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Home/Accelerators/Start-Up Chile
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Government Programme·Start-Up Chile

Start-Up Chile

A government-backed programme offering equity-free funding to founders willing to base themselves in Chile.

Program Type
Government Programme
Headquarters
Santiago, Chile
Focus
Global Founders in Latin America

Overview

Start-Up Chile was created by the Chilean government to import entrepreneurial activity: founders from anywhere in the world receive equity-free funding and a visa in exchange for basing themselves in Chile for the programme.

It is among the earliest and most widely copied examples of a state using startup policy as economic development, and it materially changed Santiago's standing in the Latin American ecosystem.

Program Structure

  • Equity-free grant funding from the Chilean government
  • Work visa support for international founders
  • Residency requirement in Chile during the programme
  • Separate tracks by company stage
  • Community obligations connecting founders to the local ecosystem

What They Look For

  • Founders willing to relocate to Chile for the programme period
  • Companies with global ambitions rather than only local ones
  • Teams able to contribute to the local ecosystem
  • A working product or clear technical progress
  • Applications from Latin America and worldwide
Notable Portfolio

Companies they've backed.

Alumni span fintech, logistics, e-commerce, and agricultural technology, with a strong concentration of companies that went on to operate across Latin America.

The programme's clearest legacy is ecosystem-level: it seeded a community of founders and investors in Santiago that did not previously exist at scale.

Related

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Raising after a programme?

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