Global Compact International Yearbook 2015

Good Practice
Financial Markets
Bradesco launched the InovaBra program
to discover innovative startup projects
that have applied solutions or have the
possibility to adapt financial products
and services that will help the bank to
create new solutions for its customers.
Young companies that intend to participate
can present their innovations
in the following areas: improvements
in services, methods of payment, digital
channels, new security technologies,
new solutions for smartphones, and
future banking. The invention has to
be developed enough so that it can be
adopted in the coming years within any
area of the bank.
Bradesco has been involved with techbased
innovation for a long time. The
Brazilian bank was the first to use ATM
machines in the country. When the internet
began developing in the late 1990s,
Bradesco was the first bank in Latin
America to introduce internet banking,
and the fourth bank globally.
Startups offer fresh ideas
“We are already thinking about what
to offer in the next-generation bank,”
says Mauricio Minas, Bradesco’s Executive
Vice-President. “This is a project in
which everyone wins: the customer of
Bradesco, who has access to innovative
products and services; the bank, which
maintains its tradition and pioneering
role, creating a new channel to generate
innovation; and the startups, which have
the opportunity to leverage business in
partnership with a major supporter,”
adds Minas.
This is the first time Bradesco is engaging
in an open innovation process, even
before any kind of technological research
and development, innovation management
had been conducted internally.
Bradesco decided to leave this track for
two reasons: First, isolated research generates
higher costs and allocates more staff
for these projects; second and most important,
using external sources helps in
diversifying solutions, making it a major
factor for creating new business models.
Overcome barriers and timidity
In this context, startups are increasingly
drawing the attention of large
companies. This trend can be observed
globally, but again it is Bradesco that
is bringing this innovation to Brazil.
It is helping small and young startups
approach complex markets such as the
financial sector and breaking up barriers.
Maurício Minas, said in an interview
with Bloomberg: “A lot of startups are
afraid to look for a company the size of
Bradesco, because our first questions will
be who are they and do they have the
execution capacity we need. We created
the program for these small businesses
to come here and make their products
with us, instead of creating a PowerPoint
presentation.”
According to the executives, the initiative
is a great opportunity for startups to
gain visibility in the market and start a
job based on actual demands. The great
advantage of our program is the innovation
of the business model, as companies
will work based on real needs identified
by the business units of the bank, diluting
the risk of innovation. Also, it will
feature advice and guidance from top
executives of the institution, access to
key employees of the business units – in
order to shape the solutions for a large
financial institution – and assistance
in managing and mentoring. Finally, it
will test the solution presented in one of
the largest banks in the country.
The startups are companies in the early
and intermediate stages of activity that
have promising projects based on innovative
ideas. “Currently, access to
technologies to generate innovation is
within reach of everyone,” says Minas.
“So we decided to bet on merging our
innovation process to allow us to pursue,
support, and invest in good ideas. Our
goal is to create an interaction channel
with companies that are on the border
of creation, have agility to adapt to the
proposed new challenges, but need
support for proper management of the
business.”
How does
work?
The program cycle takes 10 months:
four for the selection process and six
months for the process of interaction
with the bank, including improvements
in management; the search for strategic
synergy; and operational and marketing
elements. The first stage comprises three
steps. In the first step, during a period of
three months, any startup can present
its new innovations when entering the
pre-selection process. At that stage, the
startups have to give information about
their idea that is as precise as possible
and information about the stages of
technological development. Then Bradesco
internally analyzes which of these
business models fits with the bank’s own
products and services strategy.
After overcoming this first barrier, an
average of 40 startups is invited for an
extensive assessment. This includes the
evaluation questionnaire filled out by
the companies during registration. These
companies go through an immersion process
to meet the bank management and
are evaluated on the following criteria:
qualification of staff, value-generation
potential, delivery capacity, potential
for innovation, and risk measurement.
Third, 20 startups are selected to undergo
evaluation by a group of bank executives.
About 10 companies continue to the
project design phase, in which they receive
guidance with respect to a demand
associated with a real need for the bank,
including mentoring, monitoring, and
management of the development process.
Currently, Bradesco is internalizing their
solutions. The companies have already
built minimum viable products, which
have been experimented. Through this
process Bradesco will support the development
of the products or services
and adaptation of the solutions to its
environment. At the end of the program
cycle, companies that have successfully
completed the presentation of their solutions
will be able to market their products
to Bradesco. The bank may also be
a strategic investor.
Global Compact International Yearbook 2015
141