Sixteen companies are selected to participate in the virtual edition of the World Summit AI Americas, which takes place in the second half of April.
By Sérgio Siscaro
The Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada (CCBC) is supporting the organization of the Brazilian mission to the World Summit AI (WSAI) Americas, which takes place between April 19 and 21. This is the main event that brings together the community involved with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions on the continent. It aims to spread knowledge in the area, discuss trends, and promote meetings between potential business partners.
Considered one of the largest global events of AI applied to the business environment, the initiative had the purpose of selecting the 16 Brazilian startups that will participate in the event. It was coordinated by the Setor de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Sectec) (Science, Technology and Innovation Sector) of the Consulate General of Brazil in Montreal, and organized jointly with Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas (Sebrae) (Brazilian Service of Support to Micro and Small Enterprises), Montreal International (MTL INTL), Programa de Diplomacia da Inovação (PDI) (Program for Innovation Diplomacy) of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Associação Nacional de Entidades Promotoras de Empreendimentos Inovadores (Anprotec) (National Association of Entities Promoting Innovative Enterprises), and the CCBC.
In response to the need of following health security protocols due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s edition of WSAI Americas will be held in a virtual format for the first time. The activities of the event will be available at an omnichannel platform, in which the participants will have access to debates, master classes, and 121 business-to-business meetings. But the organization is optimistic and has already announced that the next edition of WSAI Americas will be held at the Palais Congress, in Montreal, on May 4 and 5, 2022.
Customized Preparation
The selected startups have undergone a series of webinars and preparatory meetings since the beginning of this month. The first webinar, held on April 5, was conducted by the representative of Sectec of Montreal, Paulo de Magalhães, and was attended by Boosted.ai’s director of growth, Erik McBain, and innovation analysts Cristina Mieko Costa Bando and Eraldo dos Santos, both from Sebrae. The CCBC was represented by the two coordinators of its Technology Commission, the co-founder and CTO of Data-H, Celso Azevedo, and the CEO of IT-Tech Solutions, Valdomiro Dalberto Junior, and the Director of Institutional Relations, Paulo de Castro Reis.
“The Committee has a unique characteristic: it can work with any market segment, since technology permeates all businesses”, said Azevedo. “In the case of startups, we have an interesting activity called Connection Bureau, which is a platform with the purpose of bringing together the many elements of the innovation ecosystem, such as investors, service providers, and support entities, both Brazilian and Canadian”, he continued. He also mentioned that the initiative offers a special mentoring program for startups, designed to increase their chances of success in the market.
Another preparatory webinar, held on April 15, brought presentations by Sarah Porter, founder, and CEO of InspiredMinds, the British company responsible for organizing the WSAI; Eliza Fiúza, project manager for the Americas, and Cédric Tawil, director of entrepreneurship business development, both from MTL INTL; Luís Gustavo Peles, project consultant, and Rodrigo Mendes, director of international relations, representing Anprotec. Mentoring sessions were also promoted for the startups, enhancing their chances of successfully participating in WSAI Americas.
The selected companies
The 16 startups selected to represent Brazil in the mission to WSAI Americas are a varied example of the possibilities of applying AI technologies for the most diverse purposes. The ones selected were: AI Robots; Aliger Intelligence of Things; Aquarela Advanced Analytics; CyberLabs; Driva; Engage for Business (E4B); Hi Plataform; Implanta IT Solutions; Indeorum; Kidopi; NeoPTO; Nuveo; Pix Force; Portal Telemedicine; Shelfpix; and Vixsystem Soluções em T.I.
