The Criatec Fund was born out of a public bid tendered by BNDES in 2007 and won by Antera Gestão de Recursos SA, in consortium with Instituto Inovação S.A. Today the Fund is co-managed by Antera and Inseed Investimentos Ltda, the investment arm of the Instituto Inovação group. Criatec is a seed investment fund that focuses in emerging (previous year billings of less than BRL$ 6 million) and innovative companies. Its objective is to obtain capital gains through long term investment in startups that have innovative products and services and generate high returns.

The investors in the Criatec Fund are BNDES – Banco Nacional do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, with BRL$ 80 million invested and BNB – Banco Nordeste do Brasil, with BRL$ 20 million invested.

Criatec has invested to date in 36 emerging and innovative companies in 8 states. Investments can run up to BRL$ 5 million per company.

In addition to the investment, Criatec actively participates in the administration of the companies providing strategic and management support, helping in the selection and structure of the team, setting goals and following up with results. The chosen management style is hands on and the idea is to work together with the invested companies. Since 2008 the Criatec portfolio has grown consistently at over 60% a.a.

The Fund is scheduled to terminate its activities in November 2017. If necessary the investors have a right to extend the term for an additional 5 years.