Brazil’s Oi Telco to incubate starts-ups in Rio
In partnership with companies and research centers, Oi has launched Oito, a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation, in Rio de Janeiro. The purpose of the initiative is to create a space of reference for the generation of new businesses, development of technological and digital solutions, acceleration of startups and support to social businesses.
Oito will act on three fronts: the Incubation program for early-stage startups; The selection of more mature startups for acceleration, with access to the coworking area and Oito’s partners; And IoT Lab, a laboratory for development and testing of Internet of Things solutions in partnership with Nokia.
The project selection edict for the Oito Startups Incubation Program to contribute up to R$150,000 for each selected project. Applications must be made through the website www.oito.net.br until October 15.
Partnerships
The strategic partnerships include Nokia, IBM, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, CPqD, National Institute of Telecommunications (Inatel), Senai, Montaury Pimenta office, Machado & Vieira Mello, Oi Futuro, Yunus Social Business Brazil, and Gênesis Institute of PUC-Rio , Which will carry out the technical coordination of Oito Incubation Program.
“We want to invest in new companies with a connection to our business and to help Oi and partners develop more innovative services that meet new customer demands and generate cost savings and increased productivity, seeking to be more competitive for the company,” says Carlos Brandão, Administrative and Financial Director of Oi.
The solutions and products developed in Oito will be supported by Oi’s Innovation area to be tested and potentially adopted by the company. The selection of startups will prioritize projects in the areas of Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Health Services, Educational Services, Digital Advertising, and Efficiency and Productivity Solutions.
Incubation for startups
The Oito Incubation Program will be funded by Oi and developed in partnership with the Gênesis Institute, PUC-Rio Entrepreneurship Institute, which will coordinate the project with the consulting firm of Rio de Janeiro entrepreneur Rafael Duton, partner and founder of the 21212 accelerator. The model will be innovative: in addition to mentoring and workspace, startups will have support in the management, legal, financial and communication areas to structure the growth of their businesses.
The selection process will include a 30-day pre-incubation period with 18 startups selected by a bank made up of Oi executives and partners. The six that perform best will be selected to begin the incubation process, which will last 12 months.
Acceleration and Coworking
In addition to the projects selected through the Incubation Program, Oito will also have space for resident companies, which will share the coworking space with the incubated ones. They will be more mature startups, which will benefit from the exchange of experiences provided by Oito and will rent the work positions for subsidized values, below the market average. They will also be selected from proposals sent by the site www.oito.net.br.
Oito’s coworking area will house a floor with 78 work positions: 68 for incubated businesses, residents and businesses, and a further ten guest seats that can be rotated. The goal is to create a stimulating business environment with the infrastructure needed for startups.
IoT Lab and social entrepreneurship
Oito will also invest in technological acceleration, through the test laboratory and Internet of Things solutions, created by Oi in partnership with Nokia. All this structure, located in Leme, Rio de Janeiro, can be used by developers of the selected companies besides being also open to the market.
Within Oito there will be a space for Oi Futuro, Oi’s social responsibility institute, Labora, a social innovation laboratory, and Labsônica, a sound experimentation laboratory. New social business projects accelerated by Labora, through a partnership with Yunus Negócios Sociais Brasil, will have up to ten work positions in Oito guaranteeing interaction with incubated startups.
Source: Tele.Síntese
Billy D. Aldea-Martinez, heads up Latin America and Brazil for Piano, the world’s leader SaaS Platform that allows media companies to launch Direct Monetization models, such as metering and paywall solutions for digital content and user data analysis.
Billy is also a Digital Monetization Strategy consultant and exclusively works with Latin America’s largest media groups, such as Editora Abril (Brazil), Grupo Globo (Brazil) as well as Grupo Copesa (Chile).
He also serves as Board Advisor & Angel Investor for adtech & martech startups such as Start-up Chile, Start-up Peru, Parallel18 (PR) Admetricks and Starter Daily.
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