BiCortex became a new member of EuRA Relocation, the association of Global Mobility companies. An article about BiCortex was published on the last issue (winter issue) of the EuRApean magazine.
Our history to become a member of EuRA
We are a Global Language provider founded in 2011 in Rio de Janeiro under its former name Eszett. In 2015, the Global Mobility business of BiCortex started to grow, under the leadership of a German teacher and a Spanish engineer. In 2021, the headquarters moved from Germany to Spain, our team however is based globally, has lived in 20 countries and speaks 13 languages.
Our name derives from “bilingualism” – fluency in two languages – and “cortex” – the part of the brain associated with processing of memory and information. We belief that, with the right conditions, everyone has the potential to significantly improve their language skills. BiCortex hope is that as a result of our language offers, many of our students may become bilingual (or even multilingual).
Our Services
BiCortex becomes a member of EuRA due to the three services that we provide to the global mobility industry:
- Language Training
- Cross-Cultural Training
- Sworn/certified Translations.
We operate in close to 100 countries in all continents dealing with 47 languages including English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Luxembourgish, Urdu, Polish, Swahili, Greek, Tagalog, Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Zulu, Czech, Romanian, Hungarian and others.
We provide thousands of hours of training per month to hundreds of corporate end customers via RMCs, DSPs and immigration law firms, as well as direct to the learner via our B2C online language courses.
Classes can be one-to-one or in groups. For face-to-face training, lessons can take place in the student’s home or place of work or at a neutral location such as a library. Some of the language courses BiCortex provides include accent reduction and preparation for Certificates of Proficiency.
Our sworn/certified translations are done with local sworn and certified translators in each country. All translations are double verified before delivering to our customers. In case the original sworn translation is needed, we provide postage at the lowest possible cost. Finally, we can also help with apostille and legalization of documents.
Our Key differentiators to become a member of EuRA
We are particularly known for two things:
Our speed: For Language training and Cross-cultural training we are able to assign one of our fully qualified and experienced trainers within 7 days in most cases. For our sworn/certified translation operation, we deliver any non-urgent translation in 2 days. For urgent translations, we can complete them in just a few hours.
Our cutting-edge technology: We were the first language provider in the relocation space to launch a digital attendance for face-to-face lessons and online student database and CRM, BiCortex Manager. Now in its fourth generation this allows both us and our customers access to real time data on programmes and delivers automatic notifications at key milestones. We also have a bespoke, download-free platform for teaching virtual lessons which offers audio and video, a whiteboard, pre-loaded verb conjugations and allows students to access past class content. The only requirement is a PC or tablet with internet connection and a headset (headphones with a microphone). For our translation services, our platform allows a secure exchange of files between our customers and BiCortex, and between BiCortex and our translators. Our customers’ immigration coordinators will upload the files via a secure link (no need to log in). Once the translation is completed, the immigration coordinators will receive a link to download the translation in a secure way.
Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility
It’s very important for us to contribute to a better world. As a remote-based, digitally-oriented business we are almost paperless and encourage the use of low carbon travel, we are always looking for ways to improve our footprint.
BiCortex is increasingly mature in terms of sustainability, DE&I, social responsibility and giving back to the community. We have been especially concerned by the Ukrainian war and we now run a number of initiatives to support Ukrainian refugees.
We joined two organisations this year, both with the aim to help the world and the global mobility industry. Relocate the Profit, an initiative where different companies in the relocation industry come together to donate part of their profit for development projects and paradiGM community – a group of changemakers within the global mobility field.
Independent of this, our CEO Inigo Lopez drove over 6,000km to the Ukrainian-Polish border and back to drop off humanitarian aid and bring back 11 Ukrainian refugees with him to Spain. After this, BiCortex was keen to provide meaningful long-term support and began offering free online Spanish lessons for Ukrainian refugees, helping them to integrate into Spanish society and the job market.
Diversity, equity and inclusion awareness training has also been carried out company-wide and BiCortex conducted a staff survey finding that: 75% of the workforce are women; 25% Black, Indigenous or People of Colour and 17% are LGBTQ+. We are also pleased to say that our senior team is made up of 60% women. We continue to look at ways of recruiting, mentoring and promoting and retaining diverse talent in order to foster an inclusive workplace and develop an ever-more successful business.