The 5th edition of Acelera Pedra Branca ended with companies better prepared to sell, test products and organize their next steps.
Over more than three months, 22 startups took part in 170 hours of mentoring delivered by 17 specialists. In 2026, Acelera was supported by Fapesc, Finep, Hurbana and Eurotec.
The schedule combined workshops and one-on-one mentoring on management, marketing, sales, finance, product development, branding and fundraising.
The work led founders to rethink the audience, offer, pricing, business model and sales channels of the accelerated companies.
Among the program's highlights are companies that moved from early prototyping to well-defined businesses and services in healthcare, smart cities, boating, finance, education, construction, service platforms and disruptive technologies.
Pitching at Demo Day
Acelera closed with Demo Day, held at Passeio Pedra Branca.
At the event, nine startups from the program presented their businesses to a panel of specialists and investors.
“Throughout this edition, we connected startups to mentors, specialists and partners who helped refine business models and broaden participants' strategic view. This movement strengthens the innovation ecosystem and helps create new companies with growth potential,” said Diego Chierighini, executive director of Inaitec.
The mentors' role
Over the months, the mentors chosen by Inaitec for Acelera Pedra Branca observed important qualitative progress.
Key results include clarity about their own business, a more mature view of the market, structured offerings and the transformation of ideas into commercial solutions.
For Raphael Bonelli, a mentor on the program, the companies came to recognize the strengths and gaps of each proposal with greater precision.
Lucas Branco Pulla, also a mentor, saw a similar shift. “Many companies started the program with structural doubts. The mentoring helped these founders break out of stagnation and evolve their idea.”
From idea to MVP
Across five editions, Acelera Pedra Branca has driven the structuring of dozens of businesses that went on to connect with the market.
Examples include MedScribe, which joined the program with a proposal for automating compliance and data protection (LGPD) through artificial intelligence. During the activities, the team identified a demand in the healthcare sector and began developing a virtual assistant for doctors.
Ochs also arrived at Acelera with several points still undefined. The company works on organizing content production for founders and specialists, but needed to narrow down the problem it addresses, its audience and how the service is delivered.
By the end of the cycle, Ochs had methods, services and work stages organized. It is now preparing revenue and cost projections before starting to sell.
