After receiving 57 applications from startups interested in generating technological solutions to meet the needs and challenges of Brazilian municipalities, ICLEI Innovation has selected 11 projects to participate in the initiative's acceleration phase.

Starting on September 14th, the ICLEI Innovation Acceleration Programme will last approximately 12 weeks and will support the development and growth of the teams involved, who will have access to the e-learning platform. Online Traction, which has the Growth Path methodology and offers a precise diagnosis of the business's traction stage, helping selected participants to make conscious, data-driven decisions.

The projects also began the mentoring process on the 24th, to assist in the construction of the business's strategic and tactical-operational plan. In weekly one-hour meetings, the mentors provide support for the actions that the startups are carrying out. 

Ultimately, the aim is to create a company growth plan, which will be developed further with each module. Following the acceleration phase, the “Demo Day” event will be held, featuring presentations from the selected projects.

Following these presentations, a judging panel appointed by the Programme will select up to five participants – and their respective solutions – who may be included in ICLEI South America's portfolio.

Mentorship sponsorship

The mentor godfather/godmother will play the role of helping the startup navigate the market and the problem it has set out to solve. There will be a total of five mentors, each collaborating with two teams.

One of the godmother mentors is Thais Zschieschang, technical manager for Green Sampa and analyst for São Paulo City Hall. For her, cities present a range of challenges due to structural issues, whether it's a lack of planning in their previous constructions or planning strategies that don't reflect the local reality. “Bringing sustainable solutions inspired by the principles of nature is an excellent practice for building diverse, inclusive spaces with a better quality of life. These are the driving factors behind innovative logic itself, generating a virtuous cycle and providing a cultural redefinition of the use of assets, natural resources, and urban space itself,” observes Zschieschang.

Through the mentoring process, she hopes to monitor the implementation of solutions and their promises of care and improvements to the urban space. “My expectation is to collaborate with the grounding of the information provided and the tools suggested by the programme's qualifying flows, with adaptation and prioritisation according to the characteristics of the supported startups, optimising their respective learning and business development windows.”

Our mentor and godfather will be Vitor Sá, planning analyst at Rio Operations Centre From his workstation, he sees the increase in severe weather events and their impacts on the capital of Rio de Janeiro. For him, the use of nature-based solutions for urban development not only makes cities more pleasant but, more importantly, saves lives.

“Having met the start-ups taking part in the ICLEI Innovation Acceleration Programme, I know that some excellent innovative solutions will emerge. As a mentor, I intend to support the start-ups with all the knowledge and network of contacts at the Operations Centre, with the aim of further refining the solutions and making them 100% viable,” he says.

CEO of Shedding, Ana Carolina Calçado, to support startups with new perspectives, a focus on paths that generate more value, experience with technological development, and relevant connections for business development. “”Technology can bring solutions that address the development challenges of Brazilian cities in an innovative and more effective way, enabling new approaches, larger-scale solutions and greater sustainability," states Calçado.

The Vice-President of Promote Rio, Rafael Ribeiro will also participate in the mentoring process. The agency is one of the sponsors of ICLEI Innovation.

According to Ribeiro, technology can and should be a great ally of sustainability. “For the creation of sustainable cities, urban development must always be linked to nature, and nothing is more innovative than forging this link through technology. The startups in the programme do this with professionalism and great passion, essential factors for the success of any undertaking,” he believes.

“The expectation is to be part of the revolution these startups are making, with a theme so important for the planet and society. I hope to pass on content that contributes to these solutions, demystifying imaginary barriers and helping to leverage and scale the projects.” 

Selected projects

Upon opening a national call for participants for its Acceleration Programme, ICLEI Innovation received 57 applications from 10 Brazilian states, in addition to the Federal District. The eleven selected startups are listed below.

• Green Drone
• Anubz Innovative Solutions
• Arbolink
• Exati Technology
• Tree & Arboriculture Technology
• GAIA – Urban Tree Management
• CTC Solutions
• MapTree
• GreenNew
• Ecosocial – Design for Inclusive Technologies
• Cerrado Gardens

ICLEI Innovation 

In February 2020, a partnership between ICLEI South America and Public launched ICLEI Innovation. The initiative will focus on sustainable urban development and entrepreneurship through support for startups active in the areas of innovation and sustainability for local public management. 

Without losing sight of the health crisis imposed by Covid-19, ICLEI Innovation will also seek solutions that support the fight against the novel coronavirus and align with the restructuring of local governments in the post-pandemic era. 

In a context where startups are gaining ground with innovative solutions in various areas, ICLEI Innovation emerges with the aim of fostering impact startups that offer solutions for cities to advance towards more sustainable management.

About organisations 

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of over 1,750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in over 100 countries, the organisation influences sustainability policies and drives local action for low-carbon, nature-based, equitable, resilient, and circular development. ICLEI South America connects its more than 80 member governments across eight countries to this global movement. 

A Publicae is a joint venture established between FCJ Venture Builder e Houer Concessions, specialists in startup acceleration and innovation markets. 

Partners 

ICLEI Innovation has institutional and technical partners, as well as sponsors, who are benchmarks in innovation and sustainability in cities and will help to give visibility and reach to the project. 

The Rio de Janeiro Municipal Secretariat of the Environment and the development agency Fomenta Rio are partners and sponsors of ICLEI Innovation. 

The project also has the support of the São Paulo City Council and the Porto Alegre City Hall, through the development agency Happy Agreement. Among ICLEI Innovation's technical and institutional partners are: the Innovation Alliance (Brava Foundation, Humanize Institute e Arapyaú Institute); Climate Ventures; CB27 Forum; Avina Foundation; Sea Legacy; WayCarbon; The Willow. 

For more information about ICLEI Innovation, visit the project website.