GEN in Brazil

A GEN Pioneer

Brazil holds a distinctive place in the history of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). As one of the very first nations to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in 2007, Brazil helped shape the campaign in its earliest days and has remained one of its most active participants ever since. In the years that followed, Endeavor Brazil, under the leadership of Juliano Seabra, served as the national host organization, building GEW into a nationwide movement and laying the groundwork for a formal GEN presence in the country.

Leadership of the GEW campaign later transitioned to the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (SEBRAE), the government-linked agency responsible for supporting micro and small enterprises, which rapidly expanded the initiative nationwide. By 2017, SEBRAE had expanded GEW into a platform that strengthened GEN's presence across Brazil, doing so through an innovative and inclusive approach designed to ensure the network reached the entire country rather than a handful of major cities. GEW Brazil launched an open selection process to recruit local GEW leaders in 32 cities, inviting individuals passionate about transforming their communities to step forward and lead ecosystem-building efforts in their own regions.

During GEW 2018, SEBRAE supported more than 8,100 events involving over 674 partners, reaching more than 700,000 participants. The organization's ambition was to leverage GEW and GEN's global resources to reach even more aspiring entrepreneurs, with particular attention to women and other underserved communities.

The campaign has continued to grow in scale and impact. In 2021, GEW Brazil registered 5,287 activities across 1,002 municipalities in all 26 states and the Federal District, centered around a national theme of entrepreneurship and inclusion. Brazil has consistently ranked among the world's leading Global Entrepreneurship Week campaigns, recognized for its scale, creativity, partnerships, and commitment to engaging underrepresented communities. High-level political support has accompanied this growth, including the participation of President Michel Temer, who addressed a GEW opening ceremony emphasizing entrepreneurship as a driver of Brazil's economic development.

Convening the global entrepreneurship community for the first time in Latin America

One of the defining milestones in GEN's relationship with Brazil came in 2013, when Rio de Janeiro became the first city in Latin America to host the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). Hosted by Endeavor Brazil in partnership with GEN and the Kauffman Foundation, the Congress welcomed more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers, and ecosystem leaders from over 120 countries, showcasing Brazil's emergence as one of the world's most dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystems.

The Congress featured global leaders from government, academia, investment, and entrepreneurship, including representatives from the World Bank, UNCTAD, Endeavor Global, Babson College, 500 Startups, and other pioneering startup support organizations. Discussions explored how countries could build stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems by aligning public policy, investment, education, and entrepreneur support organizations to help startups start, grow, and scale globally.

Beyond bringing the global entrepreneurship community to Brazil, the Congress elevated the country's international profile, strengthened relationships among Brazilian ecosystem leaders and their global counterparts, and helped position Brazil as a leading voice in entrepreneurship policy and ecosystem development across Latin America

Shaping entrepreneurship policy

Brazil has been an active contributor to Startup Nations, GEN's global community of policymakers dedicated to improving the environment for entrepreneurs.

A milestone in this collaboration came during the Startup Nations Summit (SNS) in Surabaya, Indonesia, where a Brazilian delegation led by Felipe Matos, Vice President of Dínamo, became a finalist in the Startup Nations Policy Hack. Working alongside representatives from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications, FINEP, and SEBRAE, the team developed proposals for what would become Brazil's Startup Act, drawing on international best practices identified through the Startup Nations Atlas of Policies. Their work helped catalyze a broader national conversation around startup regulation, company formation, taxation, and labor reform.

Brazil's commitment to entrepreneurship policy has also been reflected domestically. Under SEBRAE's leadership, Global Entrepreneurship Week was officially incorporated into Brazil's national calendar following legislation approved by the National Congress—a landmark recognition of entrepreneurship as a national priority.

Connecting Brazilian startups to the world

Brazil has been one of the most active participants in the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), GEN's global startup competition launched in 2019 that provides founders with free training, mentorship, investor exposure, global visibility, and the opportunity to compete for more than $1 million in annual prizes. To support these efforts, GEN has also collaborated with ecosystem partners such as Grupo Rede+ to help Brazilian startups access international opportunities through programs including the Entrepreneurship World Cup.

To date, 22 Brazilian startups have reached the EWC Top 100: Aptah Bioinformatics, Eu Ensino, and Neurobots (2019); Alya Nanosatellites Constellation E.O., Eco Panplas, GreenPlat, PYPIV, and yak (2020); AARIN, ArtMe, Fresco Labs, KOR Solutions, and NetWord Agro (2021); GLR Tech Solutions, Liberfly, and Mogai Tech (2022); BioUs Biotech and Zero Esgoto (2024); and BSV Robotics, Jade Autism, Liberfly, and Pix Force (2025). Together they represent the breadth of Brazilian innovation, spanning biotechnology, agtech, aerospace, fintech, clean energy, health technology, artificial intelligence, and industrial solutions.

Building entrepreneurial and investor communities

Beyond competitions, GEN has helped strengthen entrepreneur-led communities and investment networks throughout Brazil.

Startup Huddle Belo Horizonte (Beaga) was launched under the leadership of Felipe Maia, creating a peer-driven forum where entrepreneurs receive practical feedback from experienced founders, mentors, and investors while building stronger local connections. The initiative reflects GEN's broader commitment to supporting entrepreneurs beyond major conferences and competitions.

Brazil's investor community has been represented within GEN's global initiatives through organizations such as Anjos do Brasil, Gávea Angels, Urca Angels, Bossa Invest, and other leading angel groups and venture investors that contribute to strengthening early-stage capital and supporting high-potential Brazilian startups.

Advancing entrepreneurship research

Brazil has featured prominently in GEN's entrepreneurship research initiatives. Most recently, Brazil served as an international stage for GEN's work when the APEXE Nations Report, developed by Startup Genome and GEN in collaboration with ABStartups and Startup20, was pre-released during Global Entrepreneurship Week at the G20 Social Summit in 2024 before its global launch at the 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Congress.

A nationwide ecosystem with global connections

Through ongoing partnerships with organizations including SEBRAE, Grupo Rede+, Dínamo, ABStartups, FINEP, Anjos do Brasil, universities, accelerators, investors, and founder communities, GEN helps connect Brazilian entrepreneurs and ecosystem leaders to global markets, policy dialogue, investment opportunities, research collaborations, and international partnerships.

GEN President Jonathan Ortmans and other members of GEN's leadership have engaged regularly with Brazilian partners—from the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Rio de Janeiro to GEW celebrations, Startup Nations, and research initiatives—reflecting Brazil's strategic importance within GEN's global community.

Today, Brazil stands as one of GEN's most engaged country ecosystems—home to one of the world's largest Global Entrepreneurship Week campaigns, the first Global Entrepreneurship Congress held in Latin America, a leading contributor to Startup Nations, and one of the most active participants in the Entrepreneurship World Cup. These longstanding partnerships continue to strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems across Brazil while connecting founders, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem builders to opportunities around the world.