Bradesco BBI’s technique to be a protagonist within the tech universe

In 2021, Bradesco BBI created a specific area to serve one of the most dynamic segments of the Brazilian economy. Called BBI Tech, the group that includes members of investment banking, equity research and sales teams, was born with the mission of bringing the institution closer to startups and other companies somehow connected with the technology universe.

Since then, BBI has been carrying out a series of initiatives focused on this purpose. The most recent one shows that the decision to create a tech arm was right.

On August 31, the bank promoted the event “BBI Tech no InovaBra – An Immersion in the Capital Market.” In the face-to-face and online format, it had the participation of approximately 120 companies, as well as representatives of Private Equity and Venture Capital funds.

“Our objective was to explain, in great detail, how an IPO and M&A process works and to show how we can help high-growth companies with their needs”, says Camila Machado, head of Equity Syndicate at Bradesco BBI.

The meeting was held at the headquarters of InovaBra, an innovation space that Bradesco maintains in São Paulo. In addition, InovaBra was responsible for the curatorship and helped to select the participating companies.

The startups came from many different industries and stages of maturation. One of them, FindUP, offers computer technician services through an application and became known in the market as the “Uber of IT.” Another participant was the fintech TecPay, which connects commercial establishments to credit institutions.

On the investors’ side, BBI Tech at InovaBra received Domo Invest, one of the main Venture Capital managers in Brazil. “The event was very productive and yielded results for everyone”, says Camila. “From there, there were several meetings with startups interested in opening or strengthening their relationship with the bank, wanting to understand how BBI Tech can help them accelerate their growth. ”

This is the essence that, it should be noted, marks the creation of BBI Tech: being at the side of companies throughout their development journey.

It means that BBI Tech does not want to attract only companies that are about to carry out an IPO or more robust operations – these, of course, are also on its radar of interest –, but also those that need different types of capital market operations. , M&A and even banking products, such as credit, payroll, corporate cards, among others.

“The idea is to build a solid relationship journey and make BBI Tech an indispensable partner for companies of all sizes, even in this moment of lower liquidity and euphoria in the markets”, summarize Danilo Borges and Gustavo Duarte, responsible for technology at the investment bank. .

In addition to M&As and IPOs, the service offering includes operations such as FIDCs, Private Placements and access to investors (both from the public and private worlds)

The Tech nucleus, therefore, proposes to offer tailor-made solutions for any company that wants to be accelerated. In addition to M&As and IPOs, the service offering includes operations such as FIDCs, Private Placements, access to investors (both from the public and private worlds), just to name a few.

BBI already has these products on its shelf and may eventually adapt them for high-growth companies. “Today we know that technology and innovation permeate all sectors of the economy and that we needed a different look at this sector”, say the executives.

This is a gigantic addressable market. At home, Bradesco relies on InovaBra, which has at least 200 startups connected to its ecosystem. Most of them at some point will certainly need the services of BBI Tech.

“In InovaBra we have a storehouse of companies for which Bradesco has already carried out some preliminary due diligence, and this certainly represents an opportunity”, emphasizes Camila.

As a whole, the Brazilian market has around 13,700 startups, according to an estimate by the Brazilian Startup Association. Theoretically, all of them are potential customers of the niche created by BBI.

Bradesco BBI has expertise in the area: it was the lead coordinator of the IPO of the first Brazilian fintech: Banco Inter. He also served as lead coordinator for the company’s 3 subsequent follow-ons and was an advisor to the company on its migration to NASDAQ that year. After Inter, many other operations that involved companies with an innovative vocation came to market.

In the M&A area, its presence is equally remarkable. For example, BBI announced in September that it has advised Xmobots, the largest drone company in Latin America, in its fundraising process with Embraer’s corporate venture vehicle.

“Bradesco has always had a strong connection with innovative companies”, says Camila. She recalls the long relationship with Semantix, a data platform focused on the SaaS (Software as a Service) model.

Semantix was incubated at InovaBra, received investments from the bank’s venture capital, grew rapidly and ended up making its IPO on Nasdaq, always having Bradesco as a business partner.

With BBI Tech, the expectation is to make journeys like this increasingly common and strengthen ties with the billion-dollar technology market.

Source: Neofeed