British Consulate promotes IT and innovation competition

The British Consulate in São Paulo will select 10 Brazilian companies to participate in the second edition of the UK Trade & Investment Information Technology and Innovation Competition. The selected companies will win a one-week trip to visit the main technology centers in the United Kingdom, including Tech City, the London technology hub that currently hosts 1400 companies, from startups to industry giants such as Google, Facebook, Intel and Twitter.
 
Of the 10 companies that will go to the UK, three have already been selected: Meu Peludo, Crowdmobi and System Haus. They were winners of the Innovation Salon that took place in Rio de Janeiro last year. Now, seven regional stages will be held in Campinas, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Campo Grande and Belo Horizonte. Interested companies will be able to apply through the network of innovation agencies, incubators and technology parks that are partners of the British Consulate in this initiative. To participate, companies must apply through the website of the UKTI partner institute closest to their region.
 
Registration for companies in São Paulo is now open and must be done through the website of the Inova Unicamp agency, until January 31st. (www.inova.unicamp.br)
 
The competition is open to IT companies of any size, from startups to large enterprises. In all, 70 companies will be selected in the first stage. Participants who make it to the second phase of the competition will be invited to make a face-to-face presentation of their companies and products to a committee made up of experts from the British Consulate and partner incubators and regional agencies.
 
"The objective of this competition is to select Brazilian entrepreneurs interested in globalizing their businesses", explains Raquel Kibrit, investment manager at UK Trade & Investment in São Paulo, who is leading the competition. With the help of the UKTI team, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the UK tax system and labor laws, as well as discover the facilities and opportunities for companies in the technology sector. "The UK is the Silicon Valley of Europe, and we believe that Brazilian companies can grow quickly with the opening of new operations in the country", says Raquel.