Aceleratech Looking for International Startups for Second Class of its Acceleration Program in Brazil

SAO PAULO, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Aceleratech (www.aceleratech.com.br), an accelerator operating in the Brazilian Market combining an investment angel with a mentoring program produced in partnership with ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing ['Academy of Advertising and Marketing']), one of Brazil's main institutions for training in marketing, is looking for international startups that are interested in being part of their second class of entrepreneurs, and taking their business to Brazil and Latin America.  

"Our program is like a Mini-MBA. We're going to start selection of the second group of startups that will have an opportunity to dive into a program of acceleration and mentoring conducted by professors from the institution, successful professionals from the computer industry and specialists in various areas such as finance, administration, accounting and other subjects that are fundamental for anyone who wants to become an entrepreneur," announces Mike Ajnsztajn, angel investor and co-founder of  Aceleratech, based in New York , who represents the accelerator in the United States.

"With our program, entrepreneurs also have contact with investors, tools and consulting that will provide all the support necessary to develop a solid business model and win new investments. For this first class there were more than 80 hours of classroom time and 150 hours of mentoring over the course of three months," adds Pedro Waengertner, Co-Founder of Aceleratech and Coordinator of the Nucleus of Study and Business in Digital Marketing at ESPM.

According to Mike Ajnsztajn, the most representative models of the first class have to do with B2B, mobile and e-commerce. "We believe a lot in B2B models because Brazil still has many gaps to fill in this area and potential for business development. Most accelerated startups in this first class are already generating billing and many of them came here with nothing more than a project that was quite basic. In some of them we completely modified the model and others are already prepared even for a process of internationalization and to receive new investors", he exults.

Breno Moraes, CEO of Brasil by Bus, a sales site for bus tickets that was part of the first class of accelerated startups, acknowledges the  push he got from Aceleratech to take the startup to a new level. "We had the opportunity to develop a relationship with professionals from a number of areas of market activity, and to have the invaluable mentoring of highly successful Internet entrepreneurs. With this, our work has been more focused and we've made adjustments to the business model based on the suggestions we received," he says.  

"We started the process of acceleration precisely in the launch phase, and devoted all available resources to processing and adjusting our operation based on the feedback we received over the course of the process," he explains.  

Broken down into modules, the acceleration program for the second class, starting now and lasting 16 weeks, will include courses given by specialists and graduate level faculty from the campus of the institution who work with subjects such as, "Marketing," "Business Models" and "User Experience."

The team of mentors at the accelerator features names such as Julio Vasconcelos, CEO of Peixe Urbano; Fernando Biancardi Cirne, CMO of Locaweb; Rafael Siqueira, CTO of Apontador, and Cassio Spina, from Anjos do Brasil ['Angels of Brazil']. 

DEMO DAY – On April 23, Demo Day will be held, to mark the graduation of the first group of accelerated companies, where they will make presentations to investors seeking to obtain capital for the new companies.

To find out more about the pioneering class of Aceleratech, comprised of 11 startups, click here.

MORE INFORMATION FOR THE PRESS
FirstCom Communication (www.firstcom.com.br)
Luis Claudio Allan ([email protected])
Marcos Viesti ([email protected])
Lucas Paschoal ([email protected])
Phone: (11) 3034-4662

SOURCE Aceleratech