Tech Movement Mobilizes Companies to Raise R$100 million by 2025 to Address Growing Technology Blackout in Brazil

The coalition relies on iFood and XP Inc. as the first corporate supporters of an education movement that already includes than 20 companies and institutes. Technology education is the main focus of the collective that will work to promote inclusion, training, and employability of underrepresented and low-income people.

São Paulo, Brazil – Brazil is experiencing a labor shortage in the technology sector that is striking given the number of unemployed in the country. A recent study by the Association of Information and Communication Technology and Digital Technologies Companies (Brasscom) states that the deficit of technology professionals should reach 530,000 people in Brazil by 2025. To reverse this scenario and promote social transformation, iFood, XP Inc. and more companies and institutes have come together to create the Tech Movement 2030 with the aim of making social investment in tech education and transforming the future of LatAm’s largest economy. The goal is to raise R$100 million by 2025.

“In the last year, we saw many companies investing in education, but these efforts are still very dispersed. Thus, we realized the importance of joining forces with others to help solve this deficit in this area that hinders the development of Brazil. Even expanding isolated efforts will not solve the problem. With this union of forces, we hope to promote the meeting between talented people who are just waiting for an opportunity, while contributing to a social transformation and the development of the country,” said Fabrício Bloisi, CEO of iFood.

This initiative already accounts for R$5.2 million that will be invested in social impact projects. The Tech Movement will act based on three pillars: to arouse interest in the area of technology while still at school; to train and offer training to anyone interested in a career; and to foster initiatives that support companies in their employability journey. As a priority, the beneficiaries will be people with an underrepresented profile in society and low-income people.

“Our objective is to contribute to making Brazil a prosperous country and a protagonist in terms of technology, with job and career opportunities for all Brazilians. Our big dream is to make a difference in the training of young professionals, so they’re prepared for the challenges of the new digital economy in terms of technology, innovation, and business. We believe that, through social investment, we can generate a structural impact in Brazil that is transformational,” said Thiago Maffra, CEO of XP Inc.

The mobilization of these combined efforts began about a year ago from conversations about how the participating companies and organizations could take responsibility for the development and preparation of young people for the future of work. The Tech Movement’s initiatives range from high school students to adults. The member companies will be able to act at different levels, whether through investments, projects, or execution.

In addition to iFood and XP, the first two corporate sponsors of the initiative, several companies were involved throughout the construction of the Tech Movement, and 18 of them have already become sponsors; they are: Accenture, Arco Instituto, Grupo Boticário, Buser, Ci&T, Cubos Academy, Digital House, Behring Foundation, Gama Academy, Instituto Localiza, Kenzie Academy Brasil, Let’s Code, ONE (Oracle Next Education), RD – RaiaDrogasil , Rocketseat, Semantix, Telles Foundation and VTEX.

The Tech Movement seeks to attract more companies and organizations from all segments and areas. Those joining the collective can do so as active supporters or sponsors via financial commitments as well as services. To find out how to participate and contribute to the Tech Movement, visit www.movtech.org. 

Tech Movement Initiatives

In this first phase, four projects are prioritized, two of which have already started: The Tech Marathon, a technology Olympiad, was launched in May this year, in which 9th grade and high school students from public and private schools learn about logical thinking and are challenged to develop and program a technological solution for the future of society. It works like an Olympiad between educational institutions, teachers, and students. The first edition had the participation of more than 80,000 students, including schools from 21 Brazilian states.

Another initiative already underway, launched by one of the group’s companies, iFood, is the Potência Tech platform , for training and employing underrepresented and low-income tech groups. In nine months, more than 27,000 people signed up for the platform, more than 6,000 scholarships made available in partnership with technology schools and 450 people employed.

The next steps of the Tech Movement will be the expansion of the Empodera Tech Network, a network of organizations that work with young people aged 15-25 in situations of social vulnerability, with the objective of connecting and promoting these organizations. The project led by Arco Instituto aims to increase the number of vacancies in Empodera Tech Network organizations focused on training young people. The Jovem Aprendiz Tech, on the other hand, will be an initiative focused on employability.

Technological talent blackout

The technological blackout, as the lack of technology professionals in Brazil has been called, already leaves more than 100,000 job vacancies open, with no prospect of being filled, according to a study by Brasscom, released in December 2021.

The digitization of the economy and companies, accelerated by the pandemic, has increased the demand for skilled labor, while the number of available professionals remains limited. The answer to this problem is investment in education – from basic education, so that young people have a better education in Portuguese, mathematics, and logic, to professional training specialized in technology.

About the Tech Movement

The Tech Movement is a platform for private social investment in technology education. By encouraging projects, the initiative aims to awaken new generations to technology, train people and employ professionals to minimize the technological blackout. Initially, the Tech Movement has already raised 5.2 million reais and expects to reach 2.1 billion reais by 2030. Led by the sponsors iFood and XP Inc., the Movement has sponsors Accenture, Arco Instituto, Buser, Ci&T, Cubos Academy, Grupo Boticário, Digital House, Fundação Behring, Gama Academy, Instituto Localiza, Kenzie Academy Brasil , Let’s Code, ONE (Oracle Next Education), RD – RaiaDrogasil, Rocketseat, Semantix, Telles Foundation and VTEX.

About iFood

iFood is a Brazilian technology company that is a reference in online delivery, bringing customers, restaurants, and delivery people together in a simple and practical way. And to provide a complete experience to each of them, delivery goes beyond delivery. iFood aims to feed the future of Brazil and the world, transforming society through education and technology, food security, inclusion and with a positive socio-environmental impact.

With more than 65 million orders per month, iFood works with business intelligence and management solutions to promote and develop an ecosystem of more than 300,000 registered establishments, 200,000 connected delivery people in more than 1,700 cities throughout Brazil. In the market for 11 years, it also operates in business fronts that are complementary to its chain, such as market, fintech and benefits, combining technology and convenience in delivering solutions to partners.

iFood has important investors such as Movile, a long-term investor in technology companies in Latin America and aims to be the largest ‘thesis maker’ in the region, and Just Eat, one of the largest online ordering companies in the world. Through the company’s news portal, iFood News, the main current issues and the New Economy, business content, cases, and trends on innovations in the country and in the world are passed on.

About XP Inc.

XP Inc. is a technology platform for investments, financial services and education, owner of the brands XP Investimentos, Rico, Clear, XP Educação, among others. XP Inc. has more than 3.5 million customers and R$873 billion of assets under custody. Over the past 21 years, the company has been transforming the Brazilian financial market to improve people’s lives, ensuring more transparent relationships between clients and financial institutions. For more information, visit the XP Inc.com website .