Invest.Rio inaugurated its new headquarters this Thursday (12/18) in Porto Maravilha, further consolidating the area as one of the city’s leading hubs for business, innovation, and investment. The space was designed to welcome investors from around the world and strengthen the agency’s role in promoting new strategic opportunities in Rio.

Invest.Rio was an initiative we launched in 2009 when Rio was awarded the Olympic Games. We visited three Olympic host cities, including London, which hosted in 2012. There, I got to know London’s business agency. That’s how we created Rio Negócios, which later became Invest.Rio. Now, with this new space, we expect to bring major business opportunities to Rio – said Mayor Eduardo Paes, accompanied by Deputy Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere.

Located in one of the areas experiencing the most significant urban revitalization in the country, the new headquarters represents an important step in bringing the public and private sectors closer together, while also strengthening the capital’s business environment. With modern infrastructure focused on serving investors, the goal is to accelerate projects in technology, tourism, energy, the creative economy, infrastructure, and other key sectors of Rio’s economy.

During the event, Invest.Rio’s president, Sidney Levy, highlighted the importance of the new space in expanding the agency’s reach and impact.

There is global competition for investment; cities compete with one another in the pursuit of capital. And when capital moves to a location, it wants to feel at home and in a strong business environment. We have achieved that here in Porto Maravilha, a symbolic area of Rio. We receive delegations from all over the world seeking investment opportunities. We have an annual program of visits. The idea is always to bring them here and present the city’s data and statistics—information that can motivate them to invest here.

The event was attended by the Secretary of Economic Development, Osmar Lima, and the Special Advisor to the Mayor’s Office, Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, as well as artists who are references in Rio’s and Brazil’s cultural scene. To bring life to the space and serve as a showcase for investors, the new headquarters received a collection of artworks, loaned by six creators whose works portray Rio, establishing a dialogue with the city’s memory and its constantly evolving landscape.

We were invited to bring part of the city’s contemporary art production to Invest.Rio’s headquarters, creating a dialogue with the architecture of the space and with visitors who hold meetings here. So we formed a partnership. Each artist who contributed a work also recommended an artistic project so that business leaders and investors can connect with and support them in some way – said artist Raul Mourão.

In addition to him, artists Vik Muniz, Carlos Vergara, Daniel Senise, José Bechara, and Vicente de Mello also loaned works to Invest.Rio’s headquarters.

The inauguration marks a new chapter for Invest.Rio, which now operates from an address aligned with the strategy of strengthening Porto Maravilha as an international showcase for business, innovation, and opportunities.