Fapesp program turns 20 years old and has data analyzed by researchers from DPCT-Unicamp
Innovation as the generation of new products, processes and services, for the benefit of society. This is one of the main results generated by the Innovative Research in Small Businesses (PIPE) of the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp) - which completed 20 years of existence -, as pointed out by professor Sérgio Salles-Filho, from the Department of Scientific and Technological Policy (DPCT) at Unicamp, coordinator of a study that analyzes the impacts of PIPE. Over these years, the Program supported 1.788 projects, with an investment of more than R$360 million.
Initially, the study evaluated 214 projects developed between 1997 and 2006. From 2017 onwards, a new study on the program will be conducted, based on data collected directly from companies benefiting from PIPE. This new evaluation stage will take into account projects supported between 2008 and 2016.
In the interview below, Salles-Filho highlights PIPE's main contributions to small companies seeking to bring technological innovations to the market and what perspectives can be expected for the future of the program.
Inova Unicamp – What are the impacts generated by the PIPE Program in these 20 years?
Sérgio Salles-Filho – The main impact of a program like this is to develop new knowledge, through research, which will be transformed into goods and services that society can enjoy. In the evaluation we carried out some time ago and which we are carrying out a second round, this was measured. The impact was very positive. Several of the companies analyzed – around 250 at the time – had products and services on the market, exported and put technology at the service of society, generating jobs and revenue, bringing local development and bringing research closer to the university. society. It's a worthwhile investment. The impact is positive from an economic and social point of view. We understand and measure that it is money well spent, as the return to society is positive.
Inova Unicamp – What is the main area benefited by the program?
Sérgio Salles-Filho – There is a great diversity of sectors and areas of knowledge in PIPE, such as biotechnology, optoelectronics and aeronautics. The ICT sector is one of the most important because in this area it is possible to develop projects closer to the market. Technologies from other areas, in general, take longer to reach the market.
Inova Unicamp – In comparison with similar programs abroad, how can we evaluate the program’s performance?
Sérgio Salles-Filho – The North American SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program, from which PIPE was inspired, has very similar numbers. SBIR is a much larger program. There are more than 3 billion dollars in investments and the PIPE has perhaps proven to be as efficient as the American one, under several indicators. The indicators that appear different are precisely those topics in which Brazil still needs to evolve, such as venture capital and technology licensing, for example. The supply of venture capital is much larger and more dynamic there than here. In addition to having more investments in programs like PIPE, we need to have a structure to accommodate what, in the literature, is called the valley of death and ensure that, after the technology is developed, it actually becomes a product or service or a process. PIPE, in Brazil, also ends up helping to create this environment, because technologies are developed through these projects that are interesting from a market point of view, attracting investors interested in the business. However, other instruments are needed to complement what PIPE does. Phase 3, together with Finep, is an attempt in this direction.
Inova Unicamp – According to previous studies, 60% of the projects evaluated generated some innovation. Why is this data positive? And what is the concept of innovation in these cases?
Sérgio Salles-Filho – This is positive because if you compare it with other programs aimed at investing in technology-based companies, the rates are much lower. The 60%, in fact, is a high number and is a sign that the initial selection of proposals was well done. Now it is necessary to understand that a small part of this percentage is the one who really achieves an extraordinary result and ends up boosting the indicators of the entire program. This same phenomenon happens in other programs. Around 10% of companies are those that really take off with the help of PIPE.
Innovation is considered to be products, services or processes that reach the market or are used by society. In the case of PIPE companies, the ultimate objective is to place products or processes on the market. However, PIPE does not focus on the commercialization of products, but rather on research that precedes the development of new technologies.
Inova Unicamp – Can we say that, in a certain way, PIPE helps transform researchers into entrepreneurs?
Sérgio Salles-Filho – I believe so, it helps, although there are no requirements in this regard, especially because in some cases the researcher is not the entrepreneur who is in the company. It is necessary to support researchers who already have a viable or innovative idea and who have a propensity, tendency or interest in entrepreneurship. PIPE fulfills this function. It takes the researcher out of the exclusive research environment and makes him do research in an environment that looks at the market, at society, stimulating entrepreneurship and going beyond other types of aid from Fapesp. In the case of PIPE, it is the research in the company that matters, stimulating the growth of small companies through innovation.
Inova Unicamp – Therefore, does PIPE influence the creation of a more robust regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem?
Sérgio Salles-Filho – Without a doubt, since the program is the main financing instrument for technological development in small companies. In fact, it is complementary to Finep’s PAPPE. Phases 1 and 2 of PIPE, which focuses more on research, business models, etc. Phase 3 already has this market vision, which is done together with Finep, in the PAPPE program. Although we did not measure this exactly, it is clear that the projects that were most successful are those in which there was cooperation with research centers.
Inova Unicamp – Could the financial crisis affect the PIPE in any way? Can we expect any losses?
Sérgio Salles-Filho – I believe that not in an important way, especially because the reductions in revenue, which are reflected in Fapesp's budget, have been managed by the Foundation. Fapesp is financed by 1% of ICMS. What happens is that, when economic activity falls, the ICMS falls and this 1% that was X becomes X minus something. Fapesp is a very well managed institution and it has reserves. With the financial crisis, it was affected, of course, because its budget decreased due to the movement of economic activity. But, of those that I know in Brazil, it is one of the least affected. There is a chain effect, with the reduction of investments in companies, which I believe is much more serious than a possible constriction of resources for the PIPE.
The crisis causes a transversal problem because economic agents withdraw their investments and this has a bad effect on the economy. I believe PIPE will not be affected. I even think it is a way of supporting innovative investments at a time when other sources are reducing to a minimum. Anyone who really wants to undertake and has good ideas, with a good project, will be financed. PIPE has precisely the function of stimulating new innovative investments, which in times of crisis are those that have the greatest chance of helping to overcome the crisis.
