Embraer strengthens open innovation and maps 2,000 startups to accelerate technology deployment

By Elton Alisson  |  FAPESP Innovative R&D – Over the past three years, Embraer has evaluated more than 2,000 startups globally. The company has signed approximately 40 contracts with these startups to address operational efficiency and engineering challenges. Among the solutions identified through these partnerships are a system for testing new electrification and autonomous flight technologies in a real-world environment, as well as a de-icing innovation for aircraft surfaces based on carbon nanotubes (microscopic cylindrical carbon structures with high thermal and electrical conductivity).

Open innovation through collaboration with technology-based startups, or “deep tech” companies, is not only an effort to solve internal problems, but also reflects the need for the world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer to quickly connect with the global aviation research and development (R&D) ecosystem.

“We’re the third-largest aviation company in the world, but much smaller than our two competitors, Boeing and Airbus, which are ten times larger. Our suppliers are also giants. Therefore, since its founding, the company has understood the need to maintain internal excellence and, at the same time, connect with the best in the ecosystem,” said Leonardo Garnica, head of corporate innovation at Embraer, during a panel discussion on the topic at the MIT-Anpei Brazil Summit 2026, held on October 8 in São Paulo, Brazil.

The National Association for Research and Development of Innovative Companies (ANPEI) organized the event in partnership with the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP), a program that fosters integration between the U.S. university and the private sector. The gathering brought together more than 1,000 leaders in research, development, and innovation (R&D&I), as well as researchers, investors, government representatives, and startups. The goal was to discuss global technology priorities and private investment decisions in innovation. FAPESP was one of the institutions supporting the event.

Embraer’s pursuit of agile connections aims to solve real efficiency issues in six areas identified by the aircraft manufacturer: zero emissions, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, passenger experience, platform competitiveness, and Industry 4.0 (the automation and digitization of manufacturing processes). Under these pillars, more than 200 mapped technologies have been identified.

However, the urgency of this strategy contrasts with a structural challenge: despite having more than 5,000 corporate suppliers, Embraer still imports between 60% and 70% of its components, according to Garnica. “Through partnerships with startups and STIs [science and technology institutions], we aim to develop technologies and regionalize production wherever possible – to create a purchasing and R&D strategy with partners in the ecosystem,” he emphasized.

In cooperation with FAPESP, the manufacturer also maintains the Engineering Research Center for the Aerial Mobility of the Future (FLYMOV) (read more at pesquisaparainovacao.fapesp.br/2674).

Expanding the technological scope

The company’s operations are based on two time horizons: a long-term plan looking ahead to 2040 and 2045, and a five-year plan from 2027 to 2032. While trade secrets and critical competitive advantages are kept confidential internally, most of the technological scope is made available to the market through two initiatives focused on partnerships with startups.

The first is corporate venture capital (CVC), a model in which large companies invest capital in innovative startups. Embraer operates under this model through a fund of approximately USD 50 million directed toward roughly 20 companies to explore new business models and technological frontiers. This initiative is focused on long-term discovery. “With startups, we’re looking at how we discover, or unpack, the future, test business models, and examine complete technologies,” the executive noted.

However, unlike the traditional model of corporate mergers and acquisitions, Embraer’s policy treats the purchase of equity stakes as an exception. The manufacturer’s priority is operating under the “venture client” model, in which the company acts as a client and purchaser of the solution, supporting the startup without acquiring equity. The goal is to encourage deep tech companies to mature and scale their solutions for the entire industrial market rather than rely on a single buyer or be absorbed by a larger corporation.

“We may become interested and purchase a minority stake, but that would be an absolute exception,” Garnica emphasized, noting that the company would not have the capacity to take controlling stakes in so many technology ventures and startups simultaneously.

Public-private funding

With annual revenue of approximately USD 8 billion, four main business units, and Eve – a spin-off dedicated to developing a “flying car” (eVTOL), or an electric aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing – Embraer currently allocates between 5% and 6% of its total revenue to R&D&I activities across its entire supply chain. The technical staff includes more than 4,200 engineers based in Brazil and at an engineering center in the United States.

These investments are supported by funding agencies such as the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), the Brazilian Innovation Agency (FINEP), and the Brazilian Industrial Research and Innovation Company (EMBRAPII).

To bring this coordination to fruition, Embraer has structured its global procurement operations across three integrated strategic fronts. The first is dedicated to engaging with public funding agencies. The company has identified over BRL 100 million in technological needs within its supply chain that are eligible for funding from agencies such as FINEP and EMBRAPII.

The second focuses on management training, including programs in operational excellence, cybersecurity, and digitization for Tier 1 suppliers, who deliver complete modules and systems directly to Embraer. The goal is to raise technical and delivery standards throughout the entire supply chain. As Garnica emphasized, this institutional strengthening directly impacts the cost and quality of aircraft. “That’s competitiveness. Suppliers arrive in our Tier 1 and deliver a ready, more affordable, and high-quality solution.”

Meanwhile, the third front focuses on developing future products by mapping national industrial capabilities and technology readiness levels (TRL), an international scale from 1 to 9 that measures the progression of a technology from basic research to commercialization, in order to co-develop components in Brazil. Garnica pointed out that this pillar is the most technically complex, requiring the identification of the maturity stage of technologies to secure resources and coordinate strategic projects. This reduces external dependence and leverages the country’s existing manufacturing and engineering capabilities.

Partnerships with companies

Subiter’s journey – a deep-tech company based in the São José dos Campos aerospace hub and supported by FAPESP’s Innovative Research in Small Businesses Program (PIPE) – illustrates how startups born in academia integrate into the Embraer-driven supply chain. Subiter emerged from research at the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), focusing on embedded systems for Industry 4.0 that combine software and hardware.

With support from PIPE, the company developed an active thermography solution. Active thermography is a non-destructive inspection method that uses heat and infrared cameras to see inside materials, such as airplane wings (read more at pesquisaparainovacao.fapesp.br/3977).

Initial contact occurred in 2019, the year Subiter was founded. At that time, the founders presented an academic project in its early stages (TRL 2 and 3, the concept and theoretical proof phases). With support from the Nexus incubator at the São José dos Campos Technology Park and funding from programs such as PIPE, the startup developed and validated a first prototype in Embraer’s industrial environment.

Subiter CEO Eduardo Novais explained that the company shifted its business model from a traditional “technology push” approach, where innovation is driven by technological supply, to a “market pull” approach, where innovation is guided by customer needs.

“Our trajectory started with a technological base, and we sought markets that would absorb our technology. In recent years, we’ve come to understand that it’s more interesting for that logic to be the opposite. Today, we seek large companies, understand their demands, undergo an immersion process in their context, understand their challenges, and combine them with our in-house competencies to begin a work plan,” Novais explained.

Having completed the validation phase (TRL 6 and 7, prototype testing in a real-world environment), Subiter and Embraer are currently developing multiple joint applications. The current bottleneck lies in advancing to TRL 8 and 9 (industrialization and final commercialization).

“When we reach TRL 8 and 9, we’re more concerned with overcoming certification, industrialization, and commercialization barriers. Often, we don’t find available resources in these phases,” concluded Novais.