By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s state development bank BNDES and innovation agency Finep announced a public call to select a manager for a new investment fund targeting Brazilian startups, in a move aimed at expanding access to venture capital for early-stage technology companies.
The fund, known as FIP Conexões Startups, will seek 250 million reais, or about $46 million, in committed capital, according to information released by BNDES. The announcement was made Tuesday during the 2026 edition of BNDES Garagem in Rio de Janeiro.
The initiative is designed to connect startups that have already received support from Brazilian innovation, grant, funding or acceleration programs with institutional capital. Eligible companies include those backed by programs such as BNDES Garagem, Mais Inovação, Centelha, Inovacred, Subvenção Econômica, Tecnova and Mulheres Inovadoras, as well as other public and private startup support initiatives.
BNDES’s investment arm, BNDESPAR, may commit between 40 million reais and 100 million reais to the fund. Finep, acting as the executive secretariat of Brazil’s FNDCT science and technology fund, may commit as much as 50 million reais.
The fund will invest in startups with annual gross revenue of up to 20 million reais. Part of the Finep/FNDCT resources will be directed to companies based in Brazil’s North, Northeast and Center-West regions, according to the announcement.
“Investment funds are an important mechanism to stimulate innovation and talent formation in Brazil, a priority of President Lula’s government. With this support, BNDES reaffirms its relevant role as an anchor investor in funds that support innovative companies developing in Brazil, in partnership with other development institutions. In this way, the bank contributes to leveraging resources, including foreign capital, offering long-term capital to those who, in general, face difficulties raising funds in the market,” BNDES President Aloizio Mercadante said.
Finep President Luiz Antonio Elias said the agency is reinforcing its role in financing innovative companies.
“Finep reinforces its historic role of investing in innovative companies, leveraging resources aimed at bringing environmental, social and economic benefits in areas that are key for Brazil, such as innovation and artificial intelligence, aligned with the missions of Nova Indústria Brasil,” Elias said.
BNDESPAR also announced an investment of as much as 63 million reais in Antler Brasil I, an early-stage fund focused on technology startups. The fund will also receive investments from Finep, BRDE, Badesul and Fomento Paraná and may reach as much as 250 million reais in committed capital.
Of that amount, 65 million reais is expected to come from foreign investors, helping attract external capital to Brazilian startups. The BNDESPAR investment includes a specific incentive for companies participating in the BNDES Garagem acceleration program.
Antler Brasil I plans to support as many as 100 startups, with a focus on technology-based ventures at the pre-seed stage, before the traditional seed-capital phase.
The fund will receive specialized consulting from Antler Brasil, part of a global group active in early-stage funds across more than 27 markets. Antler’s model supports entrepreneurs before their companies are formally created, through its Antler Residency Program.
Since 2018, Antler has invested in more than 1,800 early-stage companies, backing founders from the beginning of their business trajectories.
BNDES and Finep also said a separate public call to select the manager of an artificial intelligence investment fund received 17 proposals. That fund, launched in early April, is expected to publish its final ranking in September.
The AI-focused fund may mobilize as much as 500 million reais and will target Brazilian startups that use artificial intelligence as a central part of their business model and value creation, rather than as an auxiliary tool.
BNDESPAR may commit as much as 125 million reais to the AI fund, while Finep may invest as much as 80 million reais using FNDCT resources. Each anchor investor will be limited to a 25% stake in the fund, a structure intended to attract additional investors.
The initiative is part of Brazil’s Artificial Intelligence Plan, which seeks to promote AI-based innovation to improve national productive capacity and social well-being.
No publicly traded tickers apply to BNDES, Finep, Antler Brasil, BRDE, Badesul or Fomento Paraná, as cited in the original announcement.