Brazilian fintech C6 Bank invites startups to São Paulo incubator

Contxto – Startups could potentially raise R$70,000 (approximately US$18,500) during a four-month incubator due to C6 Bank and its Opp entrepreneurship program. The digital bank just opened applications for its second annual mentoring class. 

In Summary

Up to nine early-stage startups will be chosen to work with C6 Bank as part of its Opp initiative. Since the challenger bank wants to develop solutions for unbanked Brazilians, Opp seeks to collaborate with tech-based ventures specializing in this area.

“A large part of the population that doesn’t have any type of banking relationship has Internet access via smartphones and therefore could have access to our products and services,” said Thiago Soares, Opp’s head at C6 Bank.

Ultimately, it aspires to be a hub of entrepreneurship, incubation and training for startups. In this regard, participants may end up validating MVP or re-evaluating business models. Besides this, there will be four months of mentoring in areas such as business, finance, innovation, technology, among others. 

Registration goes until August 25. Applicants ought to submit a business presentation to be eligible for the interview process. If selected, startups must be available to receive in-person mentoring at C6 Bank headquarters in São Paulo. 

In-Depth

Not long ago, former BTG Pactua executives founded C6 Bank in 2018. Just this past January, the Brazilian Central Bank authorized the digital bank to operate. Since then, it has started testing its newly developed credit card among employees and a small group of early adopters.

While it competes with Nubank and other more-established fintech contenders, C6 Bank is off to a good start. Reports say it has around 20 partners, over 300 employees, not to mention an eight-story office space. 

With this, the company also coordinates Opp as a hub of entrepreneurship, incubation and startup training. Fintech and financial market startups providing payment, collections and credit solutions are ideal candidates for this event. 

“Because of the dynamism of our time, it is increasingly important to participate in an ecosystem that encourages creativity and disruption,” said Gustavo Torres, head of innovation at C6 Bank.

After receiving around 300 proposals, only three startups participated in the first round last year. They included Provi (a credit startup), Travys (an AI platform analyzing voice and text), as well as EvaluShop (a program for satisfaction surveys at points of sale). 

-JA