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Jun 4, 2016

Startup Weekend Florianópolis Internet of Things: From ZERO to HERO

The first Startup Weekend Internet of Things in Brazil

Organizing the first Brazil Startup Weekend Internet of Things (IoT). This was our challenge and, since the beginning, what we have always wanted the most was providing an unforgertable experience for its participants.

After a 3-month hard work, we held an event with 90 participants, 11 mentors, 5 judges, 32 ideas introduced, 12 formed teams and 10 sponsors. Do you want to know how our “From ZERO to HERO” was like? Read our story:

The Magic Island

Florianópolis, Santa Catarina | One of technopoles of Brazil

Florianópolis, also known as The Magic Island, is one the most important technopoles of Brazil and because of that it has been chosen to host SW IoT. Currently, the town is home to around 600 software, hardware and technological service companies, which have generated direct employment of around 5 thousand jobs.

Internet of Things in Brazil

According to researches, Internet of Things market in Brazil will make US$ 5 billions and there will have been more than 40 millions devices connected to internet until 2020. This shows that IoT sector is one of the most promissing for new startups. Therefore, the SW Florianópolis IoT was extremely important to discuss about this subject and encourage the participants to create solutions for this market, which is in development.

Organizing Team

Our organizing team was composed of 8 people: Eduardo Antunes, Luís Fernando Franzoi, Alessandra Matsumi, Fernando Andrade, Anderson Rauber, Leandro Machado, Thaynan Mariano e Thales Pinheiro. A small but a vey efficient team. Everything was done with love and dedication. Everyone did his best to make SW Florianpólis IoT a huge success. .

The communication power

Alessandra and Luís were a communication duo and invested a lot in interaction through social networks.

The SW Florianópolis IoT got a customized visual identity for its Facebook fanpage, for Twitter e and the blog. More than 50 photos, videos and reports have been posted. The posts have reached more than 20 thousand people during the week of the event.

The secret? Making a content that made the participants look forward to watching the SW.

During the weekend, the coverage of the event was live with pictures, live streaming and videos. As a result, the fanpage reached 3 thousands likes.

A good communication strategy of the event was also featured on TV, radio, newspapers and news online. Check this out:

Interview for SBT, one of the largest TV stations in Brazil

The “things” made the difference

3D printers, drone, laser printers and telepresence robot in SW IOT

As the subject was Internet of Things, we managed to provide several equipments for interacting with people and also for creating prototypes. There were telepresence robots, drones, 3D printers, Arduino kits, laser printers and many more! The participants simply loved it!

Amazing mentors

Our facilitator Bernard De Luna and more 10 mentors helped to make the event even more incredible. It was an outstanding team with business, design, entrepreneurship, engineering, digital marketing experts, among others. Check what they have said about the experience.

From ZERO to HERO

After 54 hours of hardworking, the 12 teams presented their final pitches and the winners were: 1st: BlueBaby, 2nd: Mellius, 3rd: LeafPlug and the honorable mention to Mandria.

Feedback

After the event, many participants have talked to the organizers by e-mail, Facebook comments and have posted the hashtag #SWFloripaIoT. Everybody have stated that the experience had been awesome! We have heard lots of compliments and got really delighted and fulfilled. We were able to run an event that was remarkable for people’s lives as well as ours. Intense 54 hours that will never be forgotten! So will our video recorded by a drone on Saturday afternoon. Watch it!

“We wanted to make an unforgettable event to be marked in the history of Florianópolis and the SW. We gave our best and we are sure that we write a beautiful chapter in the book called Startup Weekend.”