O Brazilian entrepreneur profile It’s new: increasingly made up of women, black, peripheral and household heads that start a business out of necessity. At least this is the finding of the president of Banco do Brasil (), Tarciana Medeiros, during the Web Summit Rio 2025.
In addition to Tarciana, the conversation was mediated by journalist Maria Prata, and also brought together Bianca Andrade, a businesswoman and digital influencer, and Adriana Barbosa, founder of Pretahub. Together, they reflected on the ways for innovation, social impact and strengthening entrepreneurship in the country’s slums and peripheries.
Credit and success of the entrepreneur
During the chat, the president of BB stressed that the lack of is still one of the biggest obstacles to small business growth. According to her, the traditional financial system operates under a logic based on guarantees and history, which marginalizes the most vulnerable entrepreneurs.
“How do we do to deconstruct this and look at the potential of this business? How do we understand that this woman already makes good financial management, because she balances the home and the business with very few resources?” Asked Tarciana.
In addition, the executive also defended the use of alternative data such as and history of account payments. This, according to her, promises to help build more inclusive credit analysis models.
The challenge of growing and employing
Adriana Barbosa shared the barriers faced by those at the head of a social impact business. She stressed the difficulty in accessing capital and veiled discrimination in investment processes.
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“It’s not a good project lacking, it’s that money doesn’t come to our projects. And it’s not because we don’t know how to talk to an investor, it’s because filters are often racist,” he said. The founder of the Preta fair has defended the importance of creating support and mentoring ecosystems so that entrepreneurs from black and peripheral communities can prosper.
Already Bianca Andrade recalled the prejudice she suffered by seeking expansion for her company, which bears the name of the YouTube channel that made it popular, the. “The first thing they said was, ‘She’s an influencer’, as if it invalidated my ability to undertake,” he said.
She pointed out that women who came from the periphery often do not have access to business content or mentoring and learn from errors. Bianca also pointed out that, when growing, her greatest responsibility is to generate jobs, especially for those who come from contexts similar to yours. “Today I have the responsibility to open opportunities. And that moves me.”
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Structural transformations and the role of institutions
Tarciana again highlighted that market transformations need to be accompanied by structural changes, including the. According to her, it is essential to stop looking only at numbers and start looking at the impact potential. “We need to get out of superficiality and dive into the real understanding of what is happening to this entrepreneur,” he said.
For the executive, it is essential to understand the social role of these businesses, not only from the economic perspective, but as engines of inclusion, development and generation of opportunities. “The change begins when we start to recognize the value and power of what is done on the edges,” said the president of Banco do Brasil.
