Pecege wins dispute for the management of the Piracicaba Technology Park

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Innovation

October 15, 2025

Pecege wins dispute for the management of the Piracicaba Technology Park

Institute was enabled in the public selection process of the prefecture and intends to position the PTP as a national reference

Piracicaba is experiencing a new moment in its ecosystem of innovation. The Pecege Institute was ranked first in the public selection process carried out by the Piracicaba City Hall through the Municipal Secretariat of Economic Development, Industry and Commerce to choose the new managing entity of the Piracicaba Technology Park (PTP). The selection was conducted through Public Call Notice nº 01/2025, with rigorous technical criteria that evaluated proposals from different institutions.

With total transparency in all stages of the process, the city hall’s decision endorses the competence of an institution born in Piracicaba and recognized worldwide for its impact on education, research, technology, innovation, and development. 

With approximately 450,000 inhabitants, the city of Piracicaba is one of the most important development hubs in the interior of São Paulo. Historically recognized for its progressive profile, its industrial strength, and academic excellence, the city presents a strategic infrastructure that favors research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Piracicaba has consolidated and rapidly expanding industrial districts and hosts major multinational corporations, local productive arrangements recognized by the State of São Paulo, renowned higher education institutions, and centers and groups of excellence in research – many with international recognition.

The city is also the birthplace of AgTech Valley — the Piracicaba Valley, a globally recognized brand for its leadership in agribusiness innovation. The municipality is also advancing in strategic verticals such as bioeconomy, smart cities, information technology, metalworking, health, tourism, gastronomy, ESG, and energy transition.

Piracicaba possesses a regulatory environment for evolving innovation, with integrated governance among academia, government, the productive sector, and organized civil society. A complete system capable of promoting the effective and agile conversion of science into technology and innovation, offering entrepreneurs of all stages, corporations, and investors, excellent opportunities for acceleration and development of new businesses in the municipality.

The territory of the Piracicaba Technology Park, with approximately 2.5 million m², is an integral part of the Paulista System of Technology Parks. Its infrastructure houses the park’s public core, with 24 installed companies and the Piracicaba Hub, and institutions such as FUMEP, Fatec Piracicaba, IFSP, and Colégio CLQ, in addition to companies like Raízen and private innovation environments, such as Pecege itself, alongside Pulse Hub, Avance Hub, AgTech Innovation, Inova Park, and the EsalqTec Incubator, located at Fazenda Areão. More than physical space, the park is the backbone of a territorial development strategy based on innovation that should be intensified.

Management model

The park management model, proposed by the Piracicaba City Hall, is innovative and includes a more entrepreneurial governance, decentralized, with operational autonomy and network articulation, without dependence on public resources. Inspired by international models and best practices in ecosystem management, this arrangement fosters co-creation, the protagonism of local actors, and the engagement of companies, universities, startups, and social organizations.

The model ensures greater flexibility in decision-making, dynamism in program implementation, and reinforcement of open innovation and external investment. This change is fully in line with the interests and guidelines of the Municipal Council of Science, Technology, and Innovation (CMCTI), reflecting the priorities indicated in the Strategic Plan for S&T, carried out in 2024. 

Beyond the full compliance with all legal and documentary requirements, Pecege’s proposal leaves no doubt about its capacity to lead this new cycle of the Technology Park, standing out for its history of supporting innovation, ability to articulate partnerships and initiatives for forming innovative businesses, commitment to technological dissemination and internationalization, as well as direct investments in S&T&I and financial sustainability strategies.

In the area of technological diffusion and internationalization, Pecege conducts various actions structured in scientific communication, digital platforms, international networks, and open innovation, connecting the local ecosystem to global networks. In the field of training and business generation, Pecege develops initiatives focused on entrepreneurship, acceleration, capacitation, and mentoring, in addition to scholarship and technological education programs, promoting inclusion, qualification, and protagonism.

Your mobilization strength is impressive: between 2023 and 2025, it promoted 335 events, with a direct reach of over 330,000 people. A clear demonstration of its capillarity, relevance, and capacity for social engagement. Investments are significant and consistent, with over R$ 124.6 million invested in infrastructures supporting science, technology, and innovation. This financial and technical robustness supports the ambition of your work plan for the park.

Pecege Building at PTP

Already headquartered in the heart of the park and acting in synergy with public authorities and civil society, Pecege is a catalyst for connections. It participates in the main S&T [Science & Technology] collegiate bodies of the city and integrates public policies with data and intelligence, continuously fostering a culture of impact-oriented innovation.

The headquarters of the Pecege Institute is one of the most relevant strategic assets supporting science, technology, and innovation in the Metropolitan Region of Piracicaba. Built with 100% own resources, the building was made possible on land granted by the Piracicaba City Hall, in the heart of the Piracicaba Technology Park, in accordance with the legal guidelines for promoting S&T&I in the municipality.

With over 12,000 m² of built area, the structure houses a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and learning. Its functional set includes an auditorium for 600 people, classrooms and corporate meeting rooms, high-tech audiovisual studios, a library with over 12,700 titles, collaborative spaces, a restaurant, and complete infrastructure with universal accessibility.

The building is not just an administrative and academic headquarters: it houses the Pecege Innovation Office Hub, with about 20 resident companies, and the Venture Builder WBGI, in addition to the operations of the integrated MBAs of USP (Esalq, Poli, FMVZ, and CIAAM), and Faculdade Pecege. Alongside this, it also houses Pecege Agro, Social, Consultancy and Projects and International, and its own research centers (CEAG, CLG, Ceinte, CPE, and Cedir).

Furthermore, it hosts high-impact events, such as the Master Business Experience (MBX), the AgTech Meeting (with PwC), and the National Science & Technology Week (with MCTI, CNPq, Unicamp, Fatec, and Esalq, among others). From 2023 to 2025, it promoted events with over 100 partner institutions. With a wide range of educational services and support for innovative companies, its community has a presence in 110 countries and over 60,000 members.

According to Daniel Sonoda, CEO of the institute, the management proposal for the Pecege Technology Park will be guided by goals, impact indicators, and continuous monitoring. “We intend to position PTP as a national reference in the management of innovation environments and in attracting sustainable investments,” he states. “Pecege has always been at the service of transformation. We want to activate a new phase in the Technology Park: more open, more connected, and more transformative. This means enhancing talents, integrating production chains, and positioning Piracicaba as a global hub for sustainable solutions and applied innovation,” he says.

By valuing Piracicaba’s vocations and activating the potential of different local productive chains based on science, technology, and innovation, the park should assume a new role as an agent of regional transformation. In a city with an entrepreneurial history and institutions of excellence like Piracicaba, the multisectoral effort to promote innovation can drive the creation of solutions in various strategic areas. 

The expectation is that this new phase of the Technology Park will expand the reach of innovation policies, attract qualified investments and favor the creation and installation of new businesses, in line with the major global challenges of sustainability and digital transformation, highlighted Pedro Chamochumbi, innovation manager, development agent, ESG and Smart Cities. 

Who wrote this column

Pedro Chamochumbi

É gestor de inovação, agente de desenvolvimento, ESG, cidades inteligentes e governo digital. É cofundador da AiX - Agência de Inovação, consultor associado ao Instituto Pecege, membro do Conselho Municipal de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação de Piracicaba, professor, palestrante e mentor de negócios inovadores.

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