When it comes to tech innovation and digital transformation, Brazil has caught the world’s eye. Besides its stunning landscapes and lively culture, this South American powerhouse is making a name for itself in the global tech scene.
In this blog post, we’ll delve into dynamic cities and innovation hubs shaping Brazil’s future with startups, entrepreneurs, and tech giants. Get ready to meet the Brazilian tech hubs and discover all the cool stuff that’s making this country a big player in the tech world.
Belo Horizonte
Literally translating the name of this city results in “beautiful horizon” for Belo Horizonte. But if you think this city only offers beautiful landscapes, you’re in for a surprise. It’s Minas Gerais capital, with a 20M+ population and the third largest GDP among Brazilian states.
Belo Horizonte allures startups with incentives and involves 30,000+ people in Software and Tech industry. A significant spot of interest is “Orbi Conecta,” an innovation hub that houses numerous prominent companies from Minas Gerais, including Banco Inter, MRV, and Localiza. This location is also known as “San Pedro Valley,” a direct reference to Silicon Valley in the United States.
Florianópolis
We at GeekHunter may be considered biased when discussing this topic, as Florianópolis was the city where our company originated. However, I will attempt to maintain objectivity.
Florianópolis is the only tech hub in the southern region of Brazil. It is renowned as “the magic island” due to the city’s captivating appeal. Having a population of 500,000, with over 12,000 at the technology sector, Florianópolis effortlessly captures one’s affection.
High-quality universities near Florianópolis contribute to its emergence as a tech hub despite the significant “modest” population.The most prominent among these is the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC).
Recife
Recife holds significant historical importance within Brazil. Among the state capitals, it is uniquely positioned in proximity to both the US and Europe. However, over the past two decades, substantial investments in the technology sector have revitalized the city’s significance. As of writing, Porto Digital tech park hosts 350+ companies, employing 11,000+ in the sector.
Yet, Recife’s allure extends beyond technology. The Northeast region of Brazil is renowned for its natural splendor, and Recife exemplifies this. The city offers tech professionals a balance of life quality and growth opportunities in a harmonious setting.
Rio de Janeiro
Besides beaches, samba and soccer, Rio de Janeiro ranks among the top 5 cities worldwide that everyone recognizes. Rio’s historical capital role and consistent investment draw fuel its development throughout Brazil’s history.
With a population exceeding 6 million inhabitants, Rio takes its place as both Brazil’s second-largest city and its second-wealthiest. This signifies that we possess all the prerequisites necessary to evolve into a major tech hub, and indeed, this transformation has taken place.
Situated alongside São Paulo and Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro forms part of the Southeastern region of Brazil. Collectively, this region garners up to 60% of all investments directed towards the country’s tech sector. Thus, Rio hosts lots of global tech events and has many tech parks spread around the city.
São Paulo
Typically, people begin by discussing São Paulo before delving into the others. Nevertheless, there isn’t much more to reveal about Brazil’s most prominent tech hub that you aren’t already aware of.
Having a population of 11 million residents exclusively within the city limits of São Paulo, and employing over 350,000 individuals within the technology sector, the city proudly showcases an extensive roster of substantial startups and unicorns that originated there. Nubank, C6 Bank, Creditas, CargoX, XP Inc., and many more were born in this city. In fact, São Paulo is the birthplace of 12 out of the 16 unicorns from across Brazil.
São Paulo provides a thriving environment for entrepreneurs to embark upon their ventures, courtesy of its metropolitan ambiance and the comprehensive network of public and private support systems that it offers.
Where to invest in…
There’s no right answer. For those interested in the Brazilian tech scene, various hubs are emerging. You can choose the ones up here or others like Campinas, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Salvador, etc. In all of those places you’ll find qualified professionals, network infrastructure, tax incentives to invest and a huge collaborative atmosphere.
All you gotta need is a partner to help you reduce risks, costs and hiring time for your company. GeekHunter is here to help you. Based in Florianópolis we’ve been helping Brazilian tech companies to hire the top-level professionals from all over the country since 2015.
At the time I’m writing this article, we’ve 400k software developers in our database and have already worked with 13k companies in Brazil.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about our work and how we can help you to get into the Brazilian tech sector, fill out this form.
