Start Up Chile programme

Corfo, Chile’s government agency to promote economic growth since 1939, launched Start-Up Chile as its flagship programme for start-ups in 2010 at which time it became the first public business accelerator in the world. The purpose was to attract international entrepreneurs to connect with Chilean start-ups and raise the impact of the innovation ecosystem in Chile. It is a business accelerator and can provide grant financing as well as services. It is widely recognised as a leading government initiative globally, with a strong performance record. While it is not energy-specific, it has run calls for energy-only start-ups and, for example, supported the Chilean start-ups Endurance Electric, a provider of off-grid solar PV via a payment application, and Quempin, which helps industrial customers improve combustion efficiency. In addition, it has supported non-Chilean start-ups Aerial Power (formerly SolarBrush), an Anglo-German developer of a drone system for solar PV cleaning, and Seeder, which facilitates renewable energy projects in People’s Republic of China (hereafter ‘China’), among others.

In 2024, Start Up Chile, a programme of Chile’s industrial development agency CORFO, launched its ninth call for start-ups, which is a rare example of a government-run business accelerator programme open to low-emissions energy innovators.

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