The annual ESEG Startup Summit event brought together student projects with innovative ideas for startups.

On December 5th, the 10th-grade students from Colégio Etapa participated in... ESEG Startup Summit 2024. The event, organized by Colégio Etapa in partnership with Faculdade ESEG, from the Etapa Group, brought together three groups of students who presented their startup proposals to a panel of professors.

The ESEG Startup Summit project involves creating teams with the goal of identifying unmet needs in society and, based on that, building an innovative solution to that problem, thus creating a startup ready to solve the identified issue. Throughout the year, students participate in an extracurricular course in Entrepreneurship and Finance, led by ESEG professors Leila Malta, Fabiane Astolpho, and Edison Feghali.

According to Professor Edison, this initiative is completely different from what students develop on a daily basis, as they need to create projects from scratch and be responsible for the entire construction of the company and the solution. “Everything is done by them. As teachers, we provide direction and help with the methodology. But everything is created by the students themselves, from the idea to the creation of the startup,” he comments.

In total, 6 groups participated in the challenge. After preliminary assessments, three of them reached the grand final, where each group had 10 minutes to stand before the panel and present their developed proposal. The panel consisted of professors José Guilherme, Edgard Rodrigues, Hong Ching, Fabiana Bortoleto, and Edison Feghali, from ESEG College.

The event consists of a Shark Tank-style presentation format, where students must present and "sell" their company to the faculty members who make up the judging panel. The winning group is awarded a 100% scholarship for any undergraduate course at ESEG College.

The three finalist groups addressed different themes in their presentations and brought ideas for app startups, highlighting solutions and innovations for everyday life. Check out each group's proposal below:

Kéri – An app focused on mental health and well-being, supporting self-awareness and the development of individual skills. Here, psychologists can register and help people throughout Brazil improve their mental health.

Young Success – A startup focused on helping young people without professional experience enter the job market. The platform serves as a hub that analyzes data from companies and candidates and brings the best career opportunities.

Wayle The company's idea consists of a study application, focused on easy and fast learning, where teachers can register classes/courses for specific audiences, and students can search for the content they want.

After the presentations, a public vote was opened to choose their favorite company. The public's score was added to the scores given by the judging panel, and the winning group for this edition was chosen: Wayle.

The members of the winning group took home a 100% scholarship for one of the undergraduate courses at ESEG College.

According to Professor Edison Feghali, bringing entrepreneurship to these students in a practical way is a great contribution from ESEG College. “These are 16-year-olds who, next year, will be taking university entrance exams and deciding on a career. The project opens doors for them to gain experience and knowledge when choosing their future,” the professor emphasizes.

The 2024 edition brought great ideas and demonstrated the influence of Grupo Etapa's strong teaching methods on students' lives. Next year, there's more to come!