🇵🇪 Peru Series, Part 1: The Government That Stayed the Course

I visited Lima in 2012. Invited by my good friend and incredible founder, Gary Urteaga, to help persuade the government to create a Startupchile-type program in Peru.

The ecosystem was young but energetic. Players like Wayra, Lima Valley, and mostly the universities were working hard to grow it.

Gary is a big hustler, so we ended up on the biggest night TV news show (La Hora) talking about Startupchile. We even had a meeting with the Minister of Production to pitch the Startup Chile idea and explore ways it could work.

A couple of years later, Start Up Peru launched. They have continued working despite major government changes in Peru, which is one of the biggest hurdles to government-backed programs, so kudos to them!

Here's how it’s currently functioning: The program mainly provides grants to early-stage founders while supporting ecosystem players. That means a key requirement is that a local incubator must back your startup.

This setup is a bit different from most programs in Latin America, and I’ve heard mixed feedback about the quality and incentives of these incubators, but at the end of the day, it’s free money, so don't complain (much).

They have several initiatives, but I would highlight three…

What Startup Perú Offers

The model is simple: equity-free grants for startups must be paired with a local incubator.

Here are the three programs worth applying to:

1. Emprendimientos Innovadores

   • For very early-stage startups (MVP + minimal traction)

   • Grant: USD 17K

   • Lead founder must be local—and part of a Peruvian-incubated entity

   Quick link here

2. Emprendimientos Dinámicos

   • Slightly later stage: must show ~USD 30K revenue per year

   • Grant: USD 30K (still equity-free)

   • Same incubator requirement—plus you share a ~10% fee with them

   Quick link here

3. Startup Perú PLUG (Climate Edition)

   • International startups welcome

   • Sector-specific (this year: climate tech)

   • Grant: up to USD 40K, mentorship, access to Peru’s most industrial sectors

   Quick link here

Why This Still Matters

Peru’s ecosystem may have started small, but today it includes homegrown players like Crehana, Tambo, Chazki, CinePapaya (Aquired by Fandango), Culqui (Acquired by Credicorp) and continues offering resources for global founders exploring LatAm scale.

TL;DR

IMPORTANT: I’ll dive into its private acceleration ecosystem next week, so stay tuned.