The final of the Unicamp 2021 Challenge, a business model competition based on technologies from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and organized by its Innovation Agency (Innovates), was held on Friday (02) in a webinar format. The event brought together virtually 242 people to watch the pitches of business models, developed during the competition, which would decide which of the six finalist teams would be the winner of the edition.
The competition lasted three months and the participation of 330 people divided into 82 teams, who received training and delivered eliminatory activities until narrowing down among the finalists who presented at the event, giving shape to the program considered important for entrepreneurial training promoted by the University, as explained by professor Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, Tom Zé, rector of Unicamp. “I would like to highlight in my speech the importance of this program promoted by Inova Unicamp, which contributes to the training of people with an entrepreneurial spirit. There were three months of training such as Lean Canvas, which qualified participants on how to develop an appropriate business model for the type of startup, and this presentation in the format of pitch to win over investors. It is initiatives like this that can enhance our role in society”, said the dean of Unicamp.
This importance in training was also highlighted by professor Ana Frattini, executive director of Inova Unicamp, who shared her experience as academic mentor of the winning team of the 2013 Unicamp Challenge. “A few years ago, I participated as inventor and academic mentor of a winning team of the Unicamp Challenge, which was a motivating experience for my career. I am a living witness to the transformation that occurs among the participants due to the technical training offered in these training sessions and mentoring throughout the competition”, recalled Frattini.
The decision on who would be the winner was made by a panel of specialized judges from the innovative ecosystem, such as angel investors, entrepreneurs and members of accelerators, who evaluated the pitches and carried out an investigation on each business model. In the final result, dean Tom Zé announced the Re:Skin team as the winner of the competition, rewarding each of the team members with 3 thousand reais, access for one year to training and courses on the platform offered by the sponsor FM2S Educação e Consultoria, in addition to receiving certificates as winners of the edition and being able to participate in a pre-acceleration program offered by sponsor Baita Aceleradora.
The Re:Skin team is made up of João Lucas de Souza Rodrigues, Mariah Zajankauskas Orçati and Marina Paolacci Carunchio, students of the Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology undergraduate course at the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu campus, as well as Júlia Freitas Batista , undergraduate student in Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). The team was also recognized as the best pitch by popular vote among those present at the final webinar.
Read article in full published in the Unicamp Innovation Agency.
