Píer Mauá, in the port region of Rio de Janeiro, hosts from today (8) to 11 of this month the second edition of the Rio Innovation Week (RIW), whose objective is to prepare participants for the future and the impacts of technology in the transformation of business, sports and society. The event brings together businesses, networking (professional network service), education and solutions.
According to one of the creators of the RIW, Fábio Queiróz, the expectation is that great business will be generated and that experiences and knowledge can also be delivered. “This is the biggest technology event in the Americas. My expectation is that the public will attend and that we can plant the seed of digital transformation, no matter what scale it is. If it is digitally transformed, let us improve it, let him have contact with the technology, let him experience it”.
The idea is that the technologies gain scale so that they become cheaper and applicable by the public. Fábio Queiróz stated that if the public is not yet digitally transformed, the goal is to plant in their heads the seed that technology is not as expensive as is thought and that technologies today are made in a simpler way, so that they are also applied. in a simple way. “Getting rid of that fear that this is too complex is not my generation. By experimenting and getting in touch with technology, this myth or paradigm is broken”.
Expansion
The first edition would take place in November last year but, due to the Ômicron variant, of covid-19, it was held in January of this year at the Jockey Club, due to the cruise season at Píer Mauá. Queiroz made it clear, however, that the RIW was designed to always be at Píer Mauá, in November.
So far, the registered public is 70 thousand people. There are 1,700 speakers on 27 stages. The first edition received 48,000 people and more than 1,500 speakers on 19 stages. “More than a kilometer of event, 27 niches where technology and innovation seek to change society, humanity”. The RIW also has the Kobra Warehouse, which has 16,000 square meters of built area.
Nine hundred pitches (concise verbal presentation of a company) have already been booked by 2,200 startups (emerging companies). Nine hundred of them have already made an appointment with investors to make their presentation and leave with an investment to become a unicorn (the name given to the startups that achieve large market value in dollars). ”This is very important”.
President of the Association of Supermarkets of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Asserj) and vice-president of the Association of Supermarkets of the Americas (Alas), Fábio Queiróz said that in the same pavilion there will be startups, investors and mentors. If by chance, a startup looking for an investor and he points out that the company lacks conditions to obtain the necessary investments, it can turn to a mentor who will guide it to fulfill the requirements to return to the investor.
Business
In the first edition, R$ 300 million in business were generated. This Monday, the prospect is to reach R$ 1 billion. “Because the event is much bigger”, Queiróz commented. “Not only is it bigger, but more mature. And the number of startups“. In January, there were 1,500 applications. Now there are 2,200 in all areas. “There are 27 niches: agriculture, tourism, culture, health, games, retail, society 5.0, education, sustainability, music. of making music and consuming music.” In each of these niches, there are startups that are on their way to becoming a big company or unicorn. Among other topics, the legacy that technology can leave for cities will be discussed.
Among the names announced for this edition of the RIW are Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson; from filmmaker Spike Lee; Steve Forbes, president and editor of Forbes publication; publicist Nizan Guanaes; Dan Cockerel, who was vice president of Disney World; Steve Blank, Silicon Valley entrepreneur; Bianca Andrade, businesswoman and digital influencer; and Aaron Ross, author of Predictable Income.
Tickets for the new edition of Rio Innovation Week are being sold at Sympla platform .
