How to Apply to Start-Up Chile in 2026

To apply to Start-Up Chile, pick one of three tracks (Build, Ignite or Growth), submit the online application, then clear eligibility screening, expert evaluation, a possible interview and committee selection (Start-Up Chile). All three tracks are equity-free and paid as a Corfo subsidy in Chilean pesos. The relocation requirement is the real price.

How to apply to Start-Up Chile starts with a decision that has nothing to do with the form: whether you are willing to move. The BIG 11 terms require the Team Leader to participate in Chile throughout the project execution period with exclusive dedication (Start-Up Chile). That clause, not the application, is what rules most founders out.

The upside is specific: a two-year work visa, assistance throughout the visa process, the chance to open a Chilean bank account, coworking and acceleration support (Start-Up Chile). What the program never publishes is what relocation costs or how many founder hours the reporting eats. Price that side yourself.

How to apply to Start-Up Chile in 2026: the seven steps

The Start-Up Chile application is a substantive evaluation, not a grant form.

1. Pick your track first. Build, Ignite and Growth have different stage bars, different lengths and different amounts. Get this wrong and the rest is wasted.
2. Confirm you qualify as a beneficiary. Chilean or foreign adults can apply as natural persons. A foreign applicant acting for a foreign company must hold at least 10% direct or indirect ownership, and Chilean legal-entity applicants must meet the SII activity-age limit for the line they select.
3. Settle the relocation question before writing anything. The terms require activities in Chile and, depending on the line, a Chilean entity or a Chile-based formalization route. Name the Team Leader who will actually live there.
4. Fill in the application fields. The form asks for participant backgrounds, dedication, founding-team information, a recommender contact, product or service details, and competition and differentiation. Pick a recommender who will answer the phone.
5. Record the video or videos. One or more videos are part of the submission, not an optional extra.
6. Attach MVP evidence if you are applying to Ignite. That track also requires evidence of an MVP or functional prototype plus a scalable growth model.
7. Submit, then wait out evaluation and committee. The published process runs eligibility, expert evaluation, a possible interview, then committee selection.

Steps 2 to 6 come from the BIG 11 terms and conditions; the process in step 7 is set out on the Apply page.

Start-Up Chile Build vs Ignite vs Growth: the amount depends on the track

Quoting a single Start-Up Chile funding number without naming a track is how founders plan against money they were never eligible for.

Every row comes from the program's own pages: Build, Ignite, Growth and the BIG 12 brochure. The same 15, 30 and 75 million set appears as Corfo maximum subsidies in the BIG 11 terms.

The Ignite figure is the one to verify before you model anything. The live Ignite page publishes CLP 25 million while the brochure publishes CLP 30 million for the same track, and neither document explains the gap. Ask which figure governs the call you are entering, in writing, before you build a budget on it.

Start-Up Chile equity terms: equity-free still has strings

Corfo takes no equity, but the subsidy carries obligations that can reverse it. All four points below are set out in the BIG 11 terms and conditions.

• A capped subsidy, not a check: Corfo's maximum is CLP 15,000,000 for Build, up to CLP 30,000,000 for Ignite and up to CLP 75,000,000 for Growth.
• You co-finance: the terms require beneficiary co-financing, so the published figure is not the whole project budget.
• Reporting is monthly and mandatory: monthly S-Update indicator forms, orientation, an initial meeting, Pitch Day, meetings with technical or financial executives, and a final report.
• The clawback is real: failing to participate without authorization can lead to early termination and subsidy-repayment consequences.

The dilution you avoid at Start-Up Chile gets paid back in Santiago rent and monthly forms. Weigh that trade against a priced round in accelerator vs grant vs pre-seed round.

Start-Up Chile deadline 2026: do not trust the date on the Apply page

The Apply page shows a close date with no year printed next to it, which makes it useless for planning.

• The stale notice: the page states the process closes on November 28 at 13:00 GMT-3 and that results would be available by January 2026 (Start-Up Chile). November 28 carries no year, and the January 2026 line is already past.
• Proof a cycle has since run: BIG 12 announced its selected batch on July 22, 2026 (Start-Up Chile).
• What is not published: no dated window for the next call appears on those pages. Until Start-Up Chile prints a close date with a year attached, do not book flights or plan runway around it.

Check the Apply page directly for the live call, then cross-check dated windows in our deadline calendar.

Start-Up Chile acceptance rate: 59 selected from more than 1,296 applicants

Start-Up Chile does not publish an acceptance rate, but it publishes the two numbers you can divide.

More than 1,296 startups applied to the latest call and 59 businesses were selected across Build, Ignite and Growth (Start-Up Chile). That works out to an approximate selection rate below 4.6%.

Treat that percentage as arithmetic, not a statistic. The program does not label or publish it as an official acceptance rate, and it blends three tracks with different stage bars, so the real odds for Build or Growth specifically are unknown. Compare it against accelerator acceptance rate benchmarks rather than treating it as a like-for-like number.

Is Start-Up Chile worth it? Price the move, then decide

The answer turns on the relocation clause, not the check size.

Growth pays CLP 75 million, described as approximately USD 100,000, across eight months (Start-Up Chile). Build pays CLP 15 million across four months (Start-Up Chile). Those are two different decisions: one can carry a small team through a stay in Chile, the other is closer to a runway extension with a mandatory address attached.

The program publishes no relocation cost estimate and no fixed reporting-hours figure (Start-Up Chile), so build that estimate before you apply: flights, housing for the Team Leader across the full execution period, and the roadmap time the monthly S-Updates, Pitch Day and executive meetings consume (Start-Up Chile).

Run it alongside a priced process, never instead of one. Equity-free money buys months, not a lead investor, and eight months of exclusive dedication in Chile is eight months you are not in front of the funds that would price your next round. If keeping that investor list warm from Santiago is the part that slips, tools like Causo run the outreach while the application sits in committee.

FAQ

How hard is it to get into Start-Up Chile? More than 1,296 startups applied to the latest call and 59 were selected across Build, Ignite and Growth (Start-Up Chile). That implies an approximate selection rate below 4.6%, but the figure is arithmetic on two published counts, not an official acceptance rate. The odds also differ by track.

Does Start-Up Chile take equity? No. The funding is published as equity-free across Build, Ignite and Growth, paid as a Corfo subsidy (Start-Up Chile). The cost sits elsewhere: the terms require beneficiary co-financing and monthly reporting, and allow early termination with subsidy-repayment consequences if you skip required activities without authorization (Start-Up Chile).

How much funding does Start-Up Chile provide? The amount is set by track: CLP 15 million for Build, CLP 75 million for Growth, described as approximately USD 100,000. Ignite is inconsistent across the program's own documents, at CLP 25 million on the live page and CLP 30 million in the BIG 12 brochure (Start-Up Chile). Confirm which figure governs your call before budgeting.

When is the Start-Up Chile application deadline? No dated window for the next call appears on the Apply pages. The Apply page shows a close of November 28 at 13:00 GMT-3 with no year printed next to it, alongside a results-by-January-2026 note that is already past (Start-Up Chile). The most recent batch, BIG 12, was announced on July 22, 2026 (Start-Up Chile), so check the Apply page for the current call.

Is Start-Up Chile worth it for founders? It is worth it if the Team Leader can genuinely relocate, because the terms require participation in Chile with exclusive dedication for the whole execution period (Start-Up Chile). In exchange you get equity-free funding plus a two-year work visa, visa-process assistance, a Chilean bank account, coworking and acceleration support (Start-Up Chile). Since no relocation cost or reporting-hours figure is published, model both yourself first.