SC tech companies grow 15% in 2015

The estimate is from ACATE, an entity from Santa Catarina that has an agreement with ABES

 
Investment in training and qualification of employees, research, development and adding value to products and services. These are some of the most effective recipes adopted by technology companies in Santa Catarina, which managed to circumvent the crisis scenario in the country and grow around 15% in 2015, according to an estimate by the Catarinense Association of Technology Companies (ACATE).
 
The positive result in 2015 was driven by the high growth of IT sectors, such as software for services (SaaS), cloud computing, digital marketing, big data, fintech (technology for finance) and innovations in healthcare and agribusiness. “Several companies linked to these segments registered great progress this year, more as a result of the innovation generated than by the country's macroeconomic conditions”, reflects Guilherme Bernard, president of ACATE. On the other hand, companies that develop hardware and provide products and services to the public sector, for example, had a year of many difficulties due to the economic crisis.
 
In Santa Catarina, the technology sector is favored by the consolidation of its hub cities in the country: Florianópolis ranked second as the most entrepreneurial municipality in the country (behind São Paulo) in a survey carried out by Endeavor, due to questions such as innovation and human capital. The same survey placed Joinville in ninth place (ahead of capitals such as Rio de Janeiro) and Blumenau in 20th place.
 
In the Capital, the inauguration of the ACATE Primavera Innovation Center is considered a milestone in stimulating entrepreneurship: the space concentrates dozens of technology and service companies and, in less than 10 months, received more than 3,500 people and 216 associated companies in 32 events related to IT and innovation. Some of these events helped to consolidate internationalization programs to markets such as the United States, Europe and the Middle East and to “train” startups that participated in business fairs and investment rounds in Silicon Valley.
 
For the association's president, the economic scenario in 2016 should follow the same difficulties registered throughout last year, therefore, the technology sector needs to intensify the strategies that helped to overcome the obstacles of 2015. “In addition to innovation and qualification of the services, investment in people will be essential for companies to remain strong in a crisis scenario and gain markets, seeing new opportunities”, he says. “ACATE should have significant changes in 2016, when it completes 30 years. Still in the first semester we will have the elections of the new board and councils. We also intend to cover four other areas in our Business Verticals, namely internet of things, finance, insurance and data”, he adds.