Impact investment holding · São Carlos, Brazil
Vortex888 creates, invests in and operates technology businesses with measurable impact — public education, climate and applied science — built in Brazil to last for generations.
Who we are
Vortex888 wasn't born from a pitch. It was born from delivering educational technology to public schools for more than twenty years — and that is where we learned the difference between showcase impact and real impact: one gets announced, the other gets operated.
We invest with an owner's mindset in companies that put technology in the hands of those who need it: teachers, students, communities and public administrators. Financial return and social impact are not a trade-off — they are the same thesis, executed with discipline.
We don't invest in whoever has the prettiest slide deck. We invest in people with fire in their belly who don't know where to start.
Founder
Vortex888 grew out of the journey of Gustavo Adolfo Morceli Rodrigues, an entrepreneur and author with more than two decades at the intersection of education and technology.
Before the holding existed, there was a practical question: how do you bring real educational technology to Brazilian public schools? The answer was built in stages — the textbook collection O Fantástico Mundo de ROB (The Fantastic World of ROB), for early childhood education; the ROB Kit, an unplugged-programming robot protected by Brazilian patent BR 202021026041-1; and Hexa Clima, a Brazilian-made IoT weather station now installed in twelve public schools in Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro.
As CEO of PETE, he has kept educational robotics kits in domestic production for more than twenty years — today documented in an academic publication by Edusp alongside the leading imported kits used in Brazil.
The ClimAção project, developed by BDN Tecnologia, was selected by UNESCO for presentation at Digital Learning Week 2026 in Paris.
Today Vortex888 brings together the BDN Tecnologia and NeuroInsights units, holding on to its founding principle: technology developed in Brazil, for the Brazilian context, with ownership and data that stay here.
Portfolio
Companies operated with an owner's mindset, where technology changes outcomes: in the classroom, in the territory, in the data.
Education & Technology
BDN Educação & Tecnologia
More than 20 years of educational robotics and IoT in public school networks — Brazilian technology in the hands of teachers and students.
→IoT & Sensing
Hexa Smart
Intelligent sensing with IoT and predictive models — climate, environment and territory. Hexa Clima is the platform's climate line.
→Publishing & Content
CSGM Editora
Impact-driven educational books — the publishing arm that gives the group's companies their foundation in content and method.
→In incubation
Our philosophy
I
Few businesses, big problems. Depth beats dispersion.
Selectivity — few businesses, high conviction.
II
Proprietary technology in markets that matter: public education, climate and applied science.
Long-term vision — permanence, not cycles.
III
Solid governance and rigorous execution. Impact that isn't financially sustainable doesn't scale.
Intelligent allocation — method and active management.
IV
Value shared among companies, people and territory — measured in lives reached, not just in multiples.
Consistent value creation.
Let's talk
Founders, public administrators and partners who believe in technology with real impact: the conversation starts here.