We interviewed Orlando Cintra, CEO of BR Angels, about the prospects for angel investment with the pandemic
BR Angels is one of the most recent partners in the ABES Startup Internship Program, an initiative that aims to strengthen companies, generate synergy between investment funds, incubators and accelerators, in addition to helping businesses to overcome the challenges of the markets in which they operate.
The startups participating in the ABES Startup Internship Program now have more than 33 years of ABES experience in the legal, regulatory, tax and marketing areas for a period of 6 months, free of charge. The package includes access to legal-tax duty, certificates for participation in tenders, legal advisors, guides, complete compliance infrastructure, health and dental plans, market research and committees on relevant industry topics.
To talk about this partnership and the startups sector, the ABES portal interviewed Orlando Cintra, founder and CEO of BR Angels, an angel investment group with more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs. He invests in 7 startups and has over 20 years of experience in the areas of Management, Business, Innovation and Technology. He was an executive at large corporations such as SAP, HP and Informatica Corp, and served in various positions as President and Senior Vice President for Latin America, among others. Cintra is also a member of the board of several companies, including HYPERLOOP Transportation Technology, Smartie (a company in the SOLVI PARTICIPAÇÕES group), PORTWORX, SOLSTIC Advisors and LECOM TECNOLOGIA supporting organizations in strategic decisions for business expansion and market positioning. Check out the interview:
When BR Angels was created and what are the main verticals of the projects invested?
The group was founded in 2019, aiming to be an angel investment association with a high focus on intellectual capital, on smart money. We have as associates a team of CEOs and entrepreneurs of large companies. Our initial focus is on production startups in the B2B and B2B2C segments, in which the intellectual capital of more than 60 BR Angels members can be widely employed through mentoring. BR Angels also has the purpose of helping entrepreneurship and, with this, the development of Brazil and Latin America.
How do you evaluate this partnership with ABES for the projects of startups supported by BR Angels?
ABES has great experience and influence in the IT segment and has taken several actions to make Brazil More Digital and Less Unequal. The Startups program created by ABES reinforces the democratization of knowledge and the creation of new opportunities for young people in Brazil.
Being able to collaborate with this program, involving Startups Invested by BR Angels, is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to support the generation of new entrepreneurs in our country. BR Angels is very pleased with the closing of this partnership.
How many startups and companies are invested and what are the main projects supported by BR Angels today?
BR Angels aims to invest in up to 30 startups in two years, through several "batches", with complementary investment theses. One of the investments made recently was in Mindminers, a Human Analytics company, which studies the behavior of end users for large companies such as Nestlé, Danone, McDonald´s. This service is essential in this pandemic moment, as new patterns of behavior are being created.
What are the main challenges for entrepreneurs and investors who support startups? How to get return on investment?
Searching for “winning” startups is not an easy task. BR Angels believes that good entrepreneurs, with seriousness and services or products that generate a lot of value, will be the unicorns of the future. The expertise, relationship network and experience of the members of BR Angels are very important and essential points in the selection and development of invested startups. Like any venture capital investment, the return is high risk. Building a robust and complementary portfolio of startups is essential to have great chances of success.
What are the challenges and perspectives for Venture Capital (VC) with the pandemic?
Obviously there is the natural reaction of investors to become more “averse” to risk, not only in venture capital (VC) but in most sectors. Since VC is a natural risky environment, there is more conservatism. But BR Angels believes that there are also several positive points generated by this pandemic moment, such as a natural selection of startups with a positive prominence, that is, there will be a debugging of the market.
We will see even greater balance in the stipulated valuations, maintenance of the most serious and well-prepared players in the ecosystem, and identification of segments that are leveraging during the crisis, such as e-commerce and some health sectors. I leave a message for startups and entrepreneurs: if you are looking for angel investment, sign up for the www.brangels.global.
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