São Paulo, May 15, 2018 -  The second edition of EDP Starter Brazil, an acceleration program aimed at startups with solutions for the energy sector, is already open to the registrations of entrepreneurs in any region of the country. Interested parties can register up to  31 May, Non the website www.edpstarter.com/brasil.

At the teams chosen during the selection process will have access to a complete support structure for the development of your business, with consulting specialized in innovation, EDP executive mentoring and market specialists, co working space in Wework, and in various business areas, customized for the needs of each entrepreneur. One of the main differentials of this program is the possibility of investing up to R$ 10 million (about $2.8 Million) in participants startups.

In addition gaining entry into the energy market, participants become part of the EDP Starter global community. Inside the ecosystem, they will have access to various opportunities, such as the possibility of the development of pilot projects financed by EDP, opening to new markets, such as Europe, with international mentoring and participation in other competitions, including the Seed Race and EDP Open Innovation, in addition to a potential investment through EDP Ventures, Group risk capital.

"When they join the program, the startups become part of a global community to support entrepreneurship. We currently have five companies in our portfolio, some of them coming from last edition of EDP Starter, and we are developing pilot projects with four of them, with promising results," says Lívia Brando, the Company innovation manager.

In this edition, EDP Starter is looking for new ideas on six themes Solutions: Customer Focused Solutions, Digital Innovation, Renewable Energies, Energy Storage, Intelligent Networks and Solution Support for areas that are not * core business *. For example, some of the main solutions would be in the areas of Electric Mobility, Batteries,  Analytics, Power Management, Predictive Models, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, BlockChain, Methods of Payment, among others.

At the initiative was organized jointly with the Tropos Lab, a consulting innovation that will participate directly in the selection process and the startups development, with an application of its own methodology, in addition to provide their specialized mentors to assist throughout the program.

Ecosystem of innovation in Brazil: a success story

Brazilians are prominent in the global entrepreneurship community of the EDP Group since 2016, when in Ceará, Delfos Intelligent Maintenance won the EDP Open Innovation competition and took 50 thousand euros to invest on your platform.

Since the creation of EDP Starter Brasil, in 2017, the opportunities for domestic startups have grown even more. In the first edition, five teams from São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Minas Gerais were selected for the acceleration program and were able to leverage their businesses. In the end, the group from Minas Gerais Enercred took the first place and traveled to Silicon Valley on one of the StartSe missions, one of the the country largest entrepreneurship platforms.

Also, it is worth mentioning the recognition of the Brazilian COSOL Condominium Solar at EDP Open Innovation last year. The company presented a solution with blockchain and was among the three winners of the competition, being able to present its solution in the WebSummit.

In Portugal, where it is carried out since 2012, the ecosystem entrepreneur of EDP has received more than 2,500 applications and supports 34 startups in different areas. In total, the Group invested 25.6 million euros in projects that it has helped, and incubated businesses have already generated more than 40 million euros of revenue and more than 500 jobs.