Main Projects
Latin America is the world's new tech frontier. In 2021, over US$ 20 billion of venture capital were invested in the continent and 18 unicorns were created in the region, half of them in Brazil.
With the growth of fintechs in the country and the opportunities that are opening across the continent, Rio de Janeiro has been working and investing in projects in order to become the smartest capital in Brazil and a hub of technology and innovation in Latin America.
Rio relies on three pillars: facilitating, attracting, and qualifying. By creating laws, streamlining processes, reducing taxes, and developing qualification and workforce projects, the city attracts companies in the sector, making it a perfect setting for startup growth.
Learn more about our initiatives:
ISS TECH
Initiative reducing the Service Tax rate from 5% to 2% for technology companies located in the Porto Maravilha region. The benefit has already attracted dozens of companies and is helping make life easier for entrepreneurs.
PORT MARAVALLEY (POMAR)
The largest technology and education hub in Latin America aims at bringing together companies, startups, investors, Academies and research centers in the same space, providing connection and business between different agents of the innovation ecosystem. In addition, the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA), one of the world's greatest teaching references, will offer for the first time a Mathematics degree focused on technology. Innovation and opportunity walking hand-in-hand in the heart of the Rio port area.
CARIOCA PROGRAMMERS (PROGRAMMERS FROM RIO)
Considering the great shortage of skilled labor across the country, the city launched a project that seeks to train and qualify 5,000 young people in socially vulnerable situations in the programming sector by 2024. Through scholarships (full and partial), the program will positively impact the lives of thousands of young people in Rio, primarily offered to women, black people, transgender people and refugees, employing over 80% of its students.
SANDBOX.RIO
Enables innovative products, services and processes, which do not yet fit the current rules of the city, to be tested through a temporary permit in a controlled environment. During trial period, the activity will be monitored to collect data that will be useful in a possible regulation. That is, it offers more legal security to the entrepreneur and more innovation to the city.
CRYPTO RIO
Working group created with the aim of proposing actions to transform Rio into a crypto-friendly city, establishing a favorable ecosystem to investments and development of technologies based on blockchain and crypto assets. Starting in 2023, Rio will be the first city in the country to accept the payment of taxes using crypto assets, and several global crypto companies have already chosen the city as their headquarters for operations in the country.
REVIVE DOWNTOWN
Surrounded by places that occupy the pages of history books, downtown Rio registers the marks and transformations that occurred over the centuries. The Revive Downtown is an urban, cultural and economic recovery project that, not only rescues the vitality of this part of the city, but it also has been attracting new businesses and residents.
COR (RIO'S CENTER OF OPERATIONS)
It is a hub that focuses, manages, monitors and integrates Rio's urban live operations. The city was the first to operate NASA's global landslide model. Today it is used at the Rio Operations Center (COR) as one of its triggers to decide if it is necessary to change the operational level during rains. The partnership with the space agency also includes a model for predicting urban floods and an application that will make it possible to issue air quality alerts.
SPACESHIPS OF KNOWLEDGE
It is a social and digital inclusion project that promotes training and qualification courses, mainly in the areas of technology and information. Located in the north and west zones of the city, the units also promote cultural events, workshops and internet access, all free of charge. The project has already received international awards, such as the Visionary of The Year Award.
CENTER OF TOMORROW'S ENERGY AND FINANCES (CEFA)
It is an innovation hub dedicated to power and sustainability, which aims at generating new businesses in the city. It will be deployed in the former Automóvel Clube building, in downtown Rio.
NEUTRAL SERVICE TAX
Incentive for carbon credit chain companies to establish themselves in Rio. The tax rate is reduced from 5% to 2% for activities related to the development and auditing of carbon credit projects, registration activities, and the provision of carbon credit transaction platforms. Additionally, there is a yearly incentive of R$60 million for carbon credit buyers.
