“There is a lot of opportunity beyond the Southeast axis”, points out Monique Evelle

In a country with dimensions and cultural richness of Brazilto the opportunities for entrepreneurship should be amplifiedto all corners of the country. It is with this vision that the businesswoman, investor and judge on Shark Tank Brasil, Monique Evelletook on the challenge of help scale Hub Salvador initiatives, in the capital of Bahia, together with the Inventive – platform for training, connecting and investing in entrepreneurs – which he founded with Lucas Santana.

Indeed, Salvador is the Brazilian fifth age group with the highest consumption potential, representing R$100 billion according to data from IPC Maps 2024. In the last five years, the economy of creative and cultural activities in Bahia generated almost R$8 billion in the total Bahian economy.

Monique actively participates in this evolution, including helping to create connections to attract international investments – brands led by Beyonce, Viola Davis and Rihanna chose Salvador for recent launches of new projects. In this interview, she highlights how cities outside the Rio-São Paulo axis, such as Salvador, Porto Alegre and Novo Hamburgo, are becoming hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Digital Market – What can we expect from your partnership with Hub Salvador?

Monique Evelle – I have reinforced the importance of Salvador having a robust planand part of this plan is precisely an ecosystem that promotes opportunities for businesses to grow in a solid and sustainable way. We are talking about a context that not only stimulates innovation, but also confirms the particularities of being a city outside the Rio-São Paulo axis. My partnership with Hub Salvador marks a new moment, focused on generating collective impact and potential of economic and social return to the city. We can already see signs of this: international companies have already chosen Salvador and the Hub as their headquarters in Brazil, which demonstrates the potential of our city. This is just the beginning of the news. Our focus now is to attract more external opportunities to the capital of Bahia, while at the same time reverberating these results internally, generating social and economic impact.

Digital Market – How can we decentralize opportunities so that they reach all entrepreneurs across Brazil?

Monique – When thinking about successful businesses in Brazil, it is common to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the first names mentioned, as historically these cities concentrate the greatest opportunities and investments. This image is reinforced internally in these centers, making entrepreneurs from all over Brazil believe that this is where the best opportunities lie. What we need to do is break this centralizing perception and show that there is much more happening beyond the Southeast axis.

THE decentralization is crucial to creating new opportunities across Brazil, especially for the new generation of entrepreneurs. Salvador, Porto Alegre, Novo Hamburgo they are examples of cities that are beginning to stand out in this scenario. According to a recent survey by the Sebrae Startups Report Brasil 2022-2023, there was an increase in the creation of startups in regions outside the Rio-São Paulo axis – in fact, Rio Grande do Sul appears as the third largest state served by Sebrae Startups. These data reveal that the decentralization movement is gaining strength and is capable of generating impact nationally.

Digital Market – What initiatives, in this regard, have caught your attention?

Monique – In my travels, lectures and business, I make a point of presenting these opportunities and data from Salvador, because, if by chance the market does not recognize or ignores them, we need to make these potentials visible. For example, Hub Salvador, which is a robust structure to encourage local entrepreneurship, in addition to institutions such as Senai Cimatec, which boost research and technological development in the region and with national repercussions. Impact businesses such as AfroSaúde and Solos, which focus on ESG, are examples of how Salvador is proposing innovative and sustainable solutions. I believe that by making these examples more visible, we can encourage other cities to follow this path and create equally powerful ecosystems for new entrepreneurs.

Digital Market – Are you optimistic when you think about what the future could have if more cities had this vision?

Monique – The report “Map of Socio-Environmental Impact Businesses 2023″, which points out that 41% of impact businesses in Brazil are outside the Southeast axis, with significant growth in the South and Northeast. This demonstrates a continuous effort to expand the impact business ecosystem and democratize access to financing, including Rio Grande do Sul. If more cities adopt this vision of fostering entrepreneurship, we could see an even greater decentralization of innovation ecosystems.

I believe that Rio Grande do Sul, with its strong cultural and educational potential, you can follow this path and create a business environment that not only attracts but also retains talent, driving entrepreneurship even further.