Startup DEV Tecnologia tells how it turned an idea into a business

Artur Polizel, Camilo Rodegheri, Silvia Takey and Marcelo Pesse

Entrepreneurs highlight the importance of support from the Cietec incubator

 
Incubated in June 2013 at the Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology (Cietec), the startup DEV Tecnologia, led by former students of Poli-USP, Artur Polizel, Camilo Rodegheri, Silvia Takey and Marcelo Pesse, already celebrates its effective entry into the market offering complete Internet of Things solutions and technological products, which even include a technology capable of capturing insights that people cannot consciously express, but which are decisive for their decisions and actions. Check out the trajectory of this startup in this exclusive interview of entrepreneurs to the ABES Portal.
 
Why did you decide to launch a startup?
Fundamentally because we believe in the technical and managerial competence of the team in developing new technological solutions in the state of the art in Brazil and in the world and, thus, increasing the competitiveness of the national industry.
 
Since when are they incubated at Cietec? How did this partnership with Cietec make a difference in the company's evolution?
We have been incubating since June 2013. The partnership made a big difference in the company's evolution. In addition to providing the physical infrastructure for the company's operation, Cietec offered consultancies in the areas of financing for innovation, marketing, communication and accounting, which were essential for improving the company's management and obtaining resources for the development of new projects. In addition, networking with other companies has already resulted in partnership projects and also new customers for DEV Tecnologia. The fact that it is incubated at Cietec and its proximity to USP favors the development of R&D projects within programs to encourage innovation, such as, for example, the Informatics Law.
 
How was the idea of developing the startup born? How long have you been in the development of this product / service?
Our first project together was carried out in 2008, still in college, when we were part of Poli Júnior. We developed hardware and software for scientific research at the USP Psychology Institute, achieving great success. From this project and the experience in electronics and software development, an unmet market niche was discovered: that of customized equipment for scientific research. With that, there was the funding necessary to open the company, with the mission of developing high technology to encourage companies, researchers and the government to promote technological innovation.
 
What products and / or services does DEV Tecnologia offer?
We have three areas of expertise: complete Internet of Things (IoT) solutions; development of technological products, from requirements analysis to production, and tailor-made Research, Development and Innovation (P&DI) projects, including those regulated by ANEEL, the Informatics Law and the Good Law. We have already developed two products: DEV Energy Meter and the DEV Eye-Tracker. 
 
The DEV Energy Meter is an electronic multimeter with extensive capacities for measuring electrical quantities. Designed to be used in the most diverse applications related to the monitoring and control of energy consuming systems, allowing monitoring of energy use in electrical installations, apportioning the cost of energy, in addition to quality and energy efficiency. With an excellent cost-benefit ratio and a compact construction, it is installed directly on the circuit breaker panel. It has exclusive technology, which allows simultaneous measurements of 4/8/16 single-phase channels, measuring the entire circuit-breaker box with just one device. Monitors electrical quantities of voltage, current, active power, frequency, peaks and voltage drops. Performs wireless transmission of measurements to a base station, which sends data to a cloud system, allowing monitoring via the Internet.
 
DEV Eye-Tracker is a technology that revolutionizes our understanding of human behavior. Through precise tracking of the direction of the gaze it is possible to capture insights that people cannot consciously express, but that are decisive for their decisions and actions. These insights open new frontiers for scientific research in neuroscience, studying the behavior of consumers of products and media, evaluating and training high-performance athletes.
 
In your evaluation, what is the target audience of your product / service?
The target audience are companies or organizations that have a deep knowledge of the market and the sector in which they operate and that need a partner with the necessary expertise to quickly develop a new product or technological solution that involves electronics, wireless communication and / or highly complex software. This is the case, for example, of companies that wish to invest in Internet of Things solutions, that is, connect physical devices (lamps, equipment, vehicles, etc.) and allow their monitoring and control via the internet.
 
What are the main innovation differentials?
The team's main differentials are technical competence, its own methodology for developing new technological products, proximity to the state of the art of the technologies in which we operate and technological partnerships with complementary elements within our business ecosystem (semiconductor manufacturers, software providers , mechanical product design, sales representatives, among others).
 
 
What are the main lessons learned in this incubation period?
The main lessons learned were the need to build a broad and qualified relationship network with key people in the market, both to guarantee a client portfolio and to minimize risks and costs. Networking is everything. In addition, we learned several fundamental issues for managing the company, as previously mentioned.
 
Who are the entrepreneurs, training and professional experience?
Camilo Rodegheri, responsible for the company's general direction, strategy and new business development, is a computer engineer at Poli-USP and a PhD student in Neuroscience at USP. He worked at IT University of Copenhagen and at MIT Media Lab. He has been developing electronic circuits since he was 9 years old. He opened his first company at 14 and was a world finalist in business case solving competition in 2012 in Thailand. He worked in software development for the financial market and was financial director and administrative advisor at Poli Júnior, a junior company at Escola Poli-USP.
 
Marcelo Pesse, specialist in digital hardware and embedded software, is technically trained in mechatronics and has a degree in Electronic Systems Engineering from Poli-USP, where he conducted research and development of an alternative device to the Segway and wireless sensor network applied to agriculture precision. He has been designing and building electronic circuits since he was 13 years old. He was project manager at Poli Júnior.
 
Artur Polizel, specialist in the company's specification, architecture and agile software development methodologies, is a computer engineer at Poli-USP, where he developed a wireless sensor network applied to physiotherapy in his graduation work. Program since the age of 11, has already developed software for the financial market at GDX Investimentos and management software at ZBRA Soluções. He was also infrastructure manager and coordinator of the Information Systems Center at Poli Júnior.
 
Sílvia Takey, responsible for the company's administration and management of the company's projects. Graduated and master's student in Production Engineering at Poli-USP, where she received the award for best student of the last three years of graduation in her year. He is Certified Associate in Project Management by the Project Management Institute and worked for four years in project management at the Promon Group, where he was twice awarded for implemented innovation projects. She was manager and project director at Poli Júnior.
 
What are your startup's next steps?
The next steps are to expand the portfolio of large customers in new product development services and to market the products that we have already developed in previous projects.