Innovation hub recognizes engagement generated by Fundo Vale’s activities
Fundo Vale was honored at Cubo Itaú’s Gold Accreditation event on March 20, receiving an honorable mention in the inaugural Engagement category for its work fostering the innovation ecosystem. This marks Fundo Vale’s first gold accreditation from Cubo Itaú – a distinction that recognizes startups, corporations, partners and investors that significantly advanced business opportunities for open innovation players in the past year.
“We are delighted that Cubo Itaú has recognized Fundo Vale’s contribution to strengthening the innovation community. This accolade only reinforces our commitment to fostering and connecting the innovation, impact and bioeconomy ecosystems to catalyze and unlock investments and to develop businesses that generate positive impacts for forests and the climate,” said Gustavo Luz, Fundo Vale’s director.
Considered the foremost hub for innovation and technological entrepreneurship in Latin America, Cubo Itaú has been a Fundo Vale partner since 2023. Joining the hub is part of Fundo Vale’s strategy to boost innovative businesses and solutions for the climate and forests.
Over the course of 2024, Fundo Vale supported several initiatives at the hub, including the Cubo Impact Summit, which presented results and recognized outstanding organizations and people on the forest and climate agenda; São Paulo Climate Week, an event at Cubo Itaú featuring transformative dialogues to tackle the global climate crisis; and Amazon Week, during which Fundo Vale organized a series of activities to draw the community’s attention to the importance of the world’s largest rainforest.
“Our Amazon Week activations connected Cubo Itaú’s community with sustainable Amazonian businesses, providing a direct connection with products, stories and initiatives that are driving the economic development of the Amazon in a responsible and regenerative way. This gold accreditation inspires us to keep expanding this network to promote a new economy that is fairer, more inclusive and in harmony with local communities,” said Rodrigo Araújo, from Fundo Vale’s innovation area.
Technological solutions
By becoming part of Cubo Itaú, Fundo Vale is expanding its relationship with a community of around 400 domestic and international startups that are developing technological solutions for large corporations, investors and partners with a focus on business generation. The aim is to act as a catalyst for positive social and environmental impacts within the Brazilian innovation ecosystem to strengthen the forest and climate agenda.
Cubo Itaú awarded 2024 gold accreditation across four categories. For Startups, the criteria were performance, investment, engagement and soft landing. The Corporate category evaluated engagement and business. Investors were assessed on engagement alone, while partners were judged on engagement and business.
Vale joins Cubo Itaú
Vale has just officially joined Cubo Itaú, with the aim of identifying startups from the hub’s portfolio that are developing solutions to specific mining challenges. This initiative is part of the company’s innovation strategy, to help make its operations safer, more efficient and more sustainable. Fundo Vale will continue as an activator and promoter of Cubo Itaú, highlighting issues related to nature-based solutions, such as the bioeconomy and biodiversity, while Vale will focus on business-related challenges.