Inspiring Innovators: Chicko Sousa
Founder of GreenPlat, On No Time for Waste
At SAP.iO, we work with innovative people and new technologies that positively impact our world every day, and we think it’s time to share their stories with you! In our series, “Inspiring Innovators,” we get to hear how leaders of cutting-edge startup technologies overcame, thrived, and pursued their goals. SAP.iO’s Alexa Gorman sat down to discuss the road to success and lessons learned with some of our most inspiring startup founders.
Meet Chicko Sousa
It has been said that Chico Sousa is a Mechanical Engineer by choice, but a specialist in the acceleration of clean production by nature aptly sums up his journey to entrepreneurship. Starting as a mechanical engineer working for Volvo, Chicko was assigned to projects that produced scrap materials needing to be recycled or reimagined. He left Volvo after successfully managing those projects to start a company that built recycling plants in Brazil, creating 13 new plants over 11 years before selling his company in 2013. He then came to Sao Paulo to help the municipality with public projects, generating environmental improvements in the fight against CO2 emissions and plastic use.
From there, Chicko created a YouTube series where he did interviews inside garbage trucks, much like Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, to raise recycling awareness. The wild success of this web series helped increase the municipality’s recycling rates significantly but created new issues. They started to see problems with permits as they began selling the recycled materials. At this time, Chicko realized a need to control and manage information to produce the proper flow of materials for licensed recycling and founded the company GreenPlat in 2016.
Working with recycling technologies for over 20 years and with software for almost ten years, Chicko created GreenPlat, a clean production SaaS, which today has more than 690,000 companies registered on the platform. Since 2018, GreenPlat has been a part of the World Economic Forum in the Pioneering Technology category, as they were the first company to use blockchain technology for waste traceability. So far, 1 million tons of waste have been managed through their software; all disposed of correctly without polluting the environment. This means a cleaner and healthier environment for all and for businesses, increased visibility into recycling, compliance, and traceability.
Let’s Chat
What need did you see in the market that you wanted to address?
Chicko was inspired to create GreenPlat because he knew even though waste production is an inevitable part of business, if we as a global community continue to make so much waste as we advance, it will be disastrous to our future. Waste will happen, but there is opportunity to turn it into something that can be reused or repurposed to make a real impact. Chicko wanted to help shift focus to accelerate sustainable production and ensure material collection and disposal uses innovative technology to give new life to waste.
“We could see a need to increase the product’s shelf life and decrease the impact on the environment.”
During COVID, Chicko noticed a renewed focus from companies to follow environmental agendas, not only to comply with regulations but begin to take action towards improvements. GreenPlat grew eight times during this time, and they continue to see growth as governments create new environmental regulations to reuse materials globally.
“I think this is a worldwide situation where people are done talking and ready to act. We can see this movement, and it is encouraging. We are ready for action; there is no time for waste.”
How do customers use your technology?
To look at how customers use the GreenPlat technology, we can look at their customer McDonald’s as an example. Every McDonald’s restaurant in Brazil uses GreenPlat’s software, where each facility is assigned a code, and they submit a request for waste collection using the new mobile app. Now everything they are generating inside the restaurant will be recycled, including food waste like the vegetable oil used to fry the potatoes, which is sent to produce biofuel. This process creates a Zero landfill restaurant.
“They are using our technology, complying with the permits, licenses, and regulations in 26 different States, and because they use the technology, they only need two people to control every store in the entire nation.”
What advice do you have for a person thinking about launching a business?
Chicko shared that every startup will run into challenges as that is the nature of entrepreneurship. He has obtained the title at GreenPlat of Founder and Rebel Leader. What his team means by that is that a rebel tends to shine a light on a problem or challenge and looks to make it right. His advice is not to shy away from a challenge, but bring it forward into the light, and identify the problem to find a solution.
“When you identify a challenge, bring it to the light, don’t be scared, and do not procrastinate. It would help if you started by breaking down a big challenge into several small ones. This makes the problem more manageable. I think our life is made for challenges. This challenge can teach us how we’re going to learn and take action.”
He also advises against being too arrogant. You must understand your limits. A product is never 100% perfect, you can use data to improve and rebuild, if necessary, recreate. Be resilient but understand your limitations.
What guidance would you give a startup starting a new SAP.iO Foundry program?
Chicko urges new startups kicking off a program with SAP.iO to make sure to make all the scheduled meetings and trainings and then make a plan of action. After you have made your pitch, it is time to plan for action and embrace the opportunities that SAP can bring to you with clients and the SAP ecosystem.
“The problem with startups worldwide is that 80% only have three years of life. With this partnership, you get the opportunity to benefit from a huge ecosystem. Take advantage of all the tools and move forward, it is time to take action!”
What we learned
We learned that Chicko Sousa may have started as a Mechanical Engineer, but through many steps along his path, he turned into a specialist in clean production. It was clear to Chicko that the topic of waste management needed to be addressed. Using his strategy of breaking big challenges into smaller ones, he created a company to accelerate cleaner production and helped create zero landfill businesses. For Chicko, there is no time to waste; the time to act is now. There is no need for waste any longer with the technology that GreenPlat provides. As a “rebel leader,” he wanted to shine a light where there was no clarity, creating transparency and compliance. Chicko’s search for something that would make a difference produced a tangible impact on his community, and now we can share that innovation globally. We are inspired by his journey, hard work, and continued effort to preserve the plant for generations to come.
GreenPlat is a graduate of Foundry Munich, Foundry Berlin’s Sustainable Future Program in 2021. Their solution aligns with the SAP environmental and Circular Economy goals, benefiting clients in Supply Management, Energy & Natural Resources, Service Industries, and Public Services area.
If you are a startup looking to change the world for the better, like GreenPlat, check out our upcoming programs here.
