On August 26, 27 and 28, the Techstars Startup Weekend Pato Branco was held, Sebrae and Cilla Tech Park provided representatives of Guarapuava’s innovation ecosystem to participate in this intense 54-hour journey focused on the development of innovative ideas.
The entourage from Guarapuava was composed of 20 members, among them were students and teachers from all higher education institutions, company representatives, Cilla Tech Park, Innovation Barn, Regional Education Center, and the City Hall.
According to Juliano Lima from Sebrae, who was leading the event in Pato Branco, the presence of the Guarapuava team was important for the exchange of knowledge, besides strengthening the ecosystems. “We see this participation with great value, because it generates a connection and integration between all the local and regional ecosystems in the state, and the result of this is the strengthening of the state ecosystem of Paraná,” he guarantees.
Startup Weekend began on Friday night, 26, where the participants presented more than 50 ideas and, from the 11 most voted, were put into practice. The participants were divided into teams according to their preference in the themes of the ideas.
Saturday was dedicated to the development and validation of the idea. The teams improved the problem, some pivoted, that is, changed the idea or the focus, developed the Startup’s brand, and went out into the field to research, validate, and even sell the product. According to Fernando Guiné Junior, Founder and Managing Director of Volga Seleção e Treinamento, who participated in the team that developed Ambes, a platform focused on mental health, this experience was very rich and challenging, where he could learn more about the world of startups and especially how to work as a team in these moments of tension.
Sunday, during the day, was the time to build and test the pitch, which consists of a presentation to sell the idea. The night was the final Pitch presentation and the awards ceremony. Richard Liberati, Advertising and Publicity student at Unicentro and intern at Cilla Tech Park, faced the pitch presentation for the first time, he was representing Startup Beer Hub. According to him, it was not an easy task, but he received a lot of support from the team and mentors at the event. “Jessica Ceni, who suggested the Startup’s idea, gave me a storytelling class before I presented, I rehearsed many times and asked for many opinions, I was nervous but when I got on stage, receiving the support of the crowd was the push I needed to be able to execute the pitch,” he said.
The members of Guarapuava’s innovation ecosystem learned a lot, created many connections, networking, and made the most of the event. Among the three winning ideas, the first and third places had members from Guarapuava in their teams. Beyond all this, this participation has as main goal to turn the Guarapuava entourage into mentors in a Startup Weekend in Guarapuava. “We are going to do a Startup Weekend here and we hope that the people from Pato Branco come to participate as well, so that we continue to strengthen the ecosystems of the state, this is how we bring the culture of innovation to everyone,” assured Krishna Lorenzo, Coordinator of Entrepreneurship, New Business and Communication and member of Startup Influ, winner of 3rd place.
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