The scale-up that monitors the consumption of electricity was awarded £ 70 thousand in services to expand in Brazil
The English scale-up Voltaware, that monitors and is able to identify all details of appliances that use electricity in companies and residences, was the winner of the first Brazil Tech Award.
The Brazil Tech Award, organised by LatamTECH.UK, is the only competition for innovation that encourages foreign scale-ups to enter the Brazilian market. 138 scale-ups from 29 countries signed up for the event, in the sectors of smart cities, healthtech, fintech, entertainment, agtech, manufacturing and madtech. During the first phase, they were evaluated by an international panel of judges, who selected 5 scale-ups for the final phase - 2 from England, 1 from Russia and 2 from Portugal.
The winner, Gonçalo Morales, CTO of Voltaware, celebrates his victory "The biggest advantage of this award is local knowledge, more than the value in serviços. The judges's approval also shows that we are on the right track and that we have a good business," said Gonçalo Moraes, CTO of Voltaware. He was awarded a stylised trophy of the iconic ponte estaiada (Octavio Frias de Oliveira bridge), featuring art by street artist Binho Ribeiro. "Being part of this process was valuable in many ways, such as networking, information about the local market and learning more about the Brazilian startup scene. We have already begun planning for our expansion in Brazil," Moraes added.
"We have taken a huge step in connecting international innovation with the Braziliam ecosystem and we hope to do even more," commented Gustavo Sanchez-Reulet, cofounder of LatamTech.UK.
Voltaware will receive the £ 70 thousand award in services to prepare for and work in the Brazilian market, with the consultations and mentorship from a pool of companies with the know-how in internationalisation of companies, of which Deloitte, Eydos Digital, Sterna, New Option, Send Pulse, DevGrid, BNZ Innovation and GrupoCASA Brasil are a part of. The winner will also have an office space in the Perdizes unit of WeWork in São Paulo for 1 year.
The cofounders of LatamTech.UK and creators of Brazil Tech Award, Sandra Sinicco (to the left), Gustavo Sanchez-Reulet (right) and Paulo Skaf (centre), president of FIESP, award the winner Voltaware.
Along with Voltaware, the English scale-up Illumr, the Portuguese Infraspeak and Promptly Health and the Russian Talkbank.io also ran for the Brazil Tech Award 2019.