BNDES Invested R$ 366 BILLION in 2025. How Much of That Slice Did You, as a Small or Mid-Sized Business Owner, Actually Get?

The low-cost money exists and is supposedly available. What is missing is visibility for small and mid-sized business owners, along with access to information and support to meet the requirements set by the Government Institution. Many give up due to bureaucracy and a lack of internal structure to fulfill those requirements.

My recommendation: "Take advantage of the available government credit lines — they are low-cost and largely underutilized by SMEs." Here is what I mapped out and presented at the VivaMente conference:

To get started (Working Capital): Seek out and compare the best alternatives: Commercial Banks and Credit Unions — Working Capital, Guaranteed Account, Invoice Discounting, ACC/ACE, Compror, Vendor, and now bookkeeping-based receivables (fresh off the press as new products), already approved by the CVM.

For SME growth (Almost no one uses these):

• BNDES SME: Agent cost + 1.35% p.a. (average cost) | up to 5 years with a 2-year grace period | BNDES-SEBRAE guarantee fund
• BNDES Card: for goods and services
• BNDES Microcredit

To innovate:

• FINEP: TR + 4% to 7% p.a. | up to 168 months | grace period up to 48 months | reimbursable and non-reimbursable. Establish partnerships with Universities to bring innovation to your business!

To scale:

• Angel Investors/Venture Capital: Examples: Oxigênio (Porto Seguro — 210 startups), Inovabra (Bradesco), Anjos do Brasil
• Debentures: R$ 457 billion issued in 2025, 202 companies. Requires CVM registration and audited financial statements.
• Project Finance: SPE with audited financial statements. For projects >R$ 100MM

Golden tip: do not forget to also include the additional working capital required in your investment cash flow financing.

To go public:

• B3 Novo Mercado: Minimum R$ 10MM share capital, audited financial statements, Governance. Simplified regime for revenues <R$ 500MM, but I recommend >R$ 50MM. As of May 2026, there were 476 public companies listed on B3. Compass completed an IPO of R$ 3.2 billion on 05/11/26 — the first since Nubank in 2021.