Brazil’s São Paulo seeks impact startups for acceleration program

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The São Paulo state government yesterday opened a public call for its startup acceleration program led by the state’s innovation hub, IdeiaGov. The goal is to find companies with solutions focused on climate change and its effects.

Twenty companies from Brazil and Latin America will be selected to take part in the acceleration program, developed in partnership with Connected Places Catapult (CPC), the British Consulate, and Investe SP, São Paulo state’s investment promotion agency.

The program’s goal is to select South American startups with solutions to solve 4 major challenges of the climate agenda, identified by the state government’s Secretariat of Infrastructure and Environment (SIMA). They are:

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Change in the energy matrix
Mobility and sustainable fuels
Resilient cities

In addition to acceleration and connection with investors and governments throughout the program, the selected startups will have the chance to present their business ideas at the United Nations (UN) Climate Conference, to be held in November in Scotland, said to be the most promising edition in recent years.

Companies from the United Kingdom and Latin America will work together to create sustainable solutions for the state of São Paulo.

The effort to get an acceleration program for impact startups off the ground comes in the wake of São Paulo state’s commitments to decarbonization, or Net Zero. Recently, São Paulo state governor João Dória signed new commitments to reduce emissions by 2050, as part of the “Race to Zero” UN program.

To participate, startups representatives may register their companies on the website until September 9. As a mandatory requirement, startups must have at least one representative fluent in English and Portuguese.

A virtual Q&A session will be held with the IdeiaGov team on August 25, at 11 AM, to answer questions about the program and the challenges.

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