10 examples of Brazilian startups that changed the market
For some people, understanding the concept of a startup is much easier based on examples. What is natural, after all, these organizations have disruptive business models — a news that is difficult to absorb for those who are used to having contact only with traditional businesses in the market.
In basic terms, startups are young companies with an ambitious goal of developing a unique product or service for the market. They usually do this by identifying the deficiencies of an existing product and improving it with technology. With a short time after the start of their activities, they are able to serve countless clients in different parts of the world in a scalable way.
On the national scene, this new business model has gained notoriety in the last three years. The country stayed in 2020 in 20th place in the Startups ranking, which makes evident the great advance in the market.
In 2021, according to the 2021 Wrapped Brazilian Startups Report, prepared by the Sling platform, Brazilian startups are effectively contributing to the economic movement, as they were responsible for hiring more than 100,000 people. Thus, making the scenario interesting and contributing to a 200% increase in volume contributed to startups.
Also to highlight the marketing importance of these companies, the Legal Framework for Startups and innovative entrepreneurship came into force in the country in June 2021. This law was created with the purpose of creating a favorable regulatory environment for innovative companies.
Credit: Statista
The growth of the startup ecosystem is impressive, but there are two reasons Keys for climbing these companies. The strength of this type of business has come mainly from the increase in the number of investors, which was caused by the exchange rate difference between the real and the dollar, which made Brazil more interesting for investments in general.
Another point that contributed to this growth was the rapprochement between venture capital and private equity funds. In other words, the market is still fully heated for new companies and to know how to managing your startup with automation processes it will help you to be ahead in this scalable race.
To illustrate this scenario, we can cite some examples of startups, but most of the time we think about this our head goes to obvious names, such as Amazon and Netflix, global unicorns. However, there is no need to go that far! In Brazil, there are great examples of startups that revolutionize the market and make history in the business world.
But, after all, do you know what a unicorn startup is?
Broadly speaking, the term unicorn refers to any startup that reaches a valuation of US$ 1 billion. The term was first used by Aileen Lee to emphasize the rarity of these endeavors. Startups that exceed the valuation of US$ 10 billion, on the other hand, are grouped under a new term called decacorns (a super unicorn).
In this sense, the Brazilian startup ecosystem is accelerating rapidly, with 20 companies becoming unicorns in the last four years.
Credit: Antler
Do you want to know them a little better? Here, our team has separated 10 great examples for you to discover:
10 examples of startups and unicorns in the Brazilian market
From financial services to the routine activities of Brazilians, such as ordering deliveries, signing up for gyms and booking bus tickets — several segments have already been revolutionized by intelligent businesses.
Below is our alphabetical list with these examples:
1. 99
Outside, when it comes to ride-hailing apps, Uber is the first name that comes to mind. However, here in Brazil, the company has a competitor that is up to the task and, for many, is even preferred to the detriment of the foreign giant: 99.
Created in 2012 by business partners Paulo Veras, Renato Freitas and Ariel Lambrecht, the urban mobility app became the first unicorn startup in our country. And, second dice of Global Consumer Survey, has a Market Share of 73% in the urban mobility service app market.
2. Buser
Elected by LinkedIn as one of Top Startups of 2020, Buser is another great example of a revolution through technology to facilitate routine life. The company's business model is centered on bus chartering for intercity trips. It's as if it were an “Uber for buses”: people interested in the trip make the reservation through the app and, at the time of the trip, they divide the price of the bus freight among themselves.
In this model, the amounts disbursed by passengers are up to 60% lower than traditional values, with bus companies.
Currently, the startup has a new strategy to diversify and expand its revenue. In 2022, the travel platform began selling tourist packages combining road trips and lodging in Brazil.
3. Credits
One of the Brazilian unicorns, Credits is an online secured credit platform. The company emerged as a Fintech, in 2012. Like most startups, it needed financial support and received Seed investment (a way of raising funds for early-stage startups). Then it never stopped growing.
Today, Creditas is one of the main financing companies in the country and has more than 500 crew members (as they like to call their employees).
In terms of marketing, the company has sought to increase its growth strategy by purchasing Andbank's operations to have a full banking license.
