100 Startups to Watch 2024: meet the list of winners

This year, 1,979 companies were registered for the award. Of these, 1,050 had their applications validated and meticulously analyzed by a team of EloGroup experts, in collaboration with the STW Committee.

Throughout the startup selection process, the methodology includes nine stages:

1. Questionnaire and criteria development: refining the method and defining evaluation criteria and the application form;
2. Form launch: opening the registration form for startups to participate in the selection;
3. Mass dissemination and active search: posting promotional materials on social media, actively searching for startups, and sending emails to previous databases;
4. Ambassador nomination: inviting startups that cannot be left out of the STW, as recommended by the award’s ambassadors;
5. Multicriteria evaluation: each startup was evaluated in two phases, each by an EloGroup consultant;
6. Finalizing the list of 200 finalist startups: since 2023, this group must include at least 100 companies where 50% or more of the ownership demonstrates diversity characteristics (racial, gender, sexual orientation, or people with disabilities);
7. Judges’ evaluation: the 200 startups are evaluated in two phases by two judges, with companies distributed among evaluators to avoid potential conflicts of interest;
8. Jury meeting: the judges of the 100 STW endorse the list of the 100 startups with the highest scores;
9. Award and announcement of the selection: the 100 Startups to Watch 2024 are announced on the platforms of PEGN, Valor Econômico, and Época Negócios.

The companies are assessed in five dimensions. In each, internal evaluators and external judges assign scores from 1 (less promising) to 5 (very promising). These dimensions are:

• Degree of Innovation;
• Market Potential;
• Business;
• Team;
• Solution Maturity.

In practice, this means that if a company receives a score of 1 for market potential, its addressable market is considered very small with unfavorable trends. Similarly, a score of 3 for the team indicates that the group has relevant experience for the project, but still lacks some competencies. Finally, a score of 5 for solution maturity suggests that the startup is fully aligned with the requirements of its current stage, meeting or exceeding all expectations.

At the end of the evaluation, each startup receives a consolidated score, which is calculated by the arithmetic average of the scores assigned in the dimensions by the judges.