Narayan AmmachchiMicrosoft has teamed up with Qualcomm and Portugal’s Espírito Santo Investment Bank to launch a venture capital fund for financing technology start-ups in Brazil.
The fund, known locally as Brasil Aceleradora de Start-ups Fundo, is aiming to raise $127 million USD from investors and pump money into young entrepreneurs developing technology for sectors such as education, oil and gas, aerospace, telecommunications, agriculture as well as cloud, mobility, and high performance computing.
Other partners in the fund include AgeRio. In a joint statement, the fund’s partners said they want to boost the competitiveness of Brazilians and contribute to Brazil’s research and development.
Given its structure, the Fund appears to be unique in all of Latin America. Every Brazilian start-up with minimum annual revenue of $50,000 USD can expect to receive up to 1.2 million USD from the fund, providing they have not received financial help from other funds to date.
“Qualcomm supports the Brazilian developer community by fueling creativity and financial investment, technical expertise and a network of relations with other players in order to help their projects become successful,” stated Rafael Steinhauser, senior vice president and president, Qualcomm, Latin America.
Microsoft’s venture capital unit, Microsoft Ventures, has agreed to act as the technical adviser to the fund and will help recommend startups and accelerators for selection.
“This is an unique combination that comprises a startup’s accelerator and an investment fund. We want to help entrepreneurs to turn great ideas into successful companies,” said Mariano de Beer, General Manager of Microsoft Brazil. “We have a long-term commitment to innovation because we believe this is one of the factors that contribute to national competitiveness and development of the country.”
The fund says it is seeking to support the creation and development of new companies with a high potential for growth, not only in the local market, but also on a global scale.
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