LISBON – Announced by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in April last year, the new office of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brasil) in Lisbon will finally open its doors in December, said this Tuesday (12) Paulo Matheus, who heads the initiative.
“We are already in the contract signing phase, there is one detail missing that we must complete after the Web Summit”, Matheus told InfoMoney during the innovation event taking place in Lisbon this week.
The space will operate in a four-story, 2,000 square meter building in a prime area of the Portuguese capital, close to Marquês de Pombal, and will initially house activities from Apex, Embratur and Fiocruz, as a focal point for entrepreneurs who wish to take flights to the other side. of the ocean.
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The facilities will begin occupying just one floor this year, with expansion expected next year. The plan is for the inauguration to take place in April 2025, with the presence of President Lula.
Apex Brasil already has an office in Brussels, headed by former Chancellor and former Minister of Justice Aloysio Nunes. But Portugal, “through the ties of language, culture, and history, [merece] the installation of this office”, explains Matheus. “Portugal is a great player world of innovation, and because it has this relationship with Brazil, and there is no language barrier, especially for companies that want to internationalize, it becomes extremely important for them, especially startups.
Apex Brasil, together with Sebrae, has the largest stand at Web Summit 2024 and the largest delegation among all the countries participating in the event, with around 400 startups looking for financing.
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“It is the largest delegation in history. Last year, we did approximately 11 million deals and this year we want to reach 22 million”, says Floriano Pesaro, director of corporate management at Apex Brasil. According to him, one of the biggest draws for investors is the “Amazônia brand”, with startups focused, for example, on the bioeconomy area. In this sector alone, there are 28 Brazilian startups present at the fair.
One of them is Amazon Bioprotein, led by CEO Antônia Bezerra, 76 years old, who began her entrepreneurial journey in Amapá more than 40 years ago and found in the tradition of Amazonian cuisine a solution for natural protein supplementation enriched in minerals.
“We have already produced a powder very rich in minerals, which will go on the market at the beginning of 2025, to enrich school meals”, he explains, while celebrating the interest of investors in his first fundraising, which will be from R$200 to R$ 300 thousand in this first phase.
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The Apex Brasil office in Lisbon aims to serve as a bridge for startups of different sizes, from Amazon Protein to larger ones, which already raise millions of reais, to reach new investment paths in Europe. “We will have a floor just for incubating companies, we will work with the accelerators that are already here, through partnerships”, explains Matheus. “This exchange favors us, Portugal has a long history in this issue of incentives, especially for startups”.
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