EDP, a company that operates in all segments of the electricity sector in the country, won the 4th place in the Top 100 Open Corps ranking, which recognizes the most engaged and committed companies in the Brazilian innovation ecosystem. The publication is part of the Ranking 100 Open Startups and evaluates the engagement of large companies in the relationship with startups.

In this year's ranking, it is the best position for a company in the Brazilian electric sector. In relation to 2018, the year of the first edition of the Ranking, EDP won forty-six positions, jumping from 50th to 4th place. In 2019, the company had already shown great evolution, conquering the 9th position. The official announcement will be made during the special August edition of the XII Open Innovation Week (Oiweek), the largest open innovation meeting in Brazil, which takes place from August 26 to 28.

Among the company's initiatives aimed at the relationship with startups, we highlight the Starter Business Acceleration and EDP Ventures. The first is a business acceleration program that works with startups in the areas of clean energy, customer solutions, digital innovation, energy storage, smart grids, and access to energy and innovation in internal processes. EDP Ventures is the first venture capital vehicle in the Brazilian electricity sector, with R$ 30 million in planned investments.

“We adopt the concept of Open Innovation, based on collaboration with the ecosystem of startups, business partners, customers, academic institutions, regulatory bodies, among others. The work has generated several fruits for the company and the placement in the ranking reflects how important this theme is for the company”, highlights Rafael Marciano, Innovation Manager at EDP Brasil.

Top 100 Open Corps

100 Open Startups is a platform that connects startups to large companies. Annually it organizes a ranking that announces which the 100 leading companies are in open innovation in Brazil. According to the survey, in the last 12 months, 1,635 companies established partnerships with startups, a number that represents an exponential growth of 20 times, in five years of data presented by the movement.

A benchmark for the market, the Ranking 100 Open Startups uses objective criteria, strictly linked to the business relationships established between startups and medium and large companies - those with more than 100 employees or revenues exceeding R$ 100 million in the year. In 2016, when the first list was published, the study had mapped 82 large active companies, 108 startups and 859 open innovation relationships. This year, the study included 1,635 active corporations and 2,018 startups that did open innovation in the country and that did 12,436 businesses in the last year.

About EDP in Brazil

With over 20 years of experience, EDP is one of the largest private companies in the electricity sector operating throughout the value chain. The Company, which has over 10,000 direct and outsourced employees, operates in Generation, Distribution, Transmission, Trading and Energy Services. It has six hydroelectric and one thermoelectric generation units, and serves about 3.5 million customers through its Distributors in São Paulo and Espírito Santo, in addition to being CELESC's main shareholder in Santa Catarina. In Brazil, it is a reference in areas such as Innovation, Governance and Sustainability, having been in the B3´s Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) for 14 consecutive years.