At first glance, it looks like a toy: a square tablet with 11 colorful buttons, each decorated with an icon: moon, star, lightning... Letters, numbers, and symbols around the buttons help guide users. Connected by a USB cable, the accessory allows amputees and people with cerebral palsy, limited movement, or low motor coordination to use smartphones, tablets, and computers.
The playfully-designed object is the Multifunctional Smart Keyboard, or simply TiX. For those with even more severe disabilities, the keyboard can be used via special glasses, the a-blinX, which capture the blinking of the eyes. Behind the products is TiX, a mining-based assistive technology company. CEO and founder Adriano Rabelo Assis, 37, explains:
“All of these tools were created to enable people with various types of disabilities, ranging from physical to intellectual, to communicate with complete autonomy.”
TiX has been collecting recognitions. In May (still under its old name, Geraes), it made the ranking 100 Startups to Watch, yes PEGN. In July, it placed second (among 600 candidates) in FedEx Small Business Grant Contest, winning 40,000 R$ and access to mentoring. And in August, TiX took the challenge by storm Sebrae Like a Boss, during the Startup Summit, in Florianópolis, securing a spot in the final in Macau, China.
The streak, which was already good, got a boost last week when TiX came in second in the Amcham Arena (competition promoted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Belo Horizonte) and, on the same day — Wednesday the 25th —, it was elected the most innovative startup in Latin America by the Innovation Awards Latam, topping a list of 100 companies (check out the full ranking).
THE FIRST PRODUCT HELPED VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE RIDE THE BUS
TiX’s—formerly Geraes—journey hasn’t always been so successful. With a degree in electronic engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Adriano had to put in a lot of effort and wear out a lot of shoes. But he didn’t lose heart:
“Ever since I went out onto the streets to test our first invention with blind people, I realized that helping people with disabilities and giving them freedom and independence was a greater purpose than the urge to give up.”
It was 2009 when Adriano founded Geraes Assistive Technology together with Tiago Buccini, his classmate at UFMG, and Professor Julio Cezar David de Melo. The result of an academic project, their “first invention” (with the rather unfriendly name DPS 2000) was a device with an audible alarm designed to help the visually impaired board the correct bus, thanks to a receiver installed in the vehicle.
After making a connection at a trade show in 2010, Adriano and his partners managed to close a sale of the DPS 2000 to the city of Jaú (SP). Financial sustainability, however, was still a mirage. So, with the device tucked under his arm, the entrepreneur made the rounds at events across the country, trying to sell his solution to the visually impaired.
AT A FAIR, ADRIANO MADE A NEW FRIEND — AND THE BUSINESS TOOK A NEW DIRECTION
In 2013, Adriano went to São Paulo to participate in the Reatech, a rehabilitation technology fair. There, he met computer scientist Gleison Fernandes de Faria. A native of Itaúna, in the state of Minas Gerais (80 km from Belo Horizonte), Gleison was born with cerebral palsy and difficulties with fine motor skills, speech, and balance. His condition did not prevent him from attending college.
The Multifunctional Smart Keyboard: Connected via a USB cable, this accessory helps people with limited mobility use smartphones, tablets, and computers (photo: Hariane Alves).
Wearing a helmet fitted with a tip that allowed him to use a computer, Gleison developed the Combinatorial Iconographic Keyboard (TIC) while in college, a tool for people with functional limitations that allowed them to type any letter, number, or command from a conventional keyboard using only nine buttons, in combination.
Since 2006, he had been showcasing the product at trade shows and conferences, but without being able to make the invention commercially viable. Bonded by an immediate mutual rapport, the two new friends decided to work together to refine the prototype. At the time, Adriano was struggling to move Geraes forward, Tiago had already left the company, and Professor Julio was focused on his college classes.
THE SECOND CHANCE CAME WHEN I SUBMITTED MY FIRST PROJECT TO THE FINEP AWARD
With a revamped design and expanded features, the TIC was relaunched at Reatech in 2014. It was well received and excited everyone involved, but there was no money to invest in manufacturing and selling the equipment. Adriana says she even joked that only a “miracle” would allow the project to move forward.
“One day, Gleison showed me an application form for the Finep Award. Among the various categories was Assistive Technology. But one of the prerequisites was to submit a product that had been on the market for at least three years.”
The TIC didn't meet the requirements of the competition—but the DPS 2000 did. Adriano submitted the project, and in October of that year, he received the news: he had come in second place. So he went to Rio de Janeiro to receive the award and a check for R$ 100,000.
The money was the starting point for a new opportunity. Of the R$ 100,000, R$ 35,000 was used to pay off Geraes's debts, and the remaining R$ 65,000 was invested in the ICT project.
