Porto-based Weezie has already helped bring fibre optics to 50 million homes

His training in electrical engineering and extensive experience in telecommunications allowed him to get to know the pains of the sector early on and identify opportunities for improvement. Fibre optic network management was one of them. To speed up this process, which in several geographies is still complex and time-consuming because it is carried out manually, João Sousa Guedes created Weezie, a startup that offers a tool that automates and digitalises, from planning to control, all the logistics associated with the development of a telecommunications network, enabling operators to optimise 60% of working time and reduce 90% of incidences in the implementation of fibre.

Launched in 2018, with financial support from Bynd and Novabase Capital, the solution, which is present in France, the UK, Germany, Austria and Angola, has already enabled its customers to bring optical fibre to over 50 million homes. The focus, Weezie's founder and CEO tells Dinheiro Vivo, is on markets that are just starting out - for this reason, the homeland is left out of the equation, with an already consolidated network.

With a contract growth above 100% compared to last year, the company, based in Porto, has "well-defined" strategic plans for 2023: continue the operation in Europe and make the leap to the United States. The justification, explains the manager, lies in the "intrinsic value of the market, in the number of operators (1750) and in the volume of public investment that will be executed in the coming years (65 billion dollars)". The intention is to open a branch and operate directly in that region.

With its eyes set on the global market and with contacts also established on the African continent, Weezie prepared its tool to speak several languages, something that distinguishes it from the competition, which so far has not managed to present a solution as multifaceted as the Portuguese one, says João Sousa Guedes. Six months from now, a tool will be presented that will allow operators to make, in only ten minutes, an investment study that traditionally takes two to three months to be made.

One million euros were invested in the technology, which enabled the business to gain scale. The contracts with the 12 global customers, including Teledifusion de France, Airband and Gigaloch, will allow Weezie to close 2022 with a turnover 150% higher than in 2021, a growth rate that, according to the CEO, will be maintained in the future.

To keep up with this evolution, the company wants to double its team to more than 40 employees. In the next 12 months, 25 vacancies will be open for the commercial, IT and support areas.