Darwin Startups

Darwin Startups is a Brazilian startup accelerator and early-stage investor headquartered in Santa Catarina, with activity spanning Brazil and Latin America. Its investment strategy targets pre-seed and seed stage companies drawn from within its own acceleration portfolio. The firm reports 100 portfolio startups across 14 investment-backed acceleration cohorts, with 11 exits and more than R$150 million in capital raised by portfolio companies to date.

The model combines investment with an acceleration programme for early-stage startups, offering mentoring, specialist guidance, training and founder support, alongside an alumni community. Participating founders gain access to corporate partners for experimentation, proof-of-concept projects and new business opportunities. Capital is deployed as one component of a broader support structure rather than as a standalone instrument.

Alongside the accelerator and fund activities, Darwin Startups provides corporate innovation services - identifying and evaluating startups, developing strategic business opportunities and fostering internal innovation for corporate clients. More than 30 such programmes have been delivered in Brazil and Latin America. The firm describes its role as building strategic relationships among investors, corporations and startups, and states a mission of transforming the lives of people and businesses.