC 401, 4100 – Km4 – Saco Grande, Florianópolis (SC)
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm
Number of companies: More than 1500 members
More information on the website.
Tags: Discover Acate innovation hub encouraged technology sector Santa Catarina years Startups
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