Braskem Labs opens registrations for the 2020 edition

Entrepreneurs from all over Brazil can apply until February 26th to participate in the Braskem Labs, Braskem’s platform of impact entrepreneurship. Interested parties may choose between the following modalities Scale and Ignition of the program, which seek to leverage businesses that have a positive impact on society. Registration is free and can be done through the site www.braskemlabs.com .

Taking advantage of Braskem’s market experience, Labs focuses on companies that consider chemistry and/or plastic as part of the solution. Within this context, the Scale modality is dedicated to startups in the traction and scale phases, i.e., that are operational, have clients and are billing. On the other hand, the Ignition modality is intended to be a pre-acceleration for startups in the business model validation phase.

Among the general criteria for selection are the degree of innovation of the presented solutions, market potential, profile of the entrepreneur and the involved team, business model and the generated social and environmental impact. It is important that the entrepreneurs be over 18 years of age and available to be present at the meetings held in the city of São Paulo.

Marina Rossi, manager of Braskem’s Sustainable Development area and responsible for the Braskem Labs program, explains that both modalities of the program seek companies that operate in diverse areas such as agribusiness, health, infrastructure, mobility, biotechnology and circular economy. “Startups have a great potential to bring innovation to our sector, contributing to finding new paths for the development of sustainable businesses,” he says.

For the development of the programs, Braskem counts on the support of Quintessa, a startup accelerator dedicated to social impact and environmentally friendly businesses. “The alignment of objectives that we have with Quintessa is what makes our partnership so productive. We believe that their experience of more than a decade accelerating impactful businesses makes Labs even more robust, adding knowledge to the entrepreneurs and to the Braskem members involved in the project,” comments Marina.

In practice, the Braskem Labs programs combine training and mentoring, by means of individual and group meetings. The selected companies participate in the acceleration for approximately five months and receive, among other items, a business diagnosis, personalized support, access to a diverse network of Quintessa mentors  and Braskem executives, networking with connection to potential clients and strategic partners of the market. At the end of the program, there is still the opportunity to introduce the start-up to investors and potential clients.

“Furthermore, Labs’ model of actuation l is equity free. This differential reinforces our position in favor of the innovative and positive contribution to our sector and to all society”, explains Marina. “It is worth highlighting that the connections generated during the program are totally spontaneous, whether among entrepreneurs or with us. In this sense, more than 25% of the participating companies have done some kind of business with Braskem”, she concludes.

For Anna de Souza Aranha, director at Quintessa, the Braskem Labs’ programs stand out among others offered in the market: “they have a unique value proposition, mixing contents and methodologies from Quintessa mentoring sessions with Braskem executives, personalized and individualized support from our managers, in addition to accessing the market with Braskem’s endorsement. Furthermore, it is a win-win relationship, because on the other side, these businesses have the potential to become a source of innovation in new products, markets and forms of relationship for Braskem – having a positive impact as a premise. I believe that the Braskem Labs programs are a great example of inspiration for other large companies that want to get closer to the entrepreneurial ecosystem”.

More information about the Braskem Labs programs can be obtained at www.braskemlabs.com .