4. Decomplicate
Ask any high school student preparing for entrance exams and they're sure to know what Descomplica is. With its online platform launched in 2011, today the company has a complete service that offers preparatory classes (mainly focused on ENEM), essay corrections, monitoring and study materials.
This company is part of the group of Edtechs, startups focused especially on the area of education. Here on the blog, we have a post dedicated especially to them and their potential for transformation in the Brazilian scene. Also read: Edtechs — how they are transforming the education market in Brazil.
5. Gympass
Gympass is an example of a Brazilian startup that works with the Focus on health of its users. In the service offered, different gyms spread across several cities in Brazil - and even in Latin America - are affiliated and can be accessed by customers who only pay for the subscription to the app.
The company invested primarily in the corporate market, selling its service as a benefit that organizations offer to their employees. With this type of performance, this, which is another Brazilian unicorn startup, served as an inspiration for companies to focus on this type of sale as well.
Currently, in order to further accelerate its expansion in the market, the company is changing its platform to consolidate itself as a wellness superapp, which provided coverage of 90% of the gyms in the country.
6. iFood
Who doesn't know iFood nowadays? The service revolutionized the way in which we order delivery and is the main way to connect restaurants, customers and delivery people today. What many people get confused about is the origin of the startup, which although it seems foreign because of its name, is 100% Brazilian!
Founded in 2011, the company is The largest in the delivery segment in Latin America, with operations also in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. Currently, in addition to offering restaurant delivery, users can also have access to orders at markets, pharmacies, and pet stores.
Currently, the company has partnered with technology companies and has offered training grants in this area to thousands of Brazilians.
7. Loggi
Serving mainly e-commerce, Loggi is another example of a startup that, like Uber and 99, solves urban mobility problems. However, its role is not in the transportation of passengers, but in Transportation of volumes for delivery to your recipients.
The main activity is the delivery of products sold by Online Stores in the largest cities in the country, which have very heavy traffic. In addition to internet purchases, the company also transports documents for corporate clients and food for restaurants.
8. Nubank
Nor could the best-known fintech in Brazil be left out of our list with examples of Brazilian startups. The “little purple”, as it is affectionately called, is a credit and debit card that introduced the idea of digital banks in the Brazilian market, Nubank offers all the solutions of a conventional bank but without abusive fees.
After Nubank, other fintechs emerged here, such as C6 Bank, Neon, and Picpay. All of them with the main focus on offering financial services in digital environments. To learn more about them, also read our content on the Fintech Revolution in the financial market!
9. Fifth Floor
The Fifth Floor solves the pain of the thousands of Brazilians who suffer when renting a property. Facilitating the process for both landlords and renters, the app dispenses with guarantors, uses a digital signature to sign the rental agreement, and offers free ads for property owners.
Another one that is part of the select group of unicorn startups with Brazilian roots.
10. Digital Results
A big name on the scene of digital marketing, Digital Results (or simply “RD”) is an example of a Brazilian startup that works with a SaaS model, which means”Software as a Service”. This is because its main source of revenue is the so-called RD Station, a platform that combines the management of e-mail marketing campaigns, publications on social networks, campaign automations, and metric monitoring.
She is also responsible for the RD Summit event, the main gathering of digital marketing professionals in Brazil.
Precious lessons we can learn from startups
Now that we have reached the end of our list with beautiful examples of startups that revolutionized the Brazilian market with their disruptive solutions, has it become easier to understand the characteristics of this type of business? We hope so!
Beyond just knowing the business model of the companies that are successful in our country, we invite you to think about some lessons that other businesses can learn from startups, such as:
- having as its main focus the client's pain;
- use technological innovations to simplify complex situations;
- create businesses that work without borders;
- reinvent yourself with your market to remain current.
The key to growth is the customer and to help you succeed, you can implement the Clicksign solutions that are innovating the experience in Brazilian startups.
Can you think of any other lessons that these examples of startups can teach entrepreneurs? Leave it below in the comments on this post! And if you want to continue studying about these organizations, we recommend reading our post that shows How to think like a startup and stay ahead of market innovations.
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