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Most of us have already created and sold digital startups and have succeeded in our business lives. Now we want to give back and accelerate digital businesses in Brazil, which seems to be a fitting way to show our appreciation and help people with similar goals.
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The objective of the 21212.com seed acceleration program is to help digital startups succeed in the Brazilian market at one of the startup’s hardest moments in life: the beginning. After the program, we want the same results as you – that your company achieves break even, gets profitable, gets funded or is sold.
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We are physically located in Rio and NYC, but we are open to both Brazilian and foreign startups. We’re not really worried about your origin or the place where your company will be established after the seed acceleration program – our main rule is to create innovative businesses for the Brazilian market, as this is our expertise.
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Our business philosophy is based on three pillars: import proven business models, innovate for (Brazilian) market fit, and implement new entrepreneurship insights and theories (e.g. #leanstartup, #bmgen, #custdev…) in all businesses.
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The decision to submit an idea or startup to the 21212.com seed acceleration program depends mostly on market response. Your startup is certainly a great fit to be accelerated if it is based on an idea with great market potential or if it develops an innovative product that has not yet found effective response from the market. In either case, the accelerator will help you to find your market fit.
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21212.com seed acceleration program offers:
- Intensive business and technology coaching from 21212 Team;
- Mentoring from successful and experienced entrepreneurs, experts and investors in Brazil and the US;
- Access to 21212.com’s international network of Brazilian and US partners, entrepreneurs, engineers, lawyers, angel investors and VCs;
- R$ 50,000 in financial support in order to ensure that all activities related to the acceleration process will be taken (ads, research, tech modules acquisition etc). This is not a valuation of your company, but only a small part of the entire investment made by 21212. We strongly believe that startups don’t need money at the very beginning, but they need access to infrastructure and valuable networking;
- Access to a wide range of digital services offered by 21212.com’s partners, like Amazon Web Services, Rackspace, Google, Facebook, Sendgrid, Boo-Box, Optimizely and many others.
- Extensive support in different areas, ranging from graphic design to legal;
- Shared office space with power, internet and inspirational resources both in Rio and NYC;
- Training in development of startups with 21212.com Team, mentors and experts;
- Exclusive access to events for networking and fundraising, including the Investor’s Demo Day at the end of the program;
- Prospecting and negotiation of investments through angel investors and VCs both in Brazil and the US;
- Access to 21212.com Alumni community, which will have a special participation in future acceleration cycles.
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As part of the 21212.com acceleration program, 21212 becomes your partner and receives passive equity in your company (the same kind as the founders have, i.e. Common Stock). The amount of equity in your company depends on your team and traction (users, revenue, etc.) in the market.
A portion of this equity goes to 21212.com because we want to be co-founders of your new endeavor and have the same commitment you have to make it succeed, following the same “risk and reward” model. The other portion goes to 21212.com Sponsors – international and renowned VCs and angel and institutional investors. Many of these people will be mentors during the Program, and potential investors at 21212′s Demo Day.
This is our formula to grow significantly the chances of follow-on funding at the end of the Program.
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The criteria to take part in the 21212.com seed acceleration program are very simple: digital startups (both early-stage and already ongoing ones) that create scalable products that address markets such as e-commerce, social, entertainment or e-payment in Brazil. We prioritize entrepreneurs ahead of the business. Entrepreneurs are actually more important to us than any good idea, since we already have ideas that need talent to run.
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Before enrolling in the 21212.com seed acceleration program, read through our entire website to understand clearly what 21212.com is. If you understand what the program is and are interested in applying, click “Apply Now” and answer the online form about your team and startup. If we are interested in your project, you will be invited for an in-person interview with our team.
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There are ideas everywhere, and we are trying to be in all those places too. Everyday we get in touch with different people and plenty of ideas, and we are always excited when we hear good ideas – we get even more excited when we meet good entrepreneurs who are able to execute these ideas. That’s why we do not sign NDAs; otherwise, we wouldn’t be here offering you some help.
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You don’t need (actually you shouldn’t) spend your time writing endless business plans on your idea or startup. We won’t read it. We suggest that you spend your precious hours adding value to your company or to yourself, while studying the methodology Business Model Generation, for example. And if you already have developed a business model canvas, feel free to share it with us.
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Your company doesn’t need to exist yet, but there must be at least the intention to create it. Operational startups have a clear advantage, especially those who have already begun testing their products with real consumers. However, if your company has not yet been incorporated or doesn’t have a full team, we will help you with that.
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We usually select 10 companies per Program, but we may increase that number depending on the circumstances.
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Don’t worry if your company was not selected in a previous acceleration cycle; it doesn’t prevent you from applying again in the future. We truly believe that startups that decide to apply again have an advantage over the others, because they had the opportunity to apply knowledge and acquire experience after the feedback loop from the previous cycle.
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During 21212.com seed acceleration program, startups will develop and test their product (following methodologies such as lean startup, customer development, and business model generation) and participate in activities such as:
- learning modules (both theoretical and practical) covering areas such as business, technology and legal;
- Individual coaching sessions with 21212.com Team to discuss specific matters;
- Individual sessions with targeted mentors coming from your startup’s market segment;
- Weekly informal meetings for networking, and talks with experts on relevant issues;
- Investor’s Demo Day, and meetings with potential investors.
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21212.com runs a four/six-month long seed acceleration program twice a year – from March to June/August, and from September to December/February. The first four months are more intense, and the last two months are focused on preparation for Demo Day, for future investment rounds, and for scale phase. After this period, startups may continue to have access to coaching, mentoring and networking activities as part of 21212.com Alumni community.
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Even though we believe that acceleration works much better when we are able to work in close proximity to startups, moving to Rio de Janeiro is not mandatory during the seed acceleration program. We strongly recommend though that at least part of the team should spend 4 months with us – and companies willing to do it may be prioritized in our selection – but we are able to set up virtual monitoring with some recurring meetings in person as well.
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Based on the structure of 21212.com, we offer the opportunity for accelerated startups to take full advantage of the seed acceleration program both in Brazil and in the USA. That means you will have access to both Brazilian and American mentors and investors, but you do not necessarily need to be physically accelerated in the US. This however is a possibility for cases where there is sinergy on both sides.
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After 4 months of acceleration, startups that have found successfully their market fit are invited to participate in the Investor’s Demo Day, in which entrepreneurs have an opportunity to pitch their projects to investors and VCs. Entrepreneurs will continue to have support from 21212.com when entering the 21212.com Alumni community, including investment negotiations resulting from the Investor’s Demo Day.
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We cannot guarantee that all startups will have follow-up investment after the Investor’s Demo Day. What we can guarantee is that they will have much more visibility in the investor’s market, a superior valuation and benefits during investment negotiations.
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Yes, we maintain our equity in your company after the acceleration. Our interest is to continue to support your growth until we decide that the moment to sell our shares has arrived.
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Being part of the 21212.com Alumni community means that you will maintain a connection with both the seed accelerator and future generations of accelerated startups and talented people. Our goal is to keep engaging previously accelerated companies in future cycles, creating a space for exchanging experiences as well as creating business and investment opportunities.
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Yes, your startup can be accelerated even if it is already a member of an incubation program. However, remember that the acceleration program requires intense focus and participation over four months, and this must first be aligned with the incubation program.
