Taubaté City Hall opened a public call to select up to 18 startups interested in participating in the HITT (Taubaté Technological Innovation Hub) Incubation Program. The selected companies will develop solutions to real challenges in the municipality. The initiative, led by Sedint (Secretariat of Development, Innovation, Agriculture and Tourism) aims to encourage innovative entrepreneurship, stimulate technological development, contribute to the generation of jobs and income and strengthen the municipality's innovation ecosystem. Furthermore, participating startups will be challenged to present solutions to the city's real problems in various segments such as mobility, health, security, among others within the scope of public management. Through a partnership with Sebrae and ABS (Brazilian Startups Association), companies selected in the call will have access to training and mentoring at no cost, in addition to the possibility of free use of the entire infrastructure available at HITT. The notice can be accessed at this link here. The program was structured to serve businesses at different stages of development. Projects may enter pre-incubation, incubation or advanced incubation modalities, according to the startup's maturity level. In pre-incubation, aimed mainly at projects in the ideation or validation phase, the work will be directed to structuring the business model, developing the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and initial validation of the solution. This stage will last up to six months. The incubation will be aimed at startups that already have an MVP developed or are starting their operations, with a focus on market validation, commercial structuring and consolidation of the product or service, for a period of up to 12 months. Advanced incubation will serve businesses with a higher level of maturity, market validation and growth potential, directing actions towards expansion, scalability and closer contact with investment opportunities. In this modality, the stay can reach 18 months. Interested startups must register exclusively electronically, within the deadline established in the notice, presenting an application form, the startup's pre-project and the required documentation. Link to registration. The registration period will be 30 days from the publication of the notice. After the evaluation stages, presentation of pitches, appeals period and publication of the final result, the start of the Incubation Program is expected to take place within 15 days after the approval of those selected. With the new call, the City Hall expands the actions developed at HITT and strengthens the strategy of transforming the space into a permanent environment for connection between entrepreneurs, companies, educational institutions, entities in the productive sector and public authorities, stimulating the creation and development of innovative solutions in Taubaté. Support for business development During participation in the program, startups will have access to HITT's physical infrastructure, in addition to technical and managerial training, specialized mentoring and connections with public and private institutions that are part of the innovation ecosystem. Another difference of the program will be the proximity of startups to real challenges in the municipality. During the incubation period, participants must develop, validate or improve at least one innovative solution with potential for application in demands or opportunities for improving Municipal Public Administration. The proposal seeks to bring together technology, entrepreneurship and public management, creating an environment in which new businesses can develop while learning about existing challenges in the city and developing solutions that can help address them. The solutions developed can be tested and validated in a real environment. If the solution presented demonstrates technical feasibility and adherence to the public interest, it may be subject to future contracting by the Municipal Administration, subject to the procedures, legal instruments and other requirements established by current legislation. Priority areas The notice establishes as priority areas smart cities, health, education, urban mobility, tourism, commerce and services, sustainability and technological solutions applied to public management. Startups from other segments may also participate, as long as they present relevant innovation, technical feasibility and potential for economic impact. Proposals that have a connection with strategic sectors for the economy of Taubaté and the region will be especially valued, such as the automotive, metal-mechanical, aeronautical, industrial and logistics segments. Selection process The selection will be carried out in stages, including document analysis, technical evaluation of the pre-project, presentation of the proposal in pitch format and final classification. Among the criteria that will be considered are degree of innovation, market potential, scalability, team capacity, technical feasibility and economic and social impact. The assessment will have a maximum score of 100 points, with a minimum score of 60 points required for classification.