'We want to be the first truly global Brazilian SaaS company'

As part of its roadmap to become a publicly listed company by 2020, Brazilian big data and analytics firm Neoway bought in February digital marketing company Sevennova.

The firm's goal is to grow 50-75% in 2019, hire around 100 people,  acquire  one or two more companies (in Brazil or in the US), and, by early next year, carry out the IPO.

The portfolio of Neoway Digital should be include 1,000 companies in two years, up from the current 650, from segments such as construction, consumer goods, banks and health.

Neoway's COO Carlos Eduardo Monguilhott spoke to BNamericas about the company's plans, including internationalization.

BNamericas: How is the preparation for the IPO going and  why is it key for Neoway?

Monguilhott: We have been a strong company, well-established and with a  very good  product, since 2011, when we launched into the market. Yet we needed to improve  some  things regarding the organizational structure, such as go-to-market operations, governance, among others.

An IPO is an enabler. An IPO vision helps a lot in  this process of  strengthening governance so that the company can become global. An IPO process gives a  very good  visibility for our brand while it attracts capital to make expansions, both inorganic, via acquisitions, and organic.

International acquisitions , for their part,   greatly  accelerate the process of growth and expansion.

BNamericas: How global is the company today? In how many countries do you have operations?

Monguilhott:  Currently, 92 % of our revenue still comes from Brazil.  We are positioned  in the US and in Portugal. Our expansion to the US came as customers in Brazil  started operating  there and needed our service. Now, however, we  are able to  capture local clients.

We  started operating  in Portugal to have a "foot" in Europe and  start testing  the acceptance of our solution in that market. When we launched, Portugal was in a market maturity stage more or less similar to ours, which helped a lot.

Latin America is our next stop. People often refer to the region as a monolithic block, when in fact each market has its own peculiarities. But we are studying it and working to have smooth launches.

As in the US  case , our main clients, the largest companies in Brazil, multinationals, are the ones "pushing" us toward Latin America.

We have already studied markets like Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Argentina and in some of them we have tested our products.

What helps is that our digital solution speeds up our internationalization because it is fast and easy to deploy. The main challenge is translation.

But yes, our goal is to become the first  truly  global Brazilian SaaS company.

BNamericas: The idea is to go with the Brazilian multilatinas, then?

Monguilhott: Entering markets through companies that are already in our portfolio is a guarantee of having clients. But our goal is to go beyond that. We want to grow within these countries and bring in local companies.

BNamericas: Any specific country at first?

Monguilhott: We intend to begin this expansion in Latin America by the end of this year.  As I said, we 've already done  some  product testing in the countries mentioned. They are the markets that should  be prioritized  at first. There is nothing defined, because we still depend on some analysis, to assess the easiness to enter, etc.

Colombia is a country where we seem to be able to enter very quickly. Peru and Mexico  as well .

BNamericas: Is the idea to open offices?

Monguilhott: We will probably have to open customer service offices this year to meet customer needs, and then have full go-to-market operation next year.

Technology and product development will always  be concentrated  in [the Brazilian city of] Florianópolis, which is our base.

BNamericas: What are the growth perspectives?

Monguilhott: We expect to grow around 60% this year, compared with a 50% expansion rate the year before.

We are optimistic, investing a lot. We plan to hire almost 100 people in São Paulo, Florianópolis and the US. São Paulo's office has 150 people and  is expected  to get to about 190 by the end of the year. Florianópolis has 220 people, should reach 290.

Also, a new acquisition  is already defined , while another one has high chances to  be confirmed . One of these acquisitions should be of a company the size of  Sevennova .