A Uruguayan company whose service is among the top five business process management software in the world, according to the algorithm for rating platforms, Crozdesk, stood out in the first delegation of Uruguayan startups that went to Cubo Network.
Flokzu was selected among several applicants who wanted to make the trip to the entrepreneurial center and her team spent a week in São Paulo, where they connected with more startups and held talks with possible investment funds to disembark and expand in Brazilian territory.
“It is difficult to explain what we live in Cubo Network”, said the director of Revenue of the startup, Micaela Suárez. The representative elaborated on the experience they had together with the rest of the Uruguayan companies, emphasizing the size and possibilities offered by the neighboring country’s market and, especially, the Cubo entrepreneurial center. “It has a building totally dedicated to this community of startups; and for each of the floors there are startups from different verticals,” she described.
According to the director of the startup in an interview with Coffee & BusinessSince their arrival at the place, the Cubo community received the Uruguayan delegation very well and together they carried out different activities. First of all, they attended a presentation of several Cubo startups in which they described their business and – those that are not of Brazilian origin – told how their experience had been reaching the country’s market. Later, the Uruguayan firms presented their business. And, thirdly, they participated in conversations with investment funds.
Flokzu stood out in these activities and was selected as one of the best startups that participated in the event.
Suárez said that this allowed them to access other types of instances. On the one hand, they contacted them to begin the process that would allow them to be a Cubo company. On the other hand, they had several meetings with potential strategic partners and investors.
Startup cube stamp
Flokzu was selected to be a Cubo seal startup and is already undergoing the corresponding process to obtain the brand of the Brazilian entrepreneurial center.
Asked about the relevance it has for the startup, Suárez said that it is very good to consolidate its expansion in the Brazilian market because Cubo Network is the best within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. “A Cubo stamp startup guarantees quality,” said Flokzu’s director of revenues.
To be able to exemplify with the local market, Suárez explained that the prestige it grants is similar to that obtained by those emerging companies that access funds from the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII). However, he stressed that the Brazilian center is not an incubator –as the ANII is–, but rather a large business unit that is in charge of generating an entrepreneurial community, in which those in charge –belonging to the international company Itaú– are constantly connecting startups among themselves, also with strategic partners and in some cases with investment funds.
New strategic partners
Flokzu also closed two companies with the aim of growing its Brazil business. On the one hand, with the company specializing in intranets – an internal information network that facilitates communication through a single transversal channel – Workhub Digital. On the other hand, CargoSnap: a tool that visually records a company’s supply chain with scans of documents, forms and reports.
“We realized that there are many companies with which we can be strategic partners,” Suárez said. In addition, they validated that this type of instances with potential strategic partners are what the startup needs to be able to expand in the most complex markets. For example, in the Brazilian market, where they understand that they must be accompanied by local partners: “Having contacts like the ones we made in Cubo Network opened the field for us,” he said.
In the process of internationalization
Flokzu is very focused on following its internationalization plan that currently allowed it to reach several countries (65) and stand out for its operations in Latin America. This except for the Brazilian market –with a lot of potential–, which was difficult for them to access. “We set ourselves a clear objective of making alliances with some strategic partners in Brazil and hand in hand with them to be able to grow there. That the partner knows the culture and the local environment, and we the product”, Suárez stressed. And this is what they achieved with their participation in Cubo Network.
In addition to the neighboring country, the Uruguayan startup is committed to expanding throughout the world because they want to be the best in their category and for that they must be present in all markets. “We want to be the best business process management software and for that we must be all over the world. We want to have greater penetration,” said the startup’s Director of Revenue.
Finally, Suárez said that from the experience in Cubo Network, the entrepreneurs validated the need for something similar to exist in the country. “We realized that it would be very good for local companies as well as for companies that come to settle to be able to have this type of ecosystem,” he concluded.
