A Innovation Agency (Inova) launched the “Unicamp Ventures” relationship network on November 11th. The launch took place during the 1st Unicamp Entrepreneurs Meeting, an event held at the Convention Center as part of the alumni meeting. The network was born big. Around 130 “daughters of Unicamp” companies already participate in it, formed by ex-student entrepreneurs, former teachers and entrepreneurs who passed through Incamp – Unicamp’s Technological Base Incubator. In common, they used the knowledge acquired at Unicamp to set up their businesses. Heterogeneous, the group includes companies with over 20 years of experience and those pre-incubated at the University. Dean José Tadeu Jorge participated in the launch. Entrepreneurs can register via the website www.unicampventures.org/subscribe. Messages can be sent to unicampventures-subscribe@googlegroups.com.

The idea of ​​bringing together the “daughters of Unicamp” on the same day came from the executive director of Inova, professor Roberto Lotufo, upon learning that there would be a meeting of former students. “This desire was old.” According to Lotufo, according to the agency's principles and concepts, the coordination of this type of initiative should be the responsibility of businesspeople. Former student Cesar Gon was appointed president of the committee that organized the meeting. The results, reveals Lotufo, did not take long to appear. The businesspeople provided the event logo and suggested the creation of “Unicamp Ventures” – including the name.

The agency's executive director believes that this type of initiative fits Inova's role. “Our vocation is in the articulation of actions. This is happening here, today. We were very pleased with the results obtained.” The first of these, already visible, is the interest expressed by network members in updating the registration of “daughter companies”. Through the list it is possible to know how many are established, their geographic location and their revenue, information considered fundamental in the innovation environment. 

The focus of the project, says the executive director, is relationships and their possibilities. An example of its reach, explains Lotufo, is the need to have, in the pre-incubation program, entrepreneurs who act as mentors. “The former student entrepreneur is the natural candidate to fill this role.” Another initiative, according to the professor, is the search for investment environments, through which businesspeople present their proposals to innovation financiers.   

The executive director reveals that the agency's intention is for the group of businesspeople to increasingly take the lead in initiatives. “Inova and Unicamp are the biggest beneficiaries of this strategy”, believes the professor, for whom former students already have a strong bond with the University and former professors. “When there is this emotional connection, even affectionate, countless possibilities open up for creating partnerships. And this has everything to do with Inova.”

Common base – “'Unicamp Ventures' consists of a collaboration space, through which the search for knowledge and the exchange of information about entrepreneurship are encouraged. They all have a common base, which is Unicamp. This builds trust. And this bond of trust will generate business”, says businessman César Gon, whose mission was to initially gather people interested in participating in the initiative.

According to the businessman, the next step will be to develop initiatives for different topics, including innovation, capital, access to development agencies, management, use of the Innovation Law and taxes. “Today several ideas came up. In future events, we will have more space for these entrepreneurs to exchange experiences and, eventually, do business.”

Gon believes that, due to its structure, Unicamp is experiencing a “unique moment” in terms of fostering “effective” interaction between the market, companies and universities. “Inova is the materialization of this. Its creation was a very important step. Today I feel an extremely favorable environment for this relationship to grow and generate more jobs, wealth and knowledge.”

Gon entered the Computer Engineering course at Unicamp in 1989, where he also completed a master's degree. 12 years ago he founded Ci & T, a company specializing in the development of software applied to web technologies. The growth was meteoric – the company now has seven units in Brazil, two abroad and has more than 350 employees.

Gon has just founded another company – this one born at Unicamp –, focused on using technology resources in companies. The businessman agreed to be the majority shareholder of the venture, which took shape in the Unicamp Technology-Based Business Incubator (Incamp). “This is the virtuous circle of entrepreneurship in Brazil. Companies are created due to results obtained by others that have already reached maturity”, says Gon, who says that Inova's structure was fundamental to the success of the business.

In the entrepreneur's opinion, knowledge is the basis of entrepreneurship. This, according to him, lies in the fact that Unicamp is present directly or indirectly in hundreds of projects spread across the country. “Knowledge cannot be something static. Unicamp's knowledge base is very solid. We always learn.” In the businessman's opinion, this is the great difference in the training offered by Unicamp. “You leave University hungry for knowledge. And this hunger lasts throughout his professional life. This is extremely important for entrepreneurship and innovation.”

Background – Businessman Maurício Conti, also a member of the committee that created “Unicamp Ventures”, endorses his colleague’s words. “My training was very solid. This is very relevant, especially at the beginning of your career, a time when you need this background to find a place in the market”, says Conti, who started the Computer Engineering course in 1994 and presided over the junior company Conpec for a year and a half, another experience that opened doors for him.

“This Unicamp university campus spirit means there is interaction with people from various areas”, he states. According to the former student, his company's first projects were developed with this network. “The environment is fundamental. It carries a lot of weight.”

His company, Accenda, founded a year and a half ago, provides marketing consultancy for technology-based companies. The headquarters is in Campinas, as a large part of the customer base is from the city and comes from Unicamp. The focus of the company, which also has an office in São Paulo, is positioning strategy and market intelligence, with an emphasis on marketing, with the aim of increasing competitiveness. Accenda's revenue is around R$2 million/year.
For Conti, there are three objectives of “Unicamp Ventures”. The first, according to him partially achieved in the first meeting on the 11th, is to bring together entrepreneurs. The second is to map the universe of companies and measure how much Unicamp generates for the market from the point of view of entrepreneurship and job openings. Finally, says the former student, the network must generate business — whether with companies subcontracting or attracting the attention of government development funds to support businesses in the region. “Together, we will be much stronger.”.(AK)