Young talents shine in the Finance & Investment Olympics final.

After nearly three months of intense competition, the Finance & Investment Olympics, promoted by ESEG College, part of the Etapa Group, in partnership with Ágora Investimentos and with support from Real Grana and B3, reached its grand final on October 25th at ESEG headquarters in São Paulo.

The challenge, which began on August 1st, invited high school students from public and private schools in São Paulo to embark on a practical journey of financial education, facing stages full of learning, strategy, and decision-making inspired by real-life situations.

More than 860 young people (172 groups) registered to participate in the first edition, with 122 of them passing the Quiz qualifying stage and advancing to the elimination phase of challenges within the gamified platform of Real Grana, a partner in the initiative.

After 5 weeks of intense challenges, 10 teams reached the final stage on a morning marked by high-level presentations to an evaluation panel, composed of: Vitor Passoni, vice-president of Faculdade ESEG; Luiz Neves, coordinator of Academic Projects at ESEG; Romane Fortes, professor of Economics at ESEG; Fernando Bueno, Project Specialist at Ágora Investimentos; Ricardo França, Research Manager at Ágora Investimentos; Marina Naime, Educational Project Manager at B3; and Bruna Marcelino, Educational Project Consultant at B3.

The big winners of the competition were:
🏆 1st placeTeam "Grandchildren of Alice" (Davi Almeida, Enzo Zanella, Leonardo Lopes, Omar Jamih, Victor Oliveira), from São Sabas school.
🥈 2nd placeThe Bankers team (Lavínia Melo, Lívia Pascon, Rodrigo Novo, Tiago Silveira and Vinícius Lima), from SESI Jundiaí school.
🥉 3rd placeInvestMind Team (Anitha Souza, Gabrielly Santos and Samuel Mellquinn), from Colégio São Luiz – Unit 3

All finalists were also awarded a certificate of participation, recognizing all the effort and dedication they put into reaching the final of the Olympics.

Learning by doing and facing real-world challenges.

During the Olympiad, participants were guided by professors and financial market experts through recorded video lessons and mentoring. The young people faced situations that simulated everyday dilemmas regarding budgeting, consumption, saving, and investing.

The pedagogical approach combined gamification and progressive challenges, making learning more dynamic and connecting the content to the reality of young people. In the final stage, the groups had to present to an evaluation panel the strategy they used throughout the game in their projects to arrive at the final result.

For student Victor Oliveira, a member of the Netos da Alice team, participating in the Olympiad required a lot of preparation. “At the beginning, it was more gamified and interactive. Then, as the weeks went by, it became more complex, until we reached the final phase, which felt more like submitting a graduation project. It was truly a remarkable experience,” said one of the champions of this edition.

Knowledge for a lifetime.

With an innovative methodology and a focus on youth empowerment, the Finance & Investment Olympics stimulated autonomy, critical thinking, and interest among high school students in economic topics, bringing them closer to the world of finance and informed decision-making.

Much more than a competition, the initiative reinforced the role of financial education as an essential tool for personal and professional development. “Financial education has significant importance, not only in the education of young people, but in shaping all their actions throughout adult life. Therefore, we understand that this Olympiad was a gateway to the future for many young people. An experience that combined learning, purpose, and opportunity, in addition to the development of fundamental skills and competencies for life,” reinforced Luiz Neves, Academic Projects Coordinator at ESEG College.

According to Fernando Bueno, Product Specialist at Ágora Investimentos, the competition was a very interesting challenge. “We put to the test the knowledge and skills of high school students regarding financial education and problems that families face in real life. This is fundamental for the financial education of families from an early age. Something that Ágora and ESEG strongly support,” he highlighted.

For Leonardo Lopes, from the Netos da Alice team, the learning experience was as important as the victory: “Winning the ESEG College Finance Olympics is a very good feeling. We are in a college entrance exam time "And important decisions, so this victory takes a weight off our shoulders and shows that we are capable. It was an experience we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.".

In addition to the recognition, the winning teams received scholarships of 100%, 75%, and 50%, respectively for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, for undergraduate courses at ESEG College. The winning schools also received a 40-hour course on the financial market, offered free of charge by ESEG and Ágora.

This action only reinforces ESEG's commitment to training a financially aware, proactive generation prepared for the market.