The fifth-largest country in the world is not only known for its cultural diversity and astonishing landscapes. Brazil is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and it has become the tech leader in Latin America. With the local government pushing the development of technological institutions throughout the country, Brazil has become a model of world-class educational infrastructure. Nearly half of all IT investments in Latin America are destined to the country, which has gained its position as a tech giant globally.

The Brazilian Silicon Valley

The Brazilian Silicon Valley is a term commonly applied to the region of Campinas, and more specifically, to the city of Florianopolis, home to IBM and Lucent. Moreover, other multinational corporations, including Intel, Google, Freescale, and ARM, have chosen Brazil as the top country to establish their headquarters south of the continent.

Why was Campinas named the Brazilian Silicon Valley? Well, this region has comparable features as California’s tech hub; some of them are:

• Campinas is a modern city located near Brazil’s biggest metropolis, Sao Paulo.
• Its educational and research environment has boosted Campinas’ researcher/population ratio to be almost the same as the most advanced tech centers in the world.
• A high amount of non-pollutant and high-tech industries have headquarters in Campinas.
• Several incubators and industry parks have developed in the region, making many microelectronic, computer, software, and telecommunication companies grow exponentially.
  

To mention a few, here are some of the tech giants that have settled around Campinas: Samsung, Nortel, Compaq, Motorola, Fairchild Semiconductor, Huawei, 3M, Texas Instruments, Celestica, Solectron, and Bosch.

‍

Brazil Tech Hubs

Brazil is part of various international agreements, including MERCOSUR, BRIC, G20, and the World Trade Organization. Therefore, there are geographical hives for business activity and innovation, which at the same time draw increasing amounts of foreign investment and local development.

Besides the Brazilian Silicon Valley, other regions and cities have claimed a similar status to Campinas. The Brazilian tech hub is mainly made by:

• Araraquara and São Carlos, State of São Paulo.
• Recife, state of Pernambuco.
• Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais.
• Florianópolis, state of Santa Catarina.
  

The top startups to look up for 2021 in Brazil are Nubank, Neon, Escale and QuintoAndar in Sao Paulo, EBANX and Contabilizei in Curitiba, Hotmart in Belo Horizonte, and ContaAzul in Joinville.

Brazil Tech Education

The Universidade Federal de Minas Geraisis (UFMG) is one of the best computer science institutions in the world and creates an example of the top tech educational institutions you can find in the region. The UFMG recruits professors from UCLA, Oxford, Princeton, Stanford, and other prestigious universities worldwide.

Other top tech academic institutions from Brazil are:

• University of Campinas (UNICAMP)
• The Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (PUCCAMP)
• University of São Paulo (USP)
• The UNISAL (Centro Universitário Salesiano de São Paulo)
• The Center for Research and Development in Telecommunications (CPqD)
• The National Laboratory of Synchrotron Light
• The Renato Archer Research Institute (CenPRA)
• Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Brazil is Home to Tech Opportunities

Forbes previously hailed Rio de Janeiro as one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world. And it's not rare that many tech startups contribute to Brazil's economy. For instance, Brazil has had a high-potential startup industry, as seen by Brazilian companies raising $3.2 billion in capital in the first half of this year, and it's 90% more than the previous year's total raised by the same ecosystem. Companies in Brazil are receiving more money, but many other countries are still scrambling due to COVID-19's effects.

However, the country is home to startups from different countries, so it's not just Brazilian startups that have been doing well. When you consider it, Brazil has a significant startup ecosystem, with an expected 13,300 firms in the country by September 2020. The startup industry is one of the main engines of economic growth in a country with 211 million people.

Brazil Tech Infrastructure

Brazil is the 5th country with the most mobile phone and internet users in the world. 189 million mobile phones and over 200 million tech-savvy consumers make the country a perfect stage for remote working. In recent research by the University Fundação Getúlio Vargas, by 2019, there were more than 420 million devices (Computers, tablets, and smartphones) in Brazil, and 230 million of these were just smartphones alone.

Brazil has implemented an online education program for IT capacity building called Brazil More Digital, aimed at young people aged 16 to 25. Under the umbrella of the Pronatec initiative, it has also generated additional vocational training options. Despite progress, significant dropout rates indicate that these programs may be enhanced to satisfy training requirements better and meet skill demand, resulting in the improvement of university curriculums to match better job profiles in need within the global job market.

If you're a CEO or Founder of an innovative startup that is looking for great tech talent, Teilur Talent is the right solution for you!

Teilur Talent is the top IT recruiting and staffing firm in Latin America and you can access to our exclusive network of top Engineers, Software Developers, Product Designers & Data Experts by clicking here.