Tech Roundup, Dec. 6, 2019 | EdTechs eyeing up the Brazilian professional market

You’re reading The Brazilian Report‘s weekly tech roundup, a digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil. This week’s topics: edtechs eyeing up the Brazilian market, Uber gambling on scooters, Google Assistant teams up with banks and food delivery firms, robocalls continue to rise.

Silicon Valley edtechs aim to fill Brazil’s gap in professional education

As the latest PISA results have shown, Brazil is lagging far behind in basic education. But beyond the country’s poor scores, this lack of skills has an impact on these students later on, when they become professionals in the job market. In order to fill this gap, Silicon Valley edtechs are eyeing up the local market as a major opportunity. 

The California-based Singularity University attracts executives from all over the world to its technology courses and found a major audience in Brazil, enough to open up its own faculty in São Paulo, becoming the eighth Singularity location around the world. In November, they announced a partnership with the São Paulo state government to open a headquarters as part of the CITI project—a startup hub to be built where the city’s food storage center is currently located. 

The project will go hand-in-hand with Singularity’s other initiatives in Brazil, such as summits about finance and agro. Eyeing up Brazilian executives, they will offer an edition of Singularity’s Executive Program in Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul, as well as considering providing courses to companies. The program gathers executives to debate on the newest tech trends and improve networking over three and a half days, all using Singularity’s methods. Brazil’s edition will cost USD 7,499—cheaper...