The entrepreneur and founder of GeneXus, Nicolás Jodal, was approached by many entrepreneurs with ideas and interest in developing an initiative, looking for the engineer to help them along the way. That is why in 2014 Jodal had the idea of creating an organisation that would promote technological entrepreneurs and innovators.
He told his idea to entrepreneur Sylvia Chebi, with whom he shared the Greentizen venture, a platform that promotes actions that benefit the environment through social networks.
Así fue que surgió ThalesLab, una company building que comenzó a ayudar a emprendedores “uno a uno”, en lo relacionado a las estrategias de negocio, las redes de contacto y los aspectos tecnológicos del proyecto. Chebi, quien se desempeña como directora ejecutiva, comentó que la mayoría de los emprendedores que se acercan, no son estudiantes que salen de la facultad con una idea, sino ” gente que está expuesta a un problema, que trabaja en una industria o estudió mucho un tema y encuentra un nicho para resolver”.
In these three years, 20 companies have been created at ThalesLab - such as Fútbol UY, Qoollet and Precios UY -in two modalities: as start-ups or as technology spin-offs created in established companies. "Today most of them are start-ups, but we have had some spin-offs. We have helped companies to innovate in a non-traditional way. If you put innovation inside the structure, it usually ends up killing innovation," Chebi summarised.
For this reason, in order to continue promoting the creation of spin-offs, ThalesLab signed an agreement with the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to grow the area of corporate entrepreneurship.
Innovating at home
En un momento en que las tecnologías disruptivas alcanzan a varios sectores productivos, la importancia de innovar en los procesos y en la forma de llegar a los clientes se está convirtiendo en una preocupación de las empresas uruguayas. Es por eso que el intraemprendedurismo, según la directora ejecutiva de ThalesLab, debe tomarse en cuenta.
"When an employee has the idea of doing a startup, they usually work on it in their spare time. If it starts to do well, they have to decide between staying with the company and abandoning their idea, or dedicating themselves to their start-up and leaving the company, and in both cases, we think they both lose," she urged.
In this way, the "mother" company is involved in the startup as a partner, helping with equity capital and providing resources to develop its idea more quickly. "We believe that this is the way for companies to innovate and it also gives people working in the companies a different career perspective," he explained.
Focus on the product
Since last year, ThalesLab has changed the way it operates and the ventures are part of a four-month training programme, meeting once a week. "Our goal," Chebi explained, "is for entrepreneurs to develop a product, prototype or first version, and have a company on the way to being incorporated. We want to speed up the process and not leave the idea floating around for a long time.
The focus of ThalesLab's training programme is on executing a good product, to go to market and fill that unmet niche. "We don't put so much emphasis on them making a good pitch, nor do we train them to enter competitions and contests. That's not the focus for us; the focus is that they have a good product," he stressed.
"The focus should not be on getting the pitch right, but on making a good venture. Sylvia Chebi, co-founder of ThalesLab
Direct financial support is not among the services offered by ThalesLab, but it does offer entrepreneurs agreements with platforms that provide them with inputs for their businesses, and help them to obtain investments, both from the National Investment Agency and private investors.
Chebi considers herself a "gender activist", which is why she is working to get more women into the ICT industry, and that is no exception to ThalesLab's projects.
"Diversity adds value. The more diverse the teams, the more value the company will have. This is true both in terms of gender and in terms of team members' backgrounds and interests," he summarised.
Source: The Observer
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