Northeasterner's Day is celebrated on October 8th, in honor of the poet, composer, playwright, and musician Catulo da Paixão Cearense, who was born on that date in 1863 in São Luís, Maranhão. Catulo was known as the Poet of the Sertão (backlands). The date is a celebration of the cultural richness of the Northeast region, but it has also been important in highlighting the success of the Northeastern people in other areas, such as technology.
The story of Agilize, the first online accounting company in Brazil, is proof that the Northeast is definitely on the path to success for technology companies.
The company was founded primarily by students who graduated from the computer science program at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and who knew nothing about accounting but understood everything about technology: Marlon Freitas, Rafael Caribé, Rafael Viana, Adriano Fialho, Ernesto Amorim, and Alberto Vila Nova
Named Agilize, it started as a startup in Salvador, Bahia. The beginning wasn't easy! First, they had to explain to clients that it was possible to have an online accounting service, and then they needed financial support. The company had the opportunity to participate in two acceleration programs – Google Launchpad Accelerator and Endeavor – until the much-desired investment arrived, and the business gained the speed it needed to achieve its initial purpose, which was to help entrepreneurs.
Today, Agilize has over 20,000 companies in its client portfolio. Present in every state in the country, serving entrepreneurs in the service and commerce sectors, Agilize reached R$ 40 million in revenue in 2023. And more than 10,000 companies have already been opened in Brazil with the support of the Fintech company.
“Today we already have more than 300 employees dreaming alongside us and making those dreams a reality. We end up helping entrepreneurs throughout the entire process, from building a business plan, to reducing the tax burden, how to increase sales, attract customers, and how to do marketing. We invest heavily in educating entrepreneurs. And we still have immense market potential to increase these numbers,” says Marlon Freitas, founder and CMO of Agilize.
Regarding the future, the Agilize executive emphasizes the importance of maintaining partnerships with clients as one of the most evident characteristics of their services. “We are educators of the Brazilian entrepreneur. Our projects are geared towards understanding their pain points, so that they can succeed and have a partner at all times. We are dealing with dreams, expectations, and ambitions, generating this connection more and more,” explains the CMO.
