0
Google is looking to promote integration of technology startups across Brazil and Latin America via a series of initiatives at its Campus venue in São Paulo.
Started this Monday (16) and ending today, the Campus Exchange program is one of the new strategies introduced by the web giant to widen its footprint in the local and regional technology startup ecosystem.
Campus São Paulo is the only Google venue dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in Latin America, so the immersion week sought to facilitate knowledge exchange, networking and business opportunities between the Brazilian startups it already accelerates as well as ventures from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.
The startups secured a place in the trip to Brazil as a result of a competition ran by Google earlier this year that was specific to the fintech segment.
“Enabling these connections seems fitting given that the Brazilian financial services industry is one of the most advanced in the world and certainly the leader in the region,” says Campus São Paulo director André Barrence.
“We had no ambition of creating products or developing any technology while the founders are here, rather we hope they can translate these great insights obtained and shared here into their go-to-market approaches,” Barrence adds.
According to the Google executive, the event made sense given that many challenges seen in financial services are common in most Latin countries, such as large amounts of unbanked population and difficulty for small and medium sized companies (SMEs) to secure credit.
“Brazilian startups are also extremely innovative considering the regulatory challenges they have to deal with. We have a very complicated legal and tax framework here but at the same time, many great ideas are happening in the grey areas that exist within the existing regulations,” Barrence points out.