"We are ready to invest in Brazilian companies", says James Corgel, IBM's software division relationships manager, who recently arrived in Brazil with Claudia Fan Munce, IBM Venture Capital Group director-manager, and vice-president of corporate strategy.
In Brazilian territory, IBM executives intend to identify startup companies, software developers, and organizations "incubated" in universities, which can attract the interest of venture capital investors.
According to Munce, open source software developers and application manufacturers are among Brazilian IT companies considered the most attractive. Also, she foresees opportunities for technologies directed to the energy and utilities sectors.
IBM's goal is to act as a business partner of these high-potential companies, indicating them as opportunities for investors. IBM will allocate resources set to develop these companies' potential and leverage them on the market, allowing them to expand their clients portfolio, and open doors for international growth from the manufacturer basis. This will create an innovation ecosystem.
Corgel and Munce say that in Brazil they found companies with very good ideas, which can receive investments. But according to the executives, good ideas are not enough; it's necessary to formulate consistent projects before initiating a search for investors.
Even so, Corgel believes that this is the right moment to create more companies like Datasul and Totvs. "The entire country is a puzzle to be solved," he said of the regional particularities that impact investment.
"The venture capital local market is emerging, and the scenario is different," said Munce. Perhaps because this is a new practice, there is still a long way to be followed by the Brazilian professionals before they achieve the needed maturity for this kind of investment.
According to IBM reports, the Brazilian market had received significant international investments that include capital funds resources estimated about $32 billion, last year.
Inside the company, it's estimated that the revenues that came from the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) had a growth of 26 percent in the same period. The IBM goal is to maintain these rates based on venture capital agreements, academic projects, and software development.
This story originally appeared in Portuguese here.
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