SEED – Startups and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development (Minas Digital Program)

SEED – Startups and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development (Minas Digital Program) is sponsored by State Government of Minas Gerais (SEDECTES), Brazil, with funds from FAPEMIG. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

We helped Minas Gerais build one of the largest innovation policies in the world – Wylinka | Innovation, Science, Technology and Impact We helped Minas Gerais build one of the largest innovation policies in the world SEED (Startups and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development) is a Minas Gerais state government program designed to strengthen, encourage, and promote Brazilian and foreign startups interested in developing their businesses in the state, attracting investment, generating jobs, and contributing to the development of the innovation ecosystem.

SEED has been held annually since 2014 in Belo Horizonte. Wylinka played a key role in its implementation, managing and implementing initiatives from the first to third rounds of the program. We'll tell you more about that below!

MG: the biggest cradle of startups in Latin America Transforming the state into the largest startup hub on the continent was the vision behind the creation of Seed in 2013, a state government innovation policy designed to harness the potential of the Minas Gerais ecosystem.

In the first two rounds of the program, Wylinka managed Seed, responsible for: construction of strategic guidelines, measurement and management of program results design and implementation of your management model integration of actions and actors involved, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives internal communication and collaborative culture We reached the milestone of 80 accelerated startups, more than 2 hours of mentoring, and more than 10 people impacted through approximately 200 activities involving interaction with the ecosystem.

Beyond the numbers, Seed was an important milestone in Brazil's innovation history. The Bloomberg Foundation highlighted the program as one of the world's leading public sector innovation projects; it is one of only three in Brazil to be cited. The Spark Awards recognized Seed as one of the top three accelerators in Brazil and San Pedro Valley as the country's Best Startup Community.

More than 3 articles were published in local and international media in the program's first 200 months. In the third round of Seed, in 2016, Wylinka was responsible for welcoming entrepreneurs, holding events and disseminating knowledge and entrepreneurial culture throughout Minas Gerais.

An ecosystem transformation As part of the Minas Gerais ecosystem's innovation policy, Seed sought to attract the best talent and the best ideas, opening doors to entrepreneurs from around the world. The goal in creating the program was to support 40 startups in each six-month acceleration round, with an investment of R$6 per business to foster their development.

The goal was to transform Minas Gerais into the largest cradle of startups in Latin America, taking advantage of the state's full productive potential and the vocation for innovation in Belo Horizonte, the city that is home to one of Brazil's most important universities.

Systemic Changes and Legacy for MG To achieve such impressive results, Seed had to implement significant changes within the ecosystem, also ensuring legal support for its actions and mobilizing many suppliers and supporters.

Before putting all this into practice, it was necessary to overcome some steps: Approve a law in ALMG to grant financial incentives to individuals, whether national or foreign; Launch a public call for proposals to select a non-profit private entity to implement SEED; Establish a partnership with the National Immigration Council to secure the visa (2-year work visa); Jointly launch the startup selection process to seek talent around the world.

For participating startups, Seed offered: In rounds 1 and 2, Wylinka played a key role in managing the stakeholders. We worked directly with five institutions to ensure the program's execution across all fronts, from financial support to acceleration itself. "SEED's support played an important role in helping the company reach its current position.

More than just financial support, which expanded the company's reach, SEED's incentive also provided mentorship and broad networking with leading figures in the industry, which, for entrepreneurs, is the most important factor for participating companies." How Quality In Lab is reorganizing one of the industry's most critical backstage areas: quality control laboratories.

How Realixo built a business tackling one of Brazil's biggest structural problems: waste.

Wylinka and FAPDF mobilize the Federal District's innovation ecosystem and RIDE Wylinka supports the creation of around 30 innovative solutions for the socio-environmental development of the Legal Amazon Wylinka and Sebrae for Startups accelerate more than 250 Deep Techs in São Paulo Wylinka trains 160 entrepreneurial researchers in 10 Brazilian states Wylinka and Sebrae-SP train scientists to create businesses based on science Wylinka promotes new businesses and an entrepreneurial culture in the Paraíba innovation ecosystem Wylinka empowers network of incubators to promote innovative ventures Wylinka and iCS train public officials in the Amazon