Porto Maravalley: city of Rio gains technology and innovation hub

Global hackathon will bring together participants at Porto Maravalley to develop artificial intelligence solutions focused on urban challenges - Rafael Catarcione/Rio City Hall

Rio de Janeiro City Hall inaugurated the Porto Maravalley innovation hub on Thursday night (11/04), which shares space with the new IMPA Tech mathematics college, which opened in early 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 presentation 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 in charge of the project. Also present were: the president of Companhia Carioca de Parcerias e Investimentos (CCPar) – which is a partner of SMDUE in the project -, Gustavo Guerrante, and the new manager of the hub, Daniel Barros – CEO of Rio Energy Bay and CEO of Porto Maravalley -, who signed the contract with the City Hall to manage the site, in addition to representatives of the sponsoring companies.

Also participating were the deputy director of IMPA, Jorge Vitório Pereira, and the vice-president of Web Summit Rio, Artur Pereira, who announced the company's participation in the hub.

– Here, we have the best of Brazil, the best minds in Brazil, prepared people who will drive the economy here, which is no longer about the future, but about the world we live in. And on the other side, we have the private sector taking these young talents in this interaction. This exchange, this dialogue, this construction, these projects will allow us to change the status of this city and, why not say, our country. We are making an impact and bringing back to Rio de Janeiro a leading role, a centrality of new ideas, of new businesses, and the country's economy can benefit from this. I am certain that this is the best place to live, to invest, to work and to study mathematics too – stated Mayor Eduardo Paes.

Rio City Hall invested R$90 million

Porto Maravalley has approximately 10 square meters. The Rio de Janeiro City Hall invested R$45 million in the construction and purchase of equipment, in addition to another R$45 million in the acquisition of 67 apartments in Porto Maravilha to be used as accommodation for IMPA Tech students. The students will also receive a scholarship.

The hub area will have around 30 rooms ranging from 8 to 100 square meters, as well as a coworking space, which together will have 600 workstations, a laboratory, an auditorium for 170 people, a restaurant, a café, and a common area with a large arena for events, which is connected to IMPA Tech. It will bring together the knowledge generated by educational institutions and research centers with startups, innovative companies, and investors.

– There is no other project in Brazil that is like this, with this type of combination, with top-quality education and the best in the city coming to settle here with large companies. We want to have this hub here, working on projects together with students to transform this knowledge and technology into real development for Rio de Janeiro. This 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 home – 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 there is 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, bringing together the city, the government, startups, investors, entrepreneurs and companies. This naturally generates open innovation. And the CEO of the hub has the obligation to make the connection between the Impa Tech students who are already here, the mathematicians who are studying and doing research in contact with entrepreneurs, in an open channel between 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 to have a unicorn born here. Who knows, maybe an Impa student will start a business and we can have a company, a unicorn, born here – said Barros.

The space will be managed by the Rio Energy Bay (REB) consortium – the result of a MIT REAP (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) program that aims to promote 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, the Rio de Janeiro School of Mathematics, is the first undergraduate program of the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA). In addition to the investment from the Rio de Janeiro 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 began on April 2, with 52 students and an open call to reach up to 100 students by 2024 – with selection through the Mathematics Olympiad and ENEM Mathematics scores. The goal 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.

By the end of the tenth year of the course, 700 students will have graduated. Thus, with the average salary of professionals in this area, the potential salary mass (sum of salaries) of graduates at IMPA Tech in Porto Maravalley is expected to be R$220,1 million in 10 years.

Event serves as a warm-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 people per day to Riocentro, between April 15 and 18. A study carried out by SMDUE, in partnership with Invest.Rio – the city'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 very beginning, we realized that entrepreneurship in Rio is a force of nature, and that a lot is happening in the area of ​​innovation in the city. We were very pleased with the Porto Maravalley project unfolding in the city and demonstrating a clear commitment by the City of Rio to technology, which can only bring good results. This year’s Web Summit will be much bigger than the one in 2023, 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 is truly the future – said Pereira.