Start-Up Chile Ignite 2026 (BIG 13)

Relocation after selection: you can apply from India without a Chilean company, but if you are selected the Team Leader must move to Chile and work on the project there, full time, for the whole programme. Foreign Team Leaders must apply for a Chilean Temporary Residence Visa before the funding agreement is signed. The official pages do not say who pays for travel to Chile.

Start-Up Chile Ignite is the acceleration line of Start-Up Chile, the public accelerator run by Corfo, Chile's economic development agency. It gives startups that already have a working product equity-free co-funding of CLP 30 million (about US$33,000, about ₹31.35 lakh) and a four-month acceleration programme in Chile. Applications for the current generation, called BIG 13, are open until 24 November 2026 at 1:00 PM Chile time (GMT-3), which is 9:30 PM in India.

What the program offers

The BIG 13 brochure describes Ignite as a four-month programme with six months to spend the subsidy. Corfo co-finances up to 80% of your project's total cost, capped at CLP 30 million. If the Team Leader is a woman, Corfo covers up to 90%. The money is a subsidy, not an investment: Start-Up Chile calls it equity-free, so you give up no ownership. Selected startups can later ask for an extension worth up to CLP 20 million (about US$22,000, about ₹20.9 lakh) and up to six more months.

Alongside the money you get mentoring, board sessions, an academy, pitch training, free co-working space, help with your visa, and introductions to Start-Up Chile's corporate, investor, university and government networks.

The subsidy can pay for things such as commercial packaging of the product, market validation, business plans, certifications and intellectual-property services, sales activities, critical assets, and the salary of the Team Leader and other team members, within limits set in the rules. Consulting and franchise projects are not funded.

One thing to note: the Ignite web page still mentions a fund of 25 million pesos, while the BIG 13 brochure and the published Terms and Conditions say 30 million. This listing follows the brochure for the current call.

Who can apply

Start-Up Chile says it is agnostic to industry and nationality. Under the published Terms and Conditions, a Chilean or foreign person aged 18 or older can apply as an individual, as long as they are a founder or partner of a technology-based project with a global outlook that will use Chile as its platform. The project must have at least a minimum viable product or working prototype and no more than 36 months of commercial development.

For a founder in India this means you do not need a Chilean company to apply. If you act for a company incorporated outside Chile, such as an Indian private limited company, the Team Leader must hold at least 10% of it, directly or indirectly. A company can be the beneficiary only if it is incorporated in Chile and started its tax activities there no more than 36 months before the call opened.

Ignite suits founders who truly want to build from Chile for several months and use it as a base for Latin America. It does not suit teams that cannot relocate a founder, or idea-stage projects without a product; those are served by the Build line.

How to apply

You apply online through Start-Up Chile's application platform, linked from its Apply page. The form asks about your business and team. The rules also ask for a video of up to 120 seconds showing the product, a copy of each foreign participant's passport or national identity document, and contact details of at least one person who can recommend the project. The site and Terms and Conditions are published in English and Spanish.

How applications are judged and what happens next

After the deadline Corfo first checks eligibility against the Terms and Conditions. Expert judges and the Start-Up Chile team then score the forms, and some teams are invited to an interview. Team counts for 20% of the first-stage score and project value for 50%, which covers market opportunity, product, traction and scalability. Committees make the final selection. The Start-Up Chile site does not publish a results date for BIG 13.

Selected teams then sign a subsidy agreement with Corfo. A foreign Team Leader must file a Temporary Residence Visa application for Chile first; without it the agreement is not signed.

About Start-Up Chile

Start-Up Chile calls itself the first public accelerator in the world. It is part of Corfo, the Chilean government's development agency, and reports a portfolio of more than 3,000 startups and 6,000 founders from more than 85 countries. It runs three lines: Build for early prototypes, Ignite for startups with a product, and Growth for companies that are scaling.

Things to check before you apply

• Relocation is real. The Team Leader must take part in the programme in Chile for the whole execution period, with exclusive dedication, and Corfo can end the project early if they do not.
• This is co-funding. You must put in at least 20% of the project cost yourself, in cash or in kind.
• The amount is set in Chilean pesos, so its rupee value will move with exchange rates.
• The Terms and Conditions on the site are those of an earlier call (BIG 11), offered for reference. Read the rules shown on the application platform for BIG 13 before you submit.
• A practical tip: Indian founders receiving foreign money and living abroad for months should check tax and foreign-exchange treatment with an adviser.