This is part of our series of posts summarizing recent startup news from Brazil in English.
–Helpin, a startup that links customers to home maintenance and repair services, has come out of the 21212 accelerator program with a larger team and an improved business model and the support of Vecchi Ancona, an experienced franchise consultant. Helpin is anticipating selling dozens of franchises of the service in the coming months. Full story.
–Getway is a new service that allows manufacturers to track retail sales of their products in real time, allowing better coordination of production and shipping. The Getway system uses information that is gathered through existing technologies to offer mapping, tracking and order information. Full story.
–Porto Digital, the successful tech park in Recife, has opened offices in São Paulo. The offices will allow any of the 200 businesses affiliated with the tech park to more easily meet investors, foreign visitors and with clients from the southern parts of Brazil, who make up large client base. Full story.
–Garimparia, a collective buying/shopping comparison site, is launching with the backing of investors. The site includes social tools and the ability to embed offers in other sites, the use of QR codes for the offers and the ability to resell unused coupons. Full story.
–Juv & You, an online accessories business with a social-sales model, has added jewelry to their lineup. The business is built around letting women act as entrepreneurs, selling directly to their friends and acquaintances. Sellers get bonuses and prizes as well as a commission on each sale. Juv & You received early support from ru-Net, a Russian investment fund, and the concept has been replicated in Germany, Russia and India. The site also has angel investor support from a former CEO of BrandsClub and the CEO of GroupOn Brazil. Full story.
–Three entrepreneurs have come out of the Startup Farm accelerator with iPostal, an app that turns your digital photos into postcards, adds a message, and mails them. Though still in beta, iPostal already has hundreds of users who have sent hundreds of cards, with (so far) 43% returning to send another. Full story.
–Solidarium is a recently launched platform for Brazilian artisans. Founder Tiago Dalvi was mentored by the Unreasonable Institute, where he fine tuned the idea. Solidarium offers craftspeople and designers a virtual storefront at no cost; a small commission is paid on sales. Dalvi hopes it will provide a new sales outlet and greater reach for artisans from around Brazil, including those from rural areas and poor communities. Full story.
–maxiPago is a new payment system for online retailers that has garnered investment from Maas Global Solutions. It aims to integrate with existing credit card systems while providing strong anti-fraud measures and a robust processing system that can handle thousands of transactions per second. They are hoping to be a strong player across Latin America. maxiPago website (in English). Full story.
