Startup Raises $15M to End Passwords, Wasted Commodity Boom and What Matters in the Market

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Startup of the Week: Incognita

The “Startup of the Week” board brings every Monday the x-ray of a startup that received funding recently.

The startup: Founded in 2014, in Recife (PE), it started out focused on advertising, but at the beginning of last year, it changed its focus to digital security, in particular the prevention of fraud in the access of apps.

What problem does it solve: the startup uses artificial intelligence (such as behavior patterns) and geolocation to certify that access or payment in an app is being made by the user and not by fraudsters.

• Incognia co-founder and CEO André Ferraz said in an interview with NeoFeed that the company’s error rate is one in 17 million.

In numbers: Incognia announced last week a series A capture of US$ 15.5 million (R$ 74 million, understand the investment rounds in startups here). After the contribution, she was evaluated in $115 million (R$ 551 million).

Investors: the contribution was led by Point72 Ventures, which also invests in Contabilizei.

Why it’s featured: the startup is part of a global trend to eliminate passwords, considered one of the favorite targets of hackers.

Contribution history: this was the first fundraising announced after the company changed its focus.

More numbers: the startup claims to be present on devices of more than 200 million users around the world.

Main customers: financial institutions, delivery apps and ecommerce companies.
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The week at a glance

There were 20 fundraising rounds carried out in Latin America, with $74 million (R$ 355 million) in investments. Brazil was the highlight, with 16 rounds and $67 million (R$ 321 million) raised.

Data is provided by the Sling Hub platform.

Brazil loses commodities boom

Brazil has not been able to take advantage of the current soaring commodity prices as it did in the last boom in basic materials – from the early 2000s to the mid-2000s. The main difference is in the terms of trade.

Understand: this is what the relationship between the prices of a country’s exports and the imports it makes is called. When there is an improvement in the terms of trade, there is an increase in the country’s real income. This allows you to import more products with the same value as your exports.

What explains? Several differences mark the context of the current period to that of the last commodity boom:

• Many countries are raising interest rates to try to cool inflation, which will impact economic activity. China, Brazil’s biggest trading partner, is expected to grow much less this year than in the first decade of the century.

• With more adjusted accounts, the real was stronger at the time and helped the country to import more, including machinery and equipment to increase production and productivity in the economy.

why it matters: the economy as a whole feels the brunt of the falling terms of trade.

• In the previous boom, there was an acceleration of economic growth and a fall in the dollar. This combo helped keep inflation relatively under control, raised the national income and brought down the extreme poverty rate — from 27.5% of the population in 2001 to 8.4% in 2014.

Eletrobras share reserve goes until Wednesday

The deadline for investors to reserve shares in the Eletrobras privatization offer ends next Wednesday (8).

The date is valid both for those who will use FGTS resources and for those who will participate through banks or brokers.

In numbers: Eletrobras predicts that the offer will move BRL 35 billion. The Box points out that approx. 40 million of workers have the option of using the FGTS to participate in the operation.

How to participate: the worker who wants to invest FGTS resources can do everything through the Guarantee Fund app, from authorizing the balance inquiry to selecting the FMP administrator who will be responsible for applying the resources.

• The minimum value is BRL 200and you can use up to 50% of the balance of active and inactive FGTS accounts. Administration fees range from zero up until 0.4% per year and are a decisive factor in the choice. Check out the different options here.

• The grace period to redeem the balance of the FMPs is 12 months. After that period, the money redeemed will return to the FGTS account and can only be withdrawn according to the rules provided for by law (see here what they are).

• The amounts can also be withdrawn within a period of less than 12 months if workers fit into one of the FGTS withdrawal situations (dismissal, retirement, resource to purchase their own home, etc).

Retail: for investors who choose to participate in the offer through their account with brokerage firms or banks, there is no minimum period of permanence, and the sale of shares can be made at any time. The minimum value is BRL 1,000 and the maximum is R$ 1 million.

Remember: The Sheet has already shown the arguments of experts in favor and against the use of FGTS resources to participate in the Eletrobras offer.

Partnership with Musk would reach 27% of schools without internet

The project announced by the government and billionaire Elon Musk last month to bring satellite internet to 19 thousand rural schools would only serve 27.2% necessary for the country.

Understand: according to the 2021 School Census, at least 63.3 thousand municipal and state public schools do not offer internet to elementary school students.

• The idea of ​​Musk’s startup, SpaceX, is to bring broadband internet to schools through its network of low-orbit satellites, Starlink. For this, however, the company will have to participate in bidding and compete with rivals to offer the service.

In numbers: other Census data also show barriers to offering the Starlink service in Brazilian schools. Are 3,400 of them without light supply and other 2,000 that run on a generator.

More about Elon Musk

A day after stating the possibility of laying off 10% of Tesla employees in an email, Elon Musk said that the number of employees will grow in the next 12 months, but salaries should remain stable for those already working at the company.

On Thursday, he had sent an email to executives with the headline “stop all hiring worldwide” and said he had a “bad feeling” about the economy.