startupi

The Kindle, Amazon’s device for reading e-books, has arrived in Brazil and should increase the market for virtual goods. Priced as high as it is, it may not become popular this year. However “those who position themselves before the surf are ready to take the big waves.”  Innovation and the pioneer spirit are in the DNA of startups.

With faith in the renewal rather than destruction of the book market, the startup Bookess - which was founded in Rio de Janeiro and is now based in Florianópolis - is the second Brazilian site to prepare content for the Kindle (after the newspaper O Globo). This new move confirms Bookess’ standing as one of the best systems for e-book reading in the world, according to the magazine CEO World. Read more…

Finally, on the morning of October 6th, Apple launched its Brazilian Online Store, with the slogan “Hello Brazil.” Now we can purchase items directly from Apple without having to leave home!

If you take advantage of the launch promotion, buying a Mac or iPod by October 20, 2009 (or before they run out) you can get an ad campaign bag, available in three colors. Read more…

In June 1998, colleagues Romero Rodrigues, Rodrigo Borges, Ronaldo Takahashi and Mario Letelier had a dream: to create a brand that would be part of people’s lives. Night after night, the four students slept in the office, working hard on what they called Buscapé. But it was not working. It failed. Several times. Still, they continued undoing nightmares and redoing the dream.

They were awarded national and international investment (a rare thing, at that time, and still difficult), bought up competitors, became a corporation (BuscaPé.com Inc.) and took the lead in several countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela). Last week, after ten years in business, they sold 91% of Buscapé to multinational media company Naspers Limited for US$ 342 million.

How did this happen? Want to know how you can do it too? And what is the future of their dream? I interviewed Romero a day after the sale - the day before his 32nd birthday - to learn more. Also watch for our upcoming  chat with Brazil’s leading young “internerd” to be CEO of a meteoric startup. Read more…

In 1999, when BuscaPé launched, it saw 55,000 users per month. After two years, it received an investment of approximately R$60 million, and since then it has purchased various other businesses. This year, the forecast was it would close the year with an average of 62 million users per month (12 million more than the average of the previous year).

From this excellent position, Grupo BuscaPé had the greater part (how much is not revealed) of the electronic commerce activity in Brazil (for a total of R$ 3.8 billion in the first quarter of the year, but predicted to close out 2009 with R$10 billion).

I found some more information about the history of BuscaPé, e-commerce in Brazil, and Naspers - the multinational media group which announced today that it had purchased BuscaPé for US$342 million. Read more…

They did it! The Brazilian price comparison site, created 10 years ago by 4 colleagues, was sold almost in its entirety to a foreign group. The media company Naspers announced today that it bought 91% of the Brazilian e-commerce business BuscaPé for US$ 342 million. I am in contact with them to get more information, especially the perspective of the entrepreneurs. Read more…

Monday and Tuesday was TechCrunch50, a conference held in the US by the blog TechCrunch, with speakers, startup presentations and prizes. A type of festival of innovative businesses that are candidates for success. Hytle, from Curitiba, was the only Brazilian participant this time around. Read more…