03/02/2020
The Public Procurement Portal has just received an investment of R$2.5 million from the Brasil Central Venture Fund, managed by Cedro Capital. The Fund was created in 2016 with the goal of investing in national companies based in the Midwest region (Distrito Federal, Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul), Minas Gerais and Tocantins, that bring technological innovation to the areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Health and Agribusiness and have high growth potential.
The resources will be invested mainly in expanding the service teams – remote, call center, and in-person, which covers the Portal’s regional support network – and in training. “The latter includes the creation of our corporate university and the restructuring of the training and professional certification program with users,” announces the CEO of the Public Procurement Portal, Leonardo Ladeira. “A portion of the funds will also be used to expand our technology base – both in terms of staff and infrastructure.”
Ladeira points out that the Fund’s contribution comes at the exact moment when the company needs to accelerate the awareness of its target audience about the range of services that the platform offers. “With the change in the federal legislation on electronic procurement, there was a growth in the number of potential users and we need to reinforce the actions to present the Portal as the best solution in the sector for the state and municipal spheres,” he details.
Decree 10,024/2019 made electronic bidding mandatory for states and municipalities that use federal transfer funds. For the municipalities, the requirement takes effect as of February, with the maximum deadline for adapting to the new Decree ending in June, depending on the number of inhabitants. In this new scenario, the Public Procurement Portal, which today serves about 450 municipalities nationwide (8% of the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities), now works with the goal of tripling this number by the end of 2021. “We realized that at least half of the municipalities in the country have not yet mastered Internet shopping, and they need training and tools like the ones we developed,” says Ladeira, who also includes the conquest of some state governments and agencies in the goals for next year.
The largest independent platform in the sector, the Public Procurement Portal offers municipalities a network of more than 70,000 registered suppliers. In 2019 alone, it managed purchases worth R$12 billion, generating savings of R$9 billion for the municipalities and public agencies that used it – equivalent to the difference in prices obtained compared to the initial quotations of the tenders held.
Investor Expectations
According to the partner-director of Cedro Capital, Alessandro Machado, the Public Procurement Portal fits perfectly with the requirements of the Brazil Central Venture Fund. “It is from the Midwest, provides technological innovation services as a competitive differential, has already validated its business in the market, has a solid customer network, and a mature product. Therefore, we understand that the company is at the right moment to receive investment and be able to accelerate its growth and expansion even more”, he details. “In addition, it is a govtech that is bringing digital transformation to public procurement and bidding management and represents a new form of technology adoption by the government, in the Software as a Service (“SaaS”) modality, in which the Portal will always be up to date in terms of technology and adherence to legislations.”
Cedro’s expectation about the future of the Portal is great, reveals Machado. “Cedro Capital is an independent asset manager based in Brasilia, which seeks to connect companies and projects in the central region of the country with qualified institutional investors.
