Increases dispute for IT venture capital
Valor Econômico
There are many paths to grow and Navita is not alone in the path chosen by its officers. Specialized in systems for corporate homepages and applications for smart cellular phones, the company has just received a financial investment of R$ 2.5 million (US$ 1.35 million) from the Invest Tech Fund. With the funds it intends to extend the market share in the foreign market and increase the sales at 120% still this year. "Speeding the growth process this way would only be possible with acquisitions or investments", affirms Roberto Dariva, Executive Officer of the company. In order to get the funds, the company had to improve the management and become a joint stock company.
The case depicts what has been occurring more and more frequently in the Brazilian market of information technology (IT). The increase in the number of companies in the sector has increased the dispute for financial resources. Among private investment funds it is common to evaluate at least one hundred companies for each investment approved. The dispute for public resources, such as grants and loans, is no longer the most sought. The investor's level of demand has increased, but the good news is that the companies have increased the level of quality of their projects, according to reporting of the very investors.
In view of the growing demand and the budgetary availability the Studies and Projects Financing Agency (Finep) increased the resources for funds of venture capital aimed at IT to R$ 200 million (US$ 108 million) this year. Last year, R$ 60 million (US$ 30.5 million) was invested. The options range from funds aimed at incipient companies (seed capital) to those intended for consolidated companies seeking funds to finance their production, strengthen the areas of sales and marketing, or willing to go public. Besides the direct investment, the institution raises resources for such portfolios between pension funds and institutional investors.
The Finep has not published the rules for the selection of projects this year yet, but the search for funding and subsidies in 2009 gives an idea of how the process will be, says André Nunes, head of the department of services and information technology of the Finep. Last year, the number of requests for funding (at subsidized interest) made by IT companies increased six times compared to 2008. At least 30% of the requests were made for the first time in 2009. The search for funds at interest is not the first choice of the companies. They begin by the subsidy (non-refundable resources) and by the partnership with funds.
The evolution of the grant requests also impresses. The Finep has received 1,079 proposals from IT companies. In the prior year, 308 requests were evaluated under the same methodology. The available funds amount to R$ 80 million (US$ 43.2 million) a year, but the applications made in 2009 amounted to R$ 2.28 billion (US$ 1.16 billion).