EDP, company present in all sectors of the Brazilian electric market, was recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the country, coming up in 9^th place in the Top 50 Open Corps ranking, which recognizes the forerunners and most committed companies in the Brazilian innovation ecosystem. The award was presented at the Whow! Innovation Festival, event that aims to disseminate an innovative environment and collaboration amongst Brazilian companies. 

Besides the award, the executive manager of Strategy, Innovation and Ventures for EDP Brazil, Livia Brando, integrated the panel “Intelligent Cities: the future of mobility and living in urban environments”, where she presented EDP’s initiatives in the field. Over the last year, the company has gained prominence for several initiatives that support its position at the forefront of innovation, as for example the launch of the largest electric grid for recharging electrical vehicles connecting Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo, in partnership with BMW; Another example being the launch of EDP Smart, which offers new solutions in electric mobility, for residential consumers and B2B alike.   

In Brazil, EPD supports national entrepreneurship in the energy sector since 2015, with initiatives that aid startups in the development of solutions from their initial phases, going through prototyping, validation, pilot development and investment.

“The acknowledgement we receive for the search of innovation in the corporate environment only stimulates us to keep pushing this movement in the energy market further and further along. That is why being recognized in the Top 50 corps ranking is a great way to fuel the ecosystem and further stimulate the innovation communities in the country” exalts Livia Brando. 

At the ranking lists companies that registered contracts with startups in the last year. As an evaluation criteria, companies must have 100 or more employees and gross earnings of over R$ 100 million in the fiscal year of 2018, besides having registered and/or validated the information regarding the startups until the end of May 2019.

Until this moment, 1.000 companies build up the basis for the ranking, alongside 8,6 thousand startups, 14 thousand evaluators, 50 thousand registered evaluations and over 5 thousand contracts registered, as well as 876 large companies with on-going relations with startups.

Meet some of EDP’s initiatives regarding the Startup ecosystem

EDP Ventures Brazil

Last year, EDP created the first Corporate Venture Capital channel in the Brazilian electric market called EDP Ventures Brasil, focused on resource allocation in startups. R$ 30 million will initially be allocated to entrepreneurship projects, in addition to the annual values already destined to innovation. EDP Ventures Brasil already has two Brazilian startups invested by CVC – Corporate venture capital.

Starter Acceleration Program

Last week, finalists were selected for the Latin American module of the Starter Acceleration Program, EDP’s global acceleration program that now has modules in three regions – Europe (Madrid, Spain), Latin America (São Paulo, Brazil) and North America (Houston, USA), - where EDP already has a strong presence and is recognized in the field of innovation. At the end of the modules, nine finalist startups will have the opportunity of presenting their projects in the Web Summit in Lisbon, one of the largest innovation venues in the world.  

Smart Energy Lab

At the company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Accenture, the global business management and information technology consultancy to create an innovation lab focused on developing new solutions and technologies for the utilities sector.

At the initiative deems to create innovative technologies in the areas of distributed solar generation, energy management solutions, electric mobility, financial solutions and energy storage.

Innovation Lounge

EDP recently launched the Innovation Lounge, with the objective of providing a work environment that facilitates interactions between areas linked to the Company innovation projects. Through a new work method, the physical spaces are distributed to form multidisciplinary teams that work towards agile development of new solutions.

Mobilidade elétrica

In partnership with the BMW Group, EDP launched in July last year, one of the largest grids of electric car charging stations in Latin America, on the Presidente Dutra Highway. The stations, positioned at a maximum distance of 122 kilometers from each other, made it possible to complete electric vehicle voyages between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two most populous cities in Brazil. The initiative also benefits hybrid vehicle owners who choose to run in electric mode only.

At the project received about R$ 1 million in investments for the installation of six fast loading pods located at gas stations, along a stretch of approximately 430 kilometers between the two capitals.

About EDP in Brazil

With over 20 years in the market, EDP is one of the largest private companies in the Electricity sector to operate in all aspects of the supply chain. The company has more than 10 thousand collaborators between direct and third-party employees working with Energy Generation, Distribution, Transmission, Sales and Customer Service. It has six hydroelectric and one thermoelectric generating units and reaches around 3,5 million customers through its distribution grid in the states of São Paulo and Espírito Santos. Recently it became the main stock-holder of CELESC in the state of Santa Catarina. In Brazil, EDP is seen as a benchmark in Innovation, Governance and Sustainability, featuring for 13 consecutive years on the B3 Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE).