The program will finance R$22 million in projects. Photo: FPDO Carioca platform vessel, Petrobras.
Petrobras released the 30 selected in the first phase of the third public notice of the ‘Petrobras Connections for Innovation Program – Startups module’ and among them are GoLedger and BBChain, providers of blockchain solutions. R$22 million will be available for startups and small businesses. According to the oil company, this is the largest selection of its kind in the oil, gas and energy sector.
A GoLedeger which provides Hyperledger solutions for governments and businesses and a. BBChain, which appears under its corporate name Connecting Blocks, uses R3’s Rope participated in projects such as the registration of duplicates at B3.
“The program arose from the need for Petrobras to strengthen its relationship with the innovation ecosystem, especially with startups and small technology-based companies. The investment is aimed at meeting demands mapped internally at the company and solutions that can be developed quickly and with the possibility of being implemented in the oil and gas industry,” Petrobras said in a statement.
Whoever wins, in addition to financial support to develop the projects, will interact with the Petrobras team, receive business training for market positioning and structuring business plans. Sebrae also participates in the program and will support startups. With this, the oil company believes that in addition to being its suppliers, the startups will be able to work with the entire oil and gas chain.
Petrobras is one of the oil companies that invests most in blockchain
As a recent study by the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and Petrobras showed, published by Blocknews last week, the oil company accounts for 10% of blockchain projects in the oil and gas sector. There are four tests and uses, including in partnership with the consortium that explores the Libra field, in the pre-salt.
In the final phase of the program, those who qualify will compete for contributions of up to R$500,000 or up to R$1.5 million, depending on the category they are in – deep tech or soft tech. The values ​​will be used in energy efficiency, robotics, carbon reduction, geological modeling, inspection technology and digital technology projects.
GoLedger and BBChain are in the category of digital technology startups. Now, the 30 startups will undergo document analysis, preparation of work plans and business models.
A VR Monkey, who overcame one of the challenges of the first public notice and who works with virtual reality, is already developing a training platform for those who work in confined spaces. “With the project’s resources, we created a very realistic experience and with innovative mechanics for user interaction with characters on the platform”, said the startup’s commercial director, Rafael de Camargo. The forecast is to implement the pilot in October and have everything ready in the first half of 2022. The startup had never worked in the sector.
The 30 startups pre-selected in the 2021 announcement are as follows:
There is also a list of the 3 companies in the booking register, which are:
