Event organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in late October in London brought together Brazilian companies that are already or intend to settle in the UK, as well as other companies with interests in Brazil. The event, Meet Brazil in the UK, was co-organised by the HM Consul General São Paulo and Director of UKTI Brazil, Richard Tuner, and the Inward Investment Manager of the UKTI Brazil, Raquel Kibrit, and aimed to create links to the exchange of experiences and new business opportunities.
As the unique representative of Brazilian media produced in the UK, Brasil Observer had the chance to meet interesting Brazilian initiatives that seek to internationalise their business in London.
One of the highlights was the platform Bliive, a collaborative network for time exchange. The director Ana Beatriz Schwanck Fernandes and the developer Fernando Gielow, who are based in Glasgow, Scotland, and presented the concept to the London audience. The operation is quite simple: first, the network user provides a experience, for example, a guitar lesson for one hour; for the hour offered, you get a TimeMoney, currency exchange created by the network; later, TimeMoney can be exchanged for what the user wants. The initiative was awarded funding from the Sirius Programme, which offers opportunities for entrepreneurs around the world establishing their business in the UK.
Among the companies which are not in the UK, but want to be join the British market, Brasil Observer could met Multi Farmas, an online price comparison of medicines and drugs between pharmacies currently operating in Brazil. The founder Carlos Matos, who was in London for the first time, said he had already undertaken feasibility studies, but that would only know for sure after better understand the “ground”, which he hoped would happen during Innovate UK (another UKTI event) , at the beginning of November.
Another Brazilian company looking to reach UK is Sankhya, represented by the product manager Lucas Menezes. Based in Uberlândia, in the State of Minas Gerais, the company offers solutions in business management using information technology. There were other Brazilian companies looking to establish themselves including Qualitin, HUB, Nabas Legal and Asc Accountants, who were hopeful at the prospects discussed at the event.
