The Junior Enterprise Movement, founded in 1967 in France, arrived in Brazil in 1988, with the junior enterprise (EJ) of Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Two years later, the Movement reached Unicamp with the founding, in May 1990, of Júnior Estudos Eletro-Eletrônicos - currently called 3E Unicamp - formed by students from the Electrical Engineering course. In July of the same year, Gepea was born, opened by Food Engineering students. Both were formed by the students' interest in putting into practice what they were learning in the classroom and complementing their professional training.
The anniversary of the first junior companies at Unicamp marks three decades of results that, according to the students, prove the Movement's mission: to train, through business experience, committed leaders capable of transforming Brazil. Daniel Galembeck, vice-president of 3E Unicamp, reports that 30 years of history means that hundreds of students have been given the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills. "The experience allowed students to connect with other EJs and also work in areas that are often not covered during graduation, but inherent to large companies, such as marketing, sales, etc.," says Galembeck.
In the last 5 years, the two EJs have generated revenues of more than 1,4 million reais, through 190 projects and services provided to entrepreneurs, small, medium and large companies. As the junior company is a non-profit student entity, the significant revenue from Gepea and 3E is completely invested in the company's structure and invested in the experience of its members by paying for training courses, training and events that enrich entrepreneurial training.
The EJs are part of one of the pillars of the public university, which is extension, responsible for providing useful services to society and have seen exponential growth in recent years. Currently, there are 20 companies formed in more than 30 undergraduate courses. In the first half of 2020, they together earned more than 700 thousand reais. This reflects the direct impact that this segment of the university has on the region's economic growth and technological innovation.
Experiences - A clear example of the EJs' contribution was the experience with a group of entrepreneurs who intended to open a churro shop. They looked to Gepea to develop innovative products that differ from those on the market in terms of their presentation and flavors. Both the initial service, as well as three others contracted by the entrepreneurs, meant that the small store expanded into a company with 45 service points spread across five states in Brazil, more than 300 active employees and an average annual sales of 1,4 million churros.
Another example that shows that a junior company can also be a vector of technological development and research was 3E's experience in the VEGA project - a solar-hydrogen matrix electric vehicle. The junior company, together with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics (IFGW), developed the car project that was one of the first models and enabled the expansion of the study on sustainable energy in the automobile industry.
According to Mayra Melo, market leader at Gepea, the relationship between junior companies and Unicamp faculty is essential to this synergy. "We always have the possibility of using the college's laboratories to carry out the necessary tests for our projects, in addition to all the monitoring and assistance from professors, essential for the advancement of the innovation that we promote here”, she concludes.