“I hired people who were eager to grow. They were engineering interns from UFMG who are still with me today,” says Adriano. The project was expanded, gaining buttons, mouse functionality, and a new name for the keyboard (which would later become the company’s name in 2019).
With the investments, the money ran out. In 2015, the startup started the year with zero in cash — and 20 “handcrafted” units of the TiX to be sold. “It was make or break,‘ he says.
TO AVOID ACCUMULATING DEBT, IT WAS NECESSARY TO RAISE THE PRICE OF THE PRODUCT
At Reatech, in 2014, Adriano had met the occupational therapist and entrepreneur Maria de Mello. At the end of that year, Maria joined the partnership.
“She helped me a lot to understand the market and present the product to industry professionals who could resell TiX to their contacts and earn commissions,” says Adriano. “Her contribution was absolutely crucial in shaping the compassionate way we understand and interact with people with disabilities and their families.”
The cost price of the keyboard was around R$ 700. The product sold for R$ 1,800. Not much, really:
“When we did the math, we realized that, for the company to avoid accumulating debt from fees and taxes, the price had to be 2,500 reais. If it was already hard to sell, it just got worse.”
Adriano spent a lot of time visiting schools, APAE centers, and conferences on accessibility. “I learned a lot about the market and realized I could pitch the equipment’s value proposition, get an advance payment, and manufacture the product before delivering it.”
Maria left the partnership at the end of 2015 to dedicate herself to her accessibility company, TechnoCare. Earlier, he introduced Adriano to businessman José Rubinger. Initially, José was going to act as a sales representative. But he liked the idea and decided to buy units at cost to resell to regions where he had contacts, including the United States.
With an eye on internationalization, they created a company in the US
In 2017, the company participated in two acceleration programs: FIEMG Lab e Seed Minas. The programs boosted publicity and networking; Seed also injected R$ 80,000. By the end of that year, the startup had managed to sell 45 kits (which included a keyboard, glasses, accessories, and licenses) to the Recife city government, which paid R$ 450 mil for the package, including the necessary training.
Adriano during the Innovation Awards Latam presentation last Wednesday, the 25th: TiX heads a ranking of the 100 most innovative startups.
At that point, the company — still called Geraes — started operating in the black, Rubinger became commercial director, and began to plan higher flights. In partnership with an American friend of his, they opened a company in the US in 2018, Key2Enable. It was a strategic decision to leverage internationalization.
“We have a cross-commercial agreement, in which Key2Enable is responsible for all business related to institutions and government outside of Brazil.”
TODAY, KEY2ENABLE IS PART OF THE SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY PORTFOLIO
Adriano says that Key2Enable has applied to join the startup portfolio of Singularity University and, after a selection process, it earned the stamp of being recognized as one of the companies capable of impacting 1 billion people by 2030. “We did a two-month incubation in 2018, and we began to count on all of Singularity's support in terms of public relations and networking,” says Adriano.
With Key2Enable, entrepreneurs also participated in the EdTech Innovation Startup Competition 2018, competing among 800 projects from 58 countries. The startup secured a spot to participate in the final with 6 competitors. The final pitch took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Adriano recalls:
“That was where I realized I had truly become an entrepreneur. After ten years of struggle, that was a pivotal date. Everything I didn't understand started to make sense. I returned with my purpose strengthened and an even greater desire to expand the dream”
The startup won the “Entrepreneur Hero” award, including 150 thousand dollars and the opportunity to join the accelerator's program Krypto Labs to showcase the technology and create a business front in the United Arab Emirates.
TO REACH MORE PEOPLE, TIX HAS CREATED A NEW SUBSCRIPTION MODEL
Back in Brazil, Geraes generated revenue of R$ 1.4 million in 2018, with the majority coming from sales to government agencies, public departments, and APAEs. The name change to TiX in May 2019 was followed by an expansion of the business model. Moving beyond hardware sales to governments and public and private institutions, the startup created a new, parallel subscription-based accessibility model. “We realized that our greatest value lay in the service we provided, not the product we sold,” says Adriano.
The program launched in June and currently has 50 subscribers in the country, with projections to reach 200 by the end of the year. Starting at R$ 165, users gain access to a support service that allows them to ask questions via WhatsApp or video call. Under this plan, monthly revenue currently stands at just R$ 10,000.
The goal with the subscription plan, however, is bold: to reach a much larger audience than the 5 thousand people already impacted by the keyboard. According to a recent IBGE survey, 6.71% of Brazilians—about 14 million people—have some form of disability. Worldwide, that number reaches 1 billion individuals with various disabilities, according to the World Health Organization.
The challenge now is to grow rapidly without losing control. “We will continue investing in the validation of our business model focused on subscription plans, so that by the end of 2019 it will be fully tractioning in Brazil.”
SOURCE: DRAFT
