Regulation and scale challenge startups

Marcelo Oliveira, who holds a PhD in inorganic chemistry and is a professor at UnB, says that, unlike other deep tech startups—those that innovate based on scientific research—Krilltech grew by overcoming regulatory barriers. Another differentiator is its care in obtaining licenses. Krilltech’s products are liquid solutions containing spherical carbon nanoparticles, each approximately 56.5 million times smaller than a soccer ball, and are applied to plants or soil. The technology improves plant development, making it more efficient and healthier.

“The biggest challenge for deep techs, in any segment, is overcoming regulatory barriers, especially in sectors where these requirements are very high, particularly in obtaining licenses,” says Oliveira, who is also Krilltech’s CEO.

The maturity level of an innovation before it can be considered operational in a commercial environment is measured by the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) model, which has 9 levels. In Oliveira’s view, the most critical period for a startup is reaching TRL stages 7, 8, and 9, when products need to pass commercial-scale tests.

Based in a 1,200-square-meter plant in Brasília, Krilltech began exporting its products to the European Union, Peru, and Uruguay in 2025. In late April this year, the company was one of six selected for the Al Miyah challenge, held in the United Arab Emirates to address agricultural water scarcity. Krilltech competed against 846 teams from 54 countries, and the challenge winner will be announced at the end of this year.

Commercial production, which began in 2021, gained scale after Krilltech signed a marketing agreement with Casa Bugre in December 2022. A distributor of high-performance agricultural inputs in Brazil’s agribusiness market for more than four decades, Casa Bugre invested R$7 million in Krilltech in 2024.

“Our production in 2025 was 30 times higher than in 2021, when we were a startup. We expect to grow 26% this year,” says Carime Rodrigues, who holds a PhD in chemistry from UnB and is Krilltech’s research and development director.

Overcoming regulatory barriers also challenges those developing innovations in finance. This scenario led to the creation of Pinheiro Neto’s Legal Acceleration Program for Startups, which is marking 10 years of operations. Coordinated by lawyer Bruno Balduccini, a partner at Pinheiro Neto, the program has advised 46 startups—17 of which raised financing or put their businesses on investors’ radar for a sale. Companies such as Pier Seguradora and corporate benefits company Caju have gone through the program.

Balduccini notes that the maturation period for a startup to reach annual revenue above R$20 million can take up to eight years. This period varies depending on the sector, capital runway, and the company’s execution capacity. “B2B software companies, fintechs, and SaaS [software as a service] companies usually manage to reach scale more quickly because of recurring revenue and greater operational scalability. More regulated sectors or those intensive in physical operations—such as logistics, healthcare, and climate tech—tend to require longer cycles,” he says.

The lawyer noticed that innovative companies in segments such as finance and insurance struggled to comply with regulations without legal support. “The program advises those with a good idea who can’t afford our hourly rates. Payment happens when the startup raises funds; we receive part of what it raises in cash,” he explains.

One successful case in Pinheiro Neto’s program is Exato Digital, a technology company that conducts background checks on individuals and companies. The startup emerged from a software consulting firm founded by André Takitani Pires and Leandro Villani Cambraia Casella, technology professionals and friends from their time at Professor Camargo Aranha State Technical School in Mooca in the late 1990s.

Exato was founded in 2019 in response to demand from consulting clients for an automated service to verify documents, certifications, and certificates. The partners realized they had a product with potential to scale and that worked very well from a technological standpoint. However, with the enactment of the General Personal Data Protection Act (Law 13709 of August 14, 2018), known as LGPD, Exato needed to invest in legal advice.

“At the time, we didn’t have the budget to hire a firm the size of Pinheiro Neto. The program fit like a glove because we could pay with part of the investment that would still be raised,” Casella says.

With its participation in the law firm’s program, which began in 2020, Exato attracted clients such as Bradesco, which became one of the startup’s investors. In April, the company’s revenue totaled R$2.5 million. The projection is to end December this year with monthly revenue of R$5 million. Exato’s client portfolio includes companies such as Uber, Bradesco, Stone, JBS, Fleury, Habib’s, McDonald’s, Banco BMG, Drogaria São Paulo, and Espaçolaser.

In the last quarter of 2025, Exato raised R$20 million in a Series A round led by Quartzo Capital and Bradesco. Casella says the company has reached break-even and can reinvest its revenue. “We have been growing at break-even; we are no longer in the red, which is excellent for this moment because the venture capital market depends heavily on interest-rate behavior,” Casella says.

By Suzana Liskauskas — Rio de Janeiro

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/