Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de SP

What Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de SP does

FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo / São Paulo Research Foundation) is a public, non-profit research funding foundation established by the Government of the State of São Paulo in 1960 and headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. Its mandate is to support scientific, technological, and innovation research through scholarships (scientific initiation through postdoctoral), research grants (Auxílios à Pesquisa), thematic projects, applied research centers, and programs targeting small businesses (PIPE) and university-industry partnerships (PITE, CEPID, CCD-SP, CPA). FAPESP does not sell products or charge fees; instead it disburses funding to researchers affiliated with São Paulo institutions, who submit proposals through the SAGe online platform and are evaluated under a formal peer-review system.

FAPESP's funding base is uniquely structurally protected: under the 1989 São Paulo State Constitution, the foundation receives 1% of the state's ordinary tax revenues, providing a stable, recurring capital pool that has scaled from US$ 1.5 million in 1963 to research investments exceeding US$ 400 million by 1994. The foundation operates six research funding strategies covering human resources training, knowledge advancement, innovation, strategic topics, research infrastructure, and knowledge diffusion. Its go-to-market motion is institutional and non-commercial: it reaches researchers through universities (USP, UNICAMP, UNESP), public calls for proposals, the SAGe platform, Agência FAPESP news service, Revista Pesquisa FAPESP magazine, and the FAPESP Week international conference series.

FAPESP has built a deep international collaboration network through formal agreements with CAPES, CNPq, NERC (UK), NRF (Korea), Inserm (France), and the European Research Council, and it finances a portfolio of landmark outputs including the Xylella fastidiosa genome sequencing published in Nature. In 2024 the foundation financed a record 27,095 scholarships and research grants, an 18% year-over-year increase and the highest figure in its historical series. The organization is governed by a 12-member Superior Council and a Technical-Administrative Directorate led since 2025 by Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Graeff.

Name

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de SP

Legal name

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Website

https://fapesp.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

FAPESP is a São Paulo State public foundation that funds scientific research and innovation through scholarships, grants, and partnerships, disbursing 1% of the state's tax revenues to universities, researchers, and small businesses across São Paulo.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Funding Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research Administration & Grants Management Support (Pre/Post-Award, Compliance) (EDAEALAO), Research Grants, Fellowships & Stipends (International) (EDAIAOAJ)

Keywords

• Research funding
• Scientific grants
• Research scholarships
• Innovation programs
• Academic research support

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. State Government Funding: FAPESP receives its funding from the São Paulo state government, corresponding to 1% of the state's ordinary tax revenues as established by the 1989 Constitution of São Paulo. This provides a stable, recurring funding base tied to state fiscal performance.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FAPESP funds scientific and technological research in the State of São Paulo through scholarships (Bolsas) for researchers and students and research grants (Auxílios à Pesquisa) for investigators and institutions. It also operates targeted innovation and partnership programs such as PIPE (small business innovation), PITE (university-industry partnerships), CEPID (multidisciplinary research centers), and CCD-SP (science for development centers), supported by digital management systems including SAGe, Agilis, and SIAF.

Product overview

FAPESP is a research funding foundation that operates as a platform-plus-programs model, offering various funding instruments rather than a unified software product. The core offerings consist of grants (Auxílios à Pesquisa) and fellowships (Bolsas), supported by internal management systems including SAGe, Agilis, and SIAF. Key programmatic products include PIPE (Pesquisa Inovativa em Pequenas Empresas), PITE (Parceria para Inovação Tecnológica), and CEPID (Centros de Pesquisa, Inovação e Difusão), alongside thematic funding mechanisms and regular research grants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bolsas (Scholarships) Funding program that provides monthly stipends and research support to individual students and researchers at São Paulo universities and research institutions across all career stages from undergraduate scientific initiation to postdoctoral research.
• Auxílios à Pesquisa (Research Grants) Financial support for individual investigators and research projects covering project costs, equipment, consumables, travel, and technical reserve, awarded on a competitive basis across all areas of knowledge.
• PIPE (Pesquisa Inovativa em Pequenas Empresas) Funding program that supports technological innovation research carried out by small and medium-sized enterprises in São Paulo state, providing non-dilutive grants for applied R&D projects.
• PITE (Parceria para Inovação Tecnológica) Partnership program that funds collaborative technological research projects between São Paulo universities/research institutions and private companies, sharing project costs and risks.
• CEPID (Centros de Pesquisa, Inovação e Difusão) Long-term funding mechanism that supports large multidisciplinary research centers conducting basic and applied research, knowledge dissemination, and technology transfer, hosted at universities and research institutes.
• CCD-SP (Centros de Ciência para o Desenvolvimento)

