São Paulo – MVISIA, a startup that develops computer vision and artificial intelligence software for industry and agroindustry, won the bootcamp the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce hosted last Thursday (20). The event selected one out of five startups to participate in the world competition at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2020, the investment forum to have its 10th edition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from March 24 to 26.
The company’s founding partner Fernando Paes Lopes presented their AI camera system. The product captures, for example, images of a production line and send them to a software already supplied with the important parameters for each product. Therefore, the system can identify any change in the production line and stop it if needed be.
The winning startup already has big clients and will seek its first opportunity in the Middle East. “Expectations are high. We’ve had opportunities in Europe, and getting to know foreign markets is an eye-opening experience. It’s worthy it because you see different people and ways of thinking,” Lopes said.
The event was organized by Mango Ventures, Peppery Lab and the Arab Chamber. In addition to MVSIA, four other startups participated as weel: GooMov, which works on solutions for urban mobility; Startup Hallo, which works on the financial market; BioHack, which seeks to transform waste into energy; and Aptah, of bioinformatics innovation.
The diversity in proposals was one goal while choosing the five finalists of the national competition. “Since Brazil is a huge country, we found it important to bring startups from different states and industries. So, our judges are faced with a challenge, as each contestant approaches a different theme and solution,” Mango Ventures Brazil partner Wellington Galassi said before the final phase.
The judges of the competition included Janine Bezerra de Menezes, Marketing and Strategy director at the Arab Chamber, and Flavio Waltz, from the engineering and technology company Radix. “We’ve developed the engineering marathon and organized and judged several hackathons. To participate here, not only I’ve tried to prepare myself but took the story of each startup to others in the company to evaluate. The idea is that we discuss and evaluate them as Radix as a whole, not just as an individual. Here, we’ve had companies from different sectors. I believe Brazil is very well represented,” Waltz stressed.
Pictured above, from L to R, Menezes, Lopes, Galassi, and Vasquez, manager at Startup Mexico Campus Brasil, a startup accelerator.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda