Hotmart, a global technology company focused on the creator economy, launched Hotmart Challenge - Startup Edition, a challenge to find innovative projects in technology, education, and entrepreneurship throughout Brazil. The company will select startups that will receive, in total, a contribution of US$416 thousand to accelerate the winning projects.
The purpose of the challenge is for startups to submit ideas and projects, from businesses in the idea stage to those already in development. “We want to further develop the creator economy and will invest in companies that bring complementary solutions to our ecosystem, driving digital entrepreneurship, online education, electronic payments, and helping more content creators”, highlights the CEO and co-founder of Hotmart, João Pedro Resende.
Registration is open until July 24th and must be done through the microsite www.hotmartchallenge.com. To register, in addition to following the guidelines of the regulations, startups must record a video up to two minutes long about their business - and why their idea deserves to be selected -, upload the video to YouTube or a similar platform, and send the link in with their registration. It's worth remembering that participants must have an innovative business, linked to entrepreneurship, technology, or education.
In the first phase, 50 startups will be selected and will go through a selection process. From these initial startups, up to 20 startups will go to the next phase and will have an exclusive mentoring process with the best professionals in the market. The selected startups will go on to the semifinals, some of which will be considered to receive the investment in the grand finale, in mid-September this year.
To make up the panel of judges, Hotmart invited people from within the company that will participate in the entire selection process of the challenge. The judges are: João Pedro Resende, CEO and co-founder; Mateus Bicalho, COO and co-founder; Nathalia Cavalieri, VP of Marketing; Frederico Montezuma, Global M&A Director; Raúl Maraña, Business Development Director; and Thalita Gaku, Global Customer Experience Director.
The Hotmart Challenge is part of the initiatives that celebrate the company's 10th anniversary. When it all started, in 2011, Hotmart was one of the winners of the Buscapé¹ “Sua Ideia Vale 1 Milhão" [Your Idea is Worth 1 Million] award. Since then, Hotmart has become a unicorn and has consolidated itself as a global leader with more than 370 thousand registered products, more than 26 million users around the world, and transactions in more than 188 countries. “Hotmart has become the opportunity for millions of people in the digital market to become entrepreneurs and live their passions, and the Hotmart Challenge is a way of offering startups the same opportunity that transformed the course of the company”, adds the CEO.
¹Buscapé is a Latin American product comparison shopping service