Start-Up Chile (also known by its acronym, SUP) is a
seed accelerator
Startup accelerators, also known as seed accelerators, are fixed-term, cohort-based programs, that include mentorship and educational components, and (sometimes) culminate in a public pitch event or demo day. While traditional business incubato ...
created by the Chilean government, based in
Santiago de Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...
. It was founded in 2010 with the goal of increasing the number of national and international ventures that are generated in the country.
This entity provides equity-free investment to tech based
startups
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...
from around the world. To date, the accelerator has supported projects from 85 countries including Chile, the United States, India and Brazil, among others.
Objective
The scheme's stated objective is to turn Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurship hub of
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
by attracting the world's best and brightest entrepreneurs to bootstrap their startups in Chile.
The program
The program is managed by
CORFO
The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from ) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile.
Originally, CORFO was responsible for the creation of ...
, the Chilean Economic Development Agency, with the mission of encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation to improve productivity in Chile.
Start-Up Chile launched in 2010 and nowadays provides funding to tech based startups form all over the world based on the development status of their businesses.
The project is divided into three main programs:
Build → $15M Program focused on early stage startups, seeking to leave with a minimum viable product (MVP)
Ignite → $25M Focused on startups that are looking for their product-market fit
Growth → $75M Focused on established startups that are in the scaling stage
As a transversal initiative, the accelerator aims to reduce the gap that exists in the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem through various community activities, visibility and quotas in each generation.
Alumni companies
*
Admetricks, acquired by Similarweb
*
Babytuto, acquired by Walmart
*
Autofact, acquired by Australiana Car Group
*
Cabify
Cabify is a platform to facilitate the transport of people and objects. The company operates in Spain and Latin America Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay). Previously, it also operated in Portugal Mexico, and Brazil.
Cabify was founded ...
, a
ridesharing company
A ridesharing company (or ridehailing service) is a company (or service offered by a company) that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire that, unlike taxis, cannot legally be hailed from the street. ...
that operates in Spain and Latin America.
* , a Brazilian coupon app.
*
*
NotCo, a Chilean food-tech company that creates plant-based alternatives to animal-based products.
*
Spoken, an American software company that develops an
augmentative and alternative communication
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) encompasses the communication methods used to supplement or replace speech or writing for those with impairments in the production or comprehension of spoken or written language. AAC is used by t ...
app. Winner of Start-Up Chile's 13th annual Demo Day.
See also
*
CORFO
The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from ) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile.
Originally, CORFO was responsible for the creation of ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://startupchile.org/, Start-Up Chile Official Website
Startup accelerators
Economy of Chile
Business incubators