{"id":98645,"date":"2026-05-26T22:48:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T01:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/?p=98645"},"modified":"2026-05-26T22:49:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T01:49:20","slug":"regulation-and-scale-challenge-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/regulation-and-scale-challenge-startups\/","title":{"rendered":"Regulation and scale challenge startups"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Transition to midsize status can take up to eight years, depending on sector and capital runway<\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In 2011, when Carime Vit\u00f3ria da Silva Rodrigues applied for an undergraduate research scholarship at the Chemistry Institute of the University of Bras\u00edlia (UnB), she did not imagine that her nanotechnology research would become the seed of a startup. Founded in 2019 within UnB\u2019s Technological Development Support Center by Rodrigues and professor Marcelo Oliveira, Krilltech Nanotecnologia Agro began operations with a single product, derived from the application of carbon nanoparticles to enhance plant metabolism. Today, the company has filed a patent in Brazil, has five products in its portfolio, and expects to generate around R$15 million in revenue in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Marcelo Oliveira, who holds a PhD in inorganic chemistry and is a professor at UnB, says that, unlike other deep tech startups\u2014those that innovate based on scientific research\u2014Krilltech grew by overcoming regulatory barriers. Another differentiator is its care in obtaining licenses. Krilltech\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe 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,\u201d says Oliveira, who is also Krilltech\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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\u2019s view, the most critical period for a startup is reaching TRL stages 7, 8, and 9, when products need to pass commercial-scale tests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Based in a 1,200-square-meter plant in Bras\u00edlia, 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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\u2019s agribusiness market for more than four decades, Casa Bugre invested R$7 million in Krilltech in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cOur production in 2025 was 30 times higher than in 2021, when we were a startup. We expect to grow 26% this year,\u201d says Carime Rodrigues, who holds a PhD in chemistry from UnB and is Krilltech\u2019s research and development director.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Overcoming regulatory barriers also challenges those developing innovations in finance. This scenario led to the creation of Pinheiro Neto\u2019s 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\u201417 of which raised financing or put their businesses on investors\u2019 radar for a sale. Companies such as Pier Seguradora and corporate benefits company Caju have gone through the program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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\u2019s execution capacity. \u201cB2B 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\u2014such as logistics, healthcare, and climate tech\u2014tend to require longer cycles,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The lawyer noticed that innovative companies in segments such as finance and insurance struggled to comply with regulations without legal support. \u201cThe program advises those with a good idea who can\u2019t afford our hourly rates. Payment happens when the startup raises funds; we receive part of what it raises in cash,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One successful case in Pinheiro Neto\u2019s 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 Andr\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAt the time, we didn\u2019t 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,\u201d Casella says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With its participation in the law firm\u2019s program, which began in 2020, Exato attracted clients such as Bradesco, which became one of the startup\u2019s investors. In April, the company\u2019s revenue totaled R$2.5 million. The projection is to end December this year with monthly revenue of R$5 million. Exato\u2019s client portfolio includes companies such as Uber, Bradesco, Stone, JBS, Fleury, Habib\u2019s, McDonald\u2019s, Banco BMG, Drogaria S\u00e3o Paulo, and Espa\u00e7olaser.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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. \u201cWe 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,\u201d Casella says.<\/p>\n

By\u00a0Suzana Liskauskas\u00a0\u2014 Rio de Janeiro<\/p>\n

Source: Valor International<\/p>\n

https:\/\/valorinternational.globo.com\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transition to midsize status can take up to eight years, depending on sector and capital runway     05\/26\/2026\u00a0 In 2011, when Carime Vit\u00f3ria da Silva Rodrigues applied for an undergraduate research scholarship at the Chemistry Institute of the University of Bras\u00edlia (UnB), she did not imagine that her nanotechnology research would become the seed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8106],"tags":[26937],"class_list":["post-98645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-murray-news","tag-regulation-and-scale-challenge-startups"],"yoast_head":"\nRegulation and scale challenge startups - Murray Advogados<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/regulation-and-scale-challenge-startups\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regulation and scale challenge startups - 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