Small businesses will receive free help to get innovative ideas off the ground. In partnership with the Ministry of Economy and the Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises (Sebrae), the National Association of Entities Promoting Innovative Enterprises (Anprotec) is choosing up to 300 projects to receive entrepreneurial training, mentoring and technological support for ten weeks.
Applications are open until Sunday (10) and are valid for companies across the country. Assistance to the chosen businesses will be provided free of charge by the incubators and accelerators of companies associated with the Ideiaz Program – Powered by InovAtiva. The network, which operates in all states, aims to democratize technical assistance to innovative companies, expanding the national reach of businesses that receive technical assistance.
This will be the third edition of the Idea Program. In previous cycles, the program evaluated more than 620 projects, of which 415 were approved and received assistance. This year, the program has 35 accredited incubators and accelerators and has 15 on the waiting list.
procedures
Entrepreneurs with projects in the creation or ideation phases can apply, that is, whose product has not yet been marketed or whose business model has not yet been implemented. About a third of the vacancies will be allocated to ideas from the North, Northeast and Midwest regions. Another 20% will go to projects with a positive socio-environmental impact.
The proposals will be evaluated by a selection committee composed of representatives of the Sebrae System, Anprotec and the Special Secretariat for Productivity and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Economy. Also participation in the choice of partners such as development entities, investors, specialists in the productive sector and university professors. By the end of 2022, the program intends to reach the goal of 1,000 projects served.
Each selected project will be sent to a ten-week service, fully online, with one of the incubators or accelerators accredited by Ideiaz. The enterprises will receive at least 18 hours of support for their development. Of this total, at least 10 hours will be individualized service, which will cover the following activities:
● Mentorship;
● Organizational consulting;
● Technological support;
● Support for business formalization;
● Entrepreneurial qualification.
After the training process, the projects will be monitored and must meet the following goals: having a designed and validated business model, presenting a prototype of the product or service developed and evaluated by customers and constituting a pitch (speech) of selling and defending the finished business.
Each project must have at least two members to participate in the ten weeks of service. The training will go beyond the 18 hours of service. Anprotec recommends that team members dedicate at least part-time a day to perform the activities necessary to achieve minimum results. The time required may increase, according to the team’s level of knowledge and the maturity of the project.
More information can be obtained from the public notice, available on the Ideaz program on the internet. Questions can be forwarded to the email [email protected].
Schedule
● Application period: until April 10
● Evaluation of proposals: from 11 to 20 April
● Release of results: April 29
● Formalization of the relationship between environments and projects: from May 2nd to 20th
● Training period: from May 23 to July 29
● Deadline for delivery of results: July 29
