Rio de Janeiro’s innovation ecosystem has been consolidating itself as fertile ground for new ideas and entrepreneurs aiming to scale through technology. Proof of this is the delegation organized by Invest.Rio, in partnership with Maravalley, which represented the city at Web Summit Lisbon 2025, one of the world’s largest innovation and technology conferences.

The Web Summit Lisbon 2025 Mission brought ten selected Rio-based startups and a group of industry executives for an international immersion in innovation, business, and global connections. The program included a pre-trip training track with specialized mentorship, participation in pitch competitions and meetings with investors, as well as full access to the conference and technical visits to innovation hubs in Lisbon.

“Rio is experiencing a moment of transformation. We are attracting talent, companies, and investment, and creating the conditions for ideas born here to compete globally. Taking these startups to Web Summit is a way of showing the world the potential of Rio’s innovation ecosystem,” said Sidney Levy, President of Invest.Rio.

Among the selected startups are Dharma-AI and Delta Entech, which represent the new wave of technology in Rio. Founded by Gabriel Renault and five other partners, Dharma-AI has been gaining global recognition with just ten months of operation. The company was selected among the 40 participants in the AWS Generative AI Accelerator, run by Amazon Web Services, and was the only Rio-based startup among the three Brazilian companies chosen. Dharma develops specialized language models (SLMs) designed to deliver security and cost efficiency in applications such as legal analysis and industrial maintenance.

“SLMs are the evolution of the GenAI market. Since NVIDIA’s paper was released in June this year, this technology has become the new ‘wave’ in Silicon Valley. Dharma-AI is the world’s first AI Lab focused on specializing SLMs, which is why we use an extra ‘S’ (Specialized Small Language Models). This boom in the field has driven our international expansion. We were in the U.S. in October for AWS’s exclusive acceleration program, and now at Web Summit to plant the Brazilian flag in what is currently the most advanced frontier of GenAI,” emphasized Gabriel Renault, CEO & Founder of Dharma-AI.

Delta Entech, in turn, operates in energy and sustainability solutions based on technology and has been drawing attention for its innovative approach to energy efficiency and smart infrastructure projects—strategic areas for the sustainable development of cities.

Following the mission, the participating startups also secured six months of residency at Maravalley, enabling them to expand connections, develop new projects, and strengthen their market presence.

“This is the first of many international missions we intend to carry out to connect Rio’s ecosystem with the world and attract startups that see Rio de Janeiro as fertile ground to grow and innovate. Maravalley was born with this mission: to be a bridge between innovation, development, and impact. The Lisbon Mission was an important step in positioning Rio as a protagonist in this new economy—creative, technological, and global. We want to show that what is being built here is relevant, competitive, and capable of engaging on equal footing with the world’s leading innovation hubs,” concluded Daniel Barros, CEO of Maravalley.

With this initiative, Invest.Rio reinforces its commitment to internationalizing Rio-based startups and positioning Rio de Janeiro as one of the most promising innovation capitals in Latin America, bringing together talent, technology, and entrepreneurial spirit—hallmarks of the city.