Brazil’s Distrito accelerates company transformations by connecting them to startups

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Every good executive was planning for digital transformation, but the pandemic triggered the alert and raised a greater sense of urgency, particularly for companies not yet as advanced in this area.

Open innovation has been gaining more space, since the method – which seeks to connect with startups – proved to be faster and more efficient. Consequently, a great wave of companies seeking startups began, which can connect these solutions or even invest and buy these businesses as a more agile way to advance.

This is the cornerstone of Distrito, the largest transformation and open innovation ecosystem in Brazil, which aims to accelerate corporate innovation, leverage startups, maximize investments, and positively impact society.

It actively fosters partnerships between the various market players looking for new technologies, business models, and trends. In addition to companies and startups, it also connects investors, universities, associations, and government, building solutions for a new economy. All of this with the help of a platform and the largest database on startups and innovation in Brazil.

“Our ecosystem enables companies within it to connect with startups and also launch new products and services within 6 weeks, thereby growing faster,” says Distrito’s CEO Gustavo Araujo.

Via – owner of Casas Bahia and Ponto brands – is among these companies; it became part of this community to be closer to startups. This year it announced a corporate venture capital fund to be managed with Distrito’s help, which may receive up to R$200 (US$38) million over a 5-year period for investments in retailtechs and other startups that cover the entire consumer journey, such as logistics, finance, and marketing.

In addition to the open innovation platform with an intelligent system that analyzes startups, scores them according to their maturity, and makes the “match,” Distrito also employs specialists in digital transformation and innovation culture, who provide strategic counseling, develop and implement new solutions along with companies, generating new business models and revenue lines.

Brazil’s largest innovation ecosystem

Born as an innovation hub in 2017, Distrito currently boasts over 700 resident startups in its development program and 15,600 monitored on its platform, in addition to 27 directly invested companies – among them a “unicorn”: Mercado Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency startup to be granted the unofficial title in Brazil.

It also includes some 70 large corporations and 150 mentors, totaling over 4,000 innovative people working on dozens of new projects in which new ideas are tested monthly. The member startups alone handled over US$30 million last year, which reflects the potential of the connections provided by the community.

Each month, the ecosystem translates into more than 500,000 interactions and events with 15,000 participants in all. It has helped solve 520 challenges.

Innovation pillars

As an entrepreneurial culture booster, Distrito works on 4 complementary fronts: corporate innovation, investments, data intelligence, and startup promotion. The first of these aims to boost large companies in their transformation process. The team responsible for this front delves into the startup ecosystem, conducting research and development work.

The second pillar is venture capital, in which Distrito itself invests in startups. But the company does not limit itself to investing in its resident startups. When it perceives a good opportunity, it calls on investors from its network to invest together, committing to closely monitor the performance of the invested company.