Quantifiable outcome

• Funded 27,095 scholarships and grants in 2024, an 18% increase year-over-year and a record in FAPESP's historical series

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• CAPESmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership with CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for joint funding programs, including a call for up to 100 projects to encourage retention of doctorate holders in São Paulo, with up to R$ 1.5 million per proposal.
• CNPqmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership with CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) for joint initiatives to support research and retain doctorate holders in Brazil.
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025New call for collaborative research in environmental sciences between researchers in the UK and the State of São Paulo, supporting high-impact collaborative research projects.
• National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025New call for research proposals in any area of knowledge with duration of up to 24 months, promoting scientific collaboration between Brazil and South Korea.
• European Research Council (ERC)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025New partnership with the European Research Council for joint research initiatives, expanding FAPESP's international collaboration portfolio.
• FATECcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025FAPESP will allocate R$ 20 million for up to 250 projects coordinated by FATEC faculty members, with 500 Technology Initiation Scholarships, supporting technological innovation at technical colleges.
• Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (Inserm)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Memorandum of understanding signed with Inserm, France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research, for cooperation in life sciences and health research, including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
• São Paulo State UniversitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with state universities (USP, UNICAMP, UNESP) for research funding, graduate programs, and institutional research infrastructure. Universities are the primary home institutions for FAPESP-funded researchers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): Germany's central research funding organization. Comparable as a self-governing research funder supporting individual investigators, collaborative research centers, and research infrastructure — a structural analog to FAPESP's model.
• National Science Foundation (NSF): U.S. federal research funding agency. Closest international analog in mission and structure — funds basic research, graduate fellowships, research infrastructure — and a benchmark for FAPESP's grantmaking model and scale.
• European Research Council (ERC): EU's premier frontier research funding agency. Comparable in funding excellence-driven research through grants and is an active partner of FAPESP; serves as a model and counterparty for cross-border research collaboration.
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI): UK's national research and innovation funding body, parent of NERC. Comparable portfolio of grants, fellowships, and innovation programs; a natural partner of FAPESP through the NERC bilateral call.
• National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF): South Korea's primary national research funding agency. Comparable mission and grantmaking structure; an active FAPESP partner with a 2025 joint call for collaborative research.

Direct peers

• Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq): Brazil's national research funding agency. Directly comparable as a peer grantmaking body operating the same scholarships, fellowships, and research grants model across Brazil, with overlapping beneficiary populations and joint programming with FAPESP.
• Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES): Brazilian federal agency for graduate education and research training. Directly comparable to FAPESP's scholarship and fellowship functions; runs the same graduate programs FAPESP funds and jointly co-funds retention programs.

Regional players

• INSERM: France's national institute for health and medical research. Comparable in funding biomedical research and training researchers; partnered with FAPESP via a 2024 MOU on life sciences and health.
• Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET): Argentina's main public research organization. Comparable as a state-funded research body supporting researchers and institutes across Latin America; serves as a regional structural analog despite operating in a different national context.
• Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII): Uruguay's national research and innovation funding agency. Comparable as a Latin American public research funder with scholarship and innovation grant programs, but serving a smaller economy than São Paulo.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLPdNbZy8nSthxPuBXifoSDlFOTmT4Ja5w
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/40427

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments48 records

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Frequently asked questions about Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de SP