Qualcomm is pressing ahead with its plans to develop the semiconductor industry in Brazil and exploit opportunities in the mobility and Internet of Things segments.
Along with Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) and Asus, the company has announced new Asus smartphones that utilize its system-in-package (SiP) technology developed in Brazil.
By Angelica Mari via ZD Net
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Sao Paulo state said on Friday it would offer fresh tax incentives to automakers, weeks after Ford Motor Co said it would shut down a plant there with 3,000 employees and General Motors Co hinted it might do the same before backtracking.
Sao Paulo is the historical center of Brazil’s auto industry, which was one of the world’s five biggest until a recent downturn from which it is still recovering. It has been losing ground in recent years to other Brazilian states which have showered automakers with incentives.
By Aluisio Alves via Reuters
After SoftBank announced its plans to launch a $5 billion innovation fund in Latin America, we reached out to the good folks at the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA) for some context, and what they told me only validates the reasoning behind SoftBank’s interest in the region. (In 2017, we reported on the growing interest in Latin America.)
Let’s start with some numbers. Venture funding in Latin American startups is up — way up — from previous years. Specifically, LAVCA’s data shows that VC funding more than doubled in 2017 to $1.14 billion compared to $500 million in 2016. While 2018 numbers haven’t been finalized, LAVCA is projecting another record year with venture investments topping $1.5 billion.
By Mary Ann Azevedo via Techcrunch
Brazilian retailer Grupo Pão de Açúcar (GPA) has announced plans to invest up to R$1.8 billion (€421.7 million) in 2019 for expansion and optimisation purposes.
The retailer aims to focus on higher-return projects and strengthen its regional performance.
By European Supermarket Magazine
Having shifted from technology to human resources two decades ago, Marcelo Nóbrega is right at the point of convergence between the two areas as he enhances the management of a 50,000-strong Generation Z workforce in McDonald’s restaurants throughout Brazil.
Keeping up with innovation that enhances staff management and productivity is core to the HR director’s work, who joined Arcos Dorados, McDonald’s largest franchisee in the world, in 2014. In his role, Nóbrega is actively looking for innovative approaches to better interact with the workforce with technologies such as artificial intelligence high up on the agenda.
By Angelica Mari via Forbes
Brazil has been through the ringer. The country went from being one of the world’s best-performing emerging economies to one riddled with political instability and beset by one of the worst recessions. In 2014, Brazil reached a record high 65 members on Forbes’Billionaires List. Then the troubles began, and the ranks of Brazil’s superrich fell steadily to just 42 in 2018.
But Brazil has come roaring back—at least when it comes to the very wealthy. A whopping 18 new billionaires hail from the South American country this year, a number of whom have taken their companies public on the São Paulo stock exchange in the recent past. Altogether Forbes found 58 billionaires in Brazil this year worth a combined $175 billion.
By Anderson Antunes via Forbes
Demand for digital driving licenses is soaring in Brazil since the introduction of the smartphone-based document last year, available to the country’s 60 million drivers.
According to Brazil’s federal government’s data processing agency (Serpro), the digital license is available countrywide since April, but uptake has increased by 85 percent due to a new remote validation functionality added to the app last month.
By Angelica Mari via ZD Net
Singapore — Surpassing Russia, Brazilian crude oil shipments for China’s independent refineries topped the list in February at 2.17 million mt, S&P Global Platts monthly survey showed Tuesday.
Total imports from Brazil were just 54,000 mt more than those from Russia, though they were still 5.4% lower from January.
S&P Global Platts Staff
SAO PAULO, March 2 (Xinhua) — Silvia Basilio Proenca felt safer after she installed a security camera in her car while driving passengers in Brazil’s populous city of Sao Paulo.
The 51-year-old woman joined the country’s ride-hailing service 99 in February 2017.
By Pablo Giuliano via XinhuaNet
Fintech startup N26 plans to launch its retail banking service in Brazil soon. The company announced the news onstage at MWC in Barcelona.
N26 has already announced that its next market would be the U.S. at some point during the first half of 2019. Brazil should launch after that.
By Romain Dillet via Tech Crunch
