iFood executives and startups met to exchange ideas about open innovation at iFood Innovation Day, held on September 12th. As a new member of Cubo Itaú, in São Paulo, the company welcomed entrepreneurs to think, now, about solutions aimed at the future.
At the event, iFood leaders presented the main challenges faced, their vision of the future and how startups can be part of the solution, having the iFood as a complete ecosystem and full of innovation.
The company's director of innovation, Marcos Gurgel, opened the event by welcoming the public and highlighting the importance of iFood's arrival at Cubo Itaú to get closer to the community of entrepreneurs and startups. He then invited CEO Fabricio Bloisi for the first lecture.
The power of innovation open
Fabricio presented a timeline with the history of iFood, a Brazilian company 100%, from the founding of Movile, through the first investments until reaching the current model.
He emphasized that this trajectory required many changes in strategy, learning and testing, in addition to the importance of innovation to overcome challenges and partnerships with startups to create new businesses.
To conclude, he commented on the “way of working” at iFood, with an entrepreneurial soul, focus on high performance in search of results and using the power of innovation to create a more prosperous future.
iFood partner startups
Afterwards, Gurgel conducted a chat with leaders of startups that are already iFood's business partners. Participating in the conversation were Jonas Casarin, CEO of Anota AI (chatbot for delivery), Eduardo Pietraroia, co-founder of Frexco (hortifruti delivery), and Manuel Coelho, CEO of Speedbird Aero (drones for delivery).
During the panel, the executives spoke about the importance of closing strategic partnerships between startups and large companies. Among the competitive advantages of this relationship, they cited the potential for growth with optimization of processes and operations and access to tools and the iFood ecosystem, in addition to opening doors to the market and investors and gaining credibility.
Furthermore, they passed on their experience to the representatives of the startups present to help them choose a strategic partner, including the importance of having alignment and trust in building a long-term business.
iFood executives make reverse pitch
To close the meeting, iFood executives held a reverse pitch, presenting the challenges in their areas with opportunities for the startups present to bring innovative solutions.
Arnaldo Bertolaccini, Vice President of Restaurants, spoke about the opportunities within the portfolio of Software as a Service solutions for restaurants. Marcel Alonso, senior director of Logistics, commented on the needs for the next steps in logistics for Restaurant and Market services.
Finally, Gustavo Queiroz, head of Innovation, brought the challenge of accelerating the categories under development at iFood: Pharmacy, Beverages, Pet Shop and Shopping.
To finish, there was also a happy hour, a moment of connection and direct access to leaders after understanding the opportunities presented.
