The area designated for the hub has around 30 rooms and a coworking space – Rafael Catarcione / City Hall of Rio
Rio City Hall inaugurated last Thursday night (11/04) the Porto Maravalley innovation hub, which shares space with the new mathematics faculty IMPA Tech, opened at the beginning of April. Eletrobras and Shell were announced as sponsors of the space, which already has around 20 companies in negotiations, including large companies and startups, to set up shop there.
The event that marked the official opening of the hub, with the delivery of the plaque, was attended by Mayor Eduardo Paes, the Municipal Secretary of Urban and Economic Development (SMDUE), Chicão Bulhões, and the president of Invest.Rio, Alexandre Vermeulen, who were at the forefront of the project, the president of Companhia Carioca de Parcerias e Investimentos (CCPar), Gustavo Guerrante, SMDUE's partner in the venture, the new hub manager, Daniel Barros, CEO of Rio Energy Bay and CEO of Porto Maravalley , which signed the contract with the City Hall to manage the site, as well as representatives of the sponsoring companies.
The deputy director of IMPA, Jorge Vitório Pereira, and the vice-president of Web Summit Rio, Artur Pereira, also participated, who announced the company's participation in the hub.
– Here, we have the best in Brazil, the best minds in Brazil, prepared people, who are going to run the economy here, which is no longer of the future, it is of the world in which we live. And on the other side, we have the private sector taking on these young talents in this interaction. This exchange, this dialogue, this construction, these projects will allow us to change levels in this city and, why not say, in our country. We are having an impact and bringing back to Rio de Janeiro a leading role, a centrality of new ideas, new businesses, and the country's economy can use this. I am sure that this is the best place to live, to invest, to work and to study mathematics too – said Mayor Eduardo Paes.
Rio City Hall invested R$ 90 million
Porto Marvalley has around 10 thousand square meters. Rio City Hall invested R$ 45 million in the construction and purchase of equipment, in addition to a further R$ 45 million in the acquisition of 67 apartments in the Porto Maravilha to be used as accommodation for IMPA Tech students. Students will also receive stipends.
The area designated for the hub will have around 30 rooms from 8 square meters to 100 square meters and a coworking space, which together add up to 600 work positions, a laboratory, an auditorium for 170 people, a restaurant, a cafe, in addition to the common area , with a large arena for events, which connects with IMPA Tech. It brings together the knowledge generated by educational institutions and research centers with startups, innovative companies and investors.
– There is no project in Brazil that is like this, with this type of combination, with the highest quality education and the best in the city coming to settle here with large companies. We want to have this hub here, carrying out projects together with students to transform this knowledge and technology into actual development for Rio de Janeiro. Here is the heart of what we want to see spread throughout the city, the great connection point with great projects that we have for the city and that were in need of a home. This could be the house – said the municipal secretary of Urban and Economic Development, Chicão Bulhões.
Companies interested in participating can be present as sponsors – guaranteeing a room, work positions, participation in events and/or naming rights for areas on site – or as residents, reserving one of the rooms or positions in the coworking space. The important thing is that it has synergy with the space and with verticals that are Rio de Janeiro's vocations in themes such as energy, sustainability, health, biotechnology, finance, creative economy, tourism, among others, consolidating the innovation ecosystem and attracting projects and large companies to create solutions and generate business in the city.
– This is the first innovation hub in Brazil, uniting the city, the government, startups, investors, entrepreneurs and companies. This naturally generates open innovation. And the CEO of the hub has an obligation to make connections between the Impa Tech students who are already here, the mathematicians, who are studying and doing research in contact with entrepreneurial people, in an open channel, investors and large companies – said the president of Invest .Rio, Alexandre Vermeulen.
Hub manager, Daniel Barros said that, as soon as the space is ready to operate, in May, around 110 companies are in negotiations to start occupying part of the 600 positions.
– Our big dream is for a unicorn to be born in here. Who knows, maybe an Impa student will start a business and we will have a company, a unicorn, born here – said Barros.
The space will be managed by the Rio Energy Bay (REB) consortium – the result of an MIT REAP (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) program that aims at local development and acceleration, with a focus on innovation and technology. This was the first time that a Brazilian city participated in the initiative.
IMPA Tech already has 52 students and support from the Federal Government
IMPA Tech, Rio's Faculty of Mathematics, is the first graduation from the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA). In addition to the investment by Rio City Hall, the federal government is investing R$ 18.7 million in 2024; R$ 32.3 million next year; R$ 46.4 million in the 3rd year; and R$ 60.9 million in the 4th year.
Classes started on April 2nd, with 52 students and open notice to reach up to 100 students in 2024 – with selection through the Mathematics Olympiads and ENEM Mathematics grades. The objective is to reach 400 students per year studying the bachelor's degree in Mathematics of Technology and Innovation. After the basic cycle, students choose one of four emphases: Mathematics, Computer Science, Data Science and Physics.
At the end of the tenth year of the course, 700 students will have graduated. Therefore, with the average salary of professionals in this area, the potential wage bill (sum of salaries) of graduates at IMPA Tech in Porto Marvalley is expected to be R$ 220.1 million in 10 years.
Event works as it warms up for the Web Summit
The meeting was a warm-up for Web Summit Rio, which in its second edition is expected to attract around 40 thousand people per day to Riocentro, between April 15th and 18th. A study carried out by SMDUE, in partnership with Invest.Rio – the city hall's investment promotion and attraction agency – shows that the impact of the six editions of the event (from 2023 to 2028) will be R$ 1.5 billion.
– From the first time, we realized that entrepreneurship in Rio is a force of nature, that a lot happens in the area of innovation in the city. We have seen with great appreciation the Porto Maravalley project unfolding in the city and showing a clear commitment by the Rio City Council in the area of technology, which can only bring good results. This year's Web Summit will be much bigger than 2023's, with 600 speakers, more than a thousand startups, investors and companies. This sharing of ideas is important, with which we hope to inspire young people in the innovation sector because we believe that innovation really is the future – said Pereira.
Porto Maravalley/Photo: City Hall
