QINTESS Announces An Investment Of Ten Million BRL Towards Programs Fostering Entrepreneurship, Diversity And Social Innovation In Brazil

QINTESS, one of the top ten major IT companies in Brazil, announces an investment of R$ 10 million over the next five years to support and foster entrepreneurship, diversity, and social innovation in Brazil. Vale do Dendê, an entrepreneurial innovation center based in the city of Salvador, will be the first organization to receive funding. Resources for training and seed capital will be provided to young Afro-descendant-led startups and businesses focused on cultivating diversity and creating growth in this area.

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This national initiative, spearheaded by Qintess, seeks to increase the number of entrepreneurs in the tech industry who are of African descent, who are from the LGBTI+ community and who are disabled, as well as from other marginalized communities. It also seeks to help small businesses make the transition to digital in order to remain viable during and after the Coronavirus pandemic. Collaborative businesses, gaming companies and digital startups will be supported with training, with global and national mentorship, as well as with access to seed capital.

Qintess has selected Vale do Dendê as their strategic partner in the social business space because of their successful track record with regard to organizing and supporting entrepreneurs from marginalized communities. They are one of Brazil’s leaders among businesses focused on social impact. Vale do Dendê focuses on the Northeast of Brazil, one of the regions currently in the most need of investment. Furthermore, this partnership will result in the establishment of new innovation hubs mirroring the ones currently in place at Vale do Dendê. These will exist in every capital where Qintess is located, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Curitiba and Fortaleza.

As part of this strategic partnership, Qintess will be sponsoring Vale do Dendê to ensure that the organizational culture and vision created by its founders is cultivated and given the opportunity to grow and expand. “This initiative is coherent with my philosophy. It is fundamental for the companies to develop and implement concrete actions instead of only talking about diversity and inclusion”, says Nana Baffour, CEO, Chairman and Culture Chief Officer of Qintess.

Qintess’ aims to have 2,000 young people from marginalized communities virtually trained in coding (Java, .Net, and Python) within the next five years. The company also looks to accelerate 500 companies by leveraging professional mentors with great market experience as well as their relationships with investors. Fifty of these companies will have access to Qintess’ company fund of R $2.5 million as seed capital to scale their businesses.

According to Lauro Chacon, Vice-President of Qintess Human Capital, this initiative meets the company’s strategies in considering ESG practices in order to promote sustainable growth. “We are an organization oriented to people and we use best environmental, social and corporate governance practices to guide our business. When establishing a partnership such as this one, it is important to reinforce our commitment to promoting diversity, to speeding up innovation and to contributing to all of our clients, collaborators and stakeholder ecosystems, as well as to society as a whole.”, he says.

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Qintess’ executives and its team of collaborators will bring new digital technologies and management techniques to increase Vale do Dendê’s scalability. Valde do Dendê has been operating an acceleration program since 2018. This initiative, which operated out of a physical hub inside one of the biggest bus and subway stations in Salvador, has already benefitted 90 startup companies.

“It is a moment of celebration and pride! I have no doubts that all of the legacy built by Vale do Dendê for Salvador and Brazil’s ecosystem will be strengthened by this partnership.”, says Ítala Herta, Vale do Dendê’s co-founder.

“This partnership with Qintess confirms our bet on the importance of Salvador’s outskirts in particular, and of the Northeast in general, in the development of a creative economy and of innovation in Brazil. I believe the country will not fulfill its destiny of being a great nation if it is not capable of integrating young Afro-Brazilians into sustainable development”, says Rosenildo Ferreira, co-founder and Innovation and Marketing Director of Vale do Dendê.

“We are very happy to be entering in this agreement with Qintess. We believe that because Qintess is a great technology company with great investment capacity, it can support our dream and allow it to thrive for many years, expanding on the work we have started,” says Paulo Rogério Nunes, co-founder and Executive Director of Vale do Dendê.

Teams involving Qintess’ and Vale do Dendê’s executives and collaborators are beginning their joint activities this month. The plan is to implement more than one round of acceleration and of training courses in the technology sector for young people, which will be in operation until the end of the year.

According to Roberto Silva, Qintess Regional Director for The Northeast and Minas Gerais, that partnership makes Vale do Dendê the protagonist in digital transformation for the region. “We are very proud of this partnership because we are going to bring together social entrepreneurship and cutting-edge technology to promote responsible practices.”

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