Entrepreneurial talent is galloping up the startup scene in Brazil, with the south american slice of silicon valley that is Sao Paulo taking the reins. With the expanding economy, huge market, growing government support and available investment capital, resources for startups are abundant.
So what does this land of opportunity have to offer exactly? Here is a list of 5 incubators, accelerators and mentors providing a helpful hand to Brazilians brightest.
Are you an inspiring thinker with fresh ideas but not based in the big cities, do not fear, Startup Farm will come to you. A travelling program, this accelerator reaches different areas of Brazil searching for tech entrepreneurial talent. Through an intense development process, with a team of experienced mentors in the digital scene, Startup Farm provides projects to help structure and model your startup.
This incubator believes that all existing accelerator programs in Brazil only focus on already-structured businesses and so set out to seek talented entrepreneurs who are starting from scratch. They host a Startup Bootcamp where they help individuals transform an idea from startup plan to functioning business in 12 weeks.
Papaya Ventures is an exciting multi-thematic acceleration program based on design-thinking and user-experience mentorship. Each year the program is tailored to a theme, be it technology, business or consumer based innovation. The 6 month workshop is always bustling with relevant mentors and investors. Not to mention, if you are accepted onto the program, Papaya Ventures gives you access to co-working space and R$20,000 ($6,300 USD) in seed funding in exchange of 10% of equity.
The Brazilian government have awarded R$9.7mm ($3 million USD) to tech startups and innovative companies at an early stage as part of a new phase of the Start-Up Brasil program. The program offers grants of up to R$200K ($63k USD) to 50 proposals that develop software, hardware and IT services. 2017 is their third year of operation and a free application form can be found here.
¨Rooted¨in Sao Paulo, Tree Labs is a startup accelerator providing seed funding plus a 6 month development program on marketing, accounting and technology development. Primarily for digital startups, the mentorship offered at Tree Labs is a gateway for startups looking to network and structure their business from an early stage. Startups already participating are Agendor, Assina me, ClickArq, Logovia and Recruto.
With each of these resource offering their own specific niches, Brazilian startups now have a range to chose from when seeking startup help. As the country continues to turn the corner from an economic lapse, the startup ecosystem in Brazil looks bright.