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Good practice Imported

Start-Up Brasil — Brazil's National Startup Accelerator (2013–2019)

Brazil · Brasília · See the Brazil profile · See the Brasília profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 98% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Brazil's MCTI/Softex ran Start-Up Brasil (2013-2019), a national accelerator offering R$200k non-dilutive grants and reserving up to 25% of slots for foreign founders. Early cohorts reported R$34.7M invested and 1,200+ jobs, but the program appears dormant since ~2019.

45
Turma 01 startups supported (2014)
7
Turma 01 foreign startups (2014)
7.7 BRL million
Turma 01 public investment (2014)
9.63 BRL million
Turma 01 private capital attracted (2014)
139 %
Turma 01 revenue growth (Jan-Aug 2014)
63 %
Turma 01 headcount growth (Jan-Aug 2014)
183
Cumulative startups supported (2013-2015) (2013-2015)
13
Cumulative countries represented (2013-2015)
17
Cumulative Brazilian states represented (2013-2015)
34.7 BRL million
Cumulative MCTI investment (2013-2015)
~103 BRL million
Cumulative private investment leveraged (2013-2015)
1,200+
Direct jobs created (cumulative) (2013-2015)
9.7 BRL million
2017 funding round (edital) (August 2017)
Start-Up Brasil — Brazil's National Startup Accelerator (2013–2019)

Details

Maturity
Discontinued
Promoter
Softex (Associação para Promoção da Excelência do Software Brasileiro), under MCTI policy sponsorship
Period
2013–2019 (dormant since)
Keywords
startup acceleration, R&D grants, talent attraction, digital economy

Context

Start-Up Brasil (Programa Nacional de Aceleração de Startups) was launched in November 2012 by Brazil's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), operated by Softex, with first acceleration cycles running from 2013.

Objectives

To accelerate startups via non-dilutive R&D grants, mentorship and investor connections, reserving up to 25% of slots per cycle for international founding teams as a talent-attraction mechanism (though no visa/immigration fast-track was tied to the program).

Activities

MCTI/Softex qualified private accelerators via public tender; those accelerators then selected startups twice a year for grants of up to R$200,000, up to 12 months of acceleration, mentorship and investor connections.

Results

The first cohort ('Turma 01,' Nov 2014) supported 45 startups (38 Brazilian, 7 foreign); its R$7.7 million public investment helped attract R$9.63 million in private capital, with participating startups reporting 139% revenue growth and 63% headcount growth (Jan-Aug 2014). Across 2013-2015, MCTI's own reporting states 183 startups were supported from 17 Brazilian states and 13 countries, with R$34.7 million invested by MCTI leveraging roughly R$103 million in private investment and over 1,200 direct jobs. A further R$9.7 million funding round was launched in August 2017.

Conclusions

No independent academic or government-audit evaluation of Start-Up Brasil was found. Multiple searches for active 2024-2026 Brazilian federal startup-acceleration calls turned up only other, newer programs rather than Start-Up Brasil; the last concrete news about the program dates to 2019. No formal termination decree was found, so the program appears to be dormant rather than formally closed — a cautionary case of an internationally-oriented talent program that lost momentum after roughly 2019.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — R$34.7 million invested by MCTI (2013-2015) leveraging roughly R$103 million in private investment; grants of up to R$200,000 per startup.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Active 2013-2019 (roughly 6 years of confirmed cycles); no confirmed activity since 2019, appears dormant for over 5 years.
Staffing & skills
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) — policy sponsor, Softex — operator, Accredited private accelerators (selected via public tender)

Conditions for success

  • Public tender qualifying private accelerators to run cohorts
  • Non-dilutive R&D grants (up to R$200,000) plus up to 12 months acceleration, mentorship and investor connections
  • Reserved up to 25% of slots per cycle for international founding teams

Common failure modes

  • No independent academic or government-audit evaluation was found
  • No confirmed program activity since around 2019; no formal termination decree found, so status is dormant rather than closed
  • No visa or immigration fast-track was tied to the international-talent mechanism

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

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