BIG 8: 50 Tech startups begin their acceleration at Start-Up Chile
Projects from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, and India, among others, have entered Corfos public accelerator program.
Start-Up Chile, Corfo's public accelerator, welcomed around 50 technology-based ventures that will be part of its acceleration program in the coming months, during which they will receive co-funding, connections, and mentorships.
This is about the BIG 8 generation, which is made up of national and foreign entrepreneurs. These foreigners come from countries such as Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and India, and are considering Chile as a key development point for their businesses.
As for the industries, the solutions that will be accelerated mainly correspond to the Health and Biotechnology sector, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Financial Services, Human Resources and Productivity, and IT tools.
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In addition, they highlight 15 startups led by women (32% of the total of selected projects), which will receive a higher percentage of co-financing and exclusive networking opportunities; this in line with the Female Founder Factor initiative of Start-Up Chile, which includes special benefits for female entrepreneurs to strengthen their participation in the ecosystem, and which has just been recognized by the Latam Inclusive Tech Awards from Laboratoria.
THREE ACCELERATION PROGRAMS
Start-Up Chile offers three versions of its acceleration program, depending on the progress level of the startups, and each one presents a different goal to achieve during execution.
- For projects that are in the initial stage, Build will aim to develop a functional product.
- Ignite, the goal will be to achieve product-market fit (process of adjusting the product in the market).
- Growth is to support projects in their expansion stage, capital raising, and growth of their teams.
For this, they will receive equity-free funding, that is, free of shareholding participation, in addition to free coworking space, academy sessions, and exclusive meetings with relevant actors in the innovation ecosystem.
"It is very exciting to welcome a new generation of startups, which arrive with the characteristic energy of entrepreneurs and with major objectives to develop their solutions from Chile to the world," commented Javiera Araneda, CEO of Start-Up Chile.
He added that, "At Start-Up Chile, we are open to all nationalities and industries, so it's very interesting to see how trends in representation of these aspects change with each new selection we make. These startups were chosen, in part, due to the positive impact they will have on Chile, both socially and economically, which is why we want to provide them with all the tools they need to grow until they achieve this."