SEBRAE - RS
SEBRAE-RS is the Rio Grande do Sul state unit of Brazil's national SEBRAE non-profit system, providing training, consulting, events, and digital platforms to support micro and small businesses across all 497 municipalities in the state.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1972
- HeadquartersPorto Alegre, Brazil
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What SEBRAE - RS does
SEBRAE-RS is the Rio Grande do Sul state unit of Brazil's national SEBRAE (Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas) system, a private non-profit entity established in 1972 to promote the competitiveness and sustainable development of micro and small businesses. The organization delivers a broad portfolio of services to entrepreneurs across all 497 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul, including paid training courses (in-person and online via SebraE Tá On and the rs.loja.sebrae.com.br e-commerce platform), consulting services, major events such as Mercopar (industrial fair), ELI Summit (leadership), and FBV (Brazilian Retail Fair), the Unio marketplace connecting businesses with service providers, and digital self-service platforms (AMEI portal, Meu SEBRAE). Specialized programs target priority segments including agribusiness (Jovem SuperAgro with JBS/Seara, Agrofamília for post-flood family agriculture recovery), startups, retail, food and beverage, tourism, and fashion, with the Cidade Empreendedora program extending service delivery through partnerships with all 497 municipal governments in the state.
The underlying technology stack is described as standard digital platforms for course delivery, content distribution, and customer relationship management, with no proprietary technology or in-house AI/ML capabilities disclosed. The platform architecture integrates authentication via the AMEI system, course commerce, podcast and video distribution, and a service provider marketplace with quote-comparison features. Revenue is generated through a mixed model: paid training and consulting (professional services), event participation and ticket sales (transaction fees), the Unio marketplace (transaction-based/take rate with up to 40% discounts versus market rates), and free services funded by mandatory contributions from Simples Nacional-enrolled companies and government allocations. Go-to-market combines direct sales-led support, event-driven engagement, community-led municipal partnerships, and self-serve digital channels. The organization employs 101-250 people, is headquartered in Porto Alegre, and operates as part of the national SEBRAE system under statutory public-service mandate.
SEBRAE - RS firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SEBRAE - RS
- Legal name
- Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas
- Website
- https://sebraers.com.br
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1972
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- SEBRAE-RS is the Rio Grande do Sul state unit of Brazil's national SEBRAE non-profit system, providing training, consulting, events, and digital platforms to support micro and small businesses across all 497 municipalities in the state.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where SEBRAE - RS is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Porto Alegre
- HQ country
- Brazil
- HQ region
- Latin America
Offices2 records
Markets served
SEBRAE - RS business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Training and Courses: Sebrae RS generates revenue through paid training programs, courses, and capacitations. These include both in-person and online courses with various price points, ranging from free content (Sebrae Tá On) to paid specialized training programs.
- Consulting Services: The organization offers paid consulting services for businesses, including the Unio platform which connects businesses with consultants and service providers, generating transaction-based revenue with discounts up to 40%.
- Event Participation: Revenue is generated through event participation including booth rentals, sponsorship packages, and exhibition fees at events like Mercopar, ELI Summit, and FBV.
- Free Services and Government Funding: Many services are provided free of charge, funded through mandatory contributions from companies enrolled in Simples Nacional and government allocations. This includes MEI support, entrepreneurial education programs, and the Cidade Empreendedora municipal program.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free online content - basic entrepreneurship support |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Good Manufacturing Practices training courses |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Premium events and summits |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Unio platform service procurement with discounts |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
SEBRAE - RS product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SEBRAE-RS provides training courses, consulting services, events, and digital content to support micro and small businesses across all 497 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul. The organization delivers both free educational resources (online courses, MEI support) and paid specialized offerings (in-person training, consulting, event participation) through e-commerce, physical service units, and municipal partnerships. Core programs include business formalization support, sector-specific services for agribusiness, retail, food, fashion, and startups, and the Cidade Empreendedora municipal development program.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Unio: Platform for contracting services and consulting with discounts, connecting service providers with small businesses.
- Cidade Empreendedora
- Mercopar
- Sebrae Tá On
Products and services
- Capacitação (Training Courses) Paid in-person and online training courses covering topics including Good Manufacturing Practices for food commerce, digital marketing, financial management, MEI formalization, credit access, and Mercosur-EU Agreement. Certificate issuance requires 75% attendance. Available across multiple RS locations.
- Consultoria (Consulting Services) Personalized consulting services delivered to micro and small businesses covering business management, digital transformation, market access, and operational efficiency. Services are accessed directly through SEBRAE RS service units or the Unio platform.
- Unio Service Marketplace Platform Platform connecting businesses with vetted service providers and consultants across categories including Design, Processes, Marketing & Sales, Sustainability, Finance, Strategy, Agribusiness, Certifications, People, Innovation, and Market. Offers up to 40% discount compared to standard market rates with features including reviews, portfolios, and quote comparison.
- Mercopar Industrial Fair
Quantifiable outcome
- Mercopar 2024 generated R$ 935 million in projected business volume with record participation
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use SEBRAE - RS
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
SEBRAE - RS technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
SEBRAE - RS partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.
- JBS/SearacorePartnership between SEBRAE RS and Seara (JBS brand) to launch the Jovem SuperAgro program in Rio Grande do Sul. The initiative focuses on training young agricultural producers and supporting succession planning in rural areas. This represents a significant agribusiness partnership leveraging SEBRAE's entrepreneurial expertise with JBS's market presence.
- Municipal Governments (497 cities)coreCidade Empreendedora program establishes partnerships with municipal governments across all regions of Rio Grande do Sul. Cities including Igrejinha, Garibaldi, Carazinho, Santo Augusto, São Sebastião do Caí, Farroupilha participate. The program delivers entrepreneurial education, municipal management support, and business development services through local administration channels.
- PUC-RS (Pontifícia Universidade Católica)strategicSEBRAE RS and PUC-RS jointly launched the HUB Phygital, combining academic research capabilities with practical entrepreneurial support. This partnership integrates university resources with SEBRAE's small business development expertise.
- Fapers (Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa)strategicPartnership with Fapers to launch an edict (call for proposals) to encourage innovation in Basic Education. Combines educational research with entrepreneurial methodologies.
- FNQ (Fundação Nacional da Qualidade)minorCollaboration on certification of Salas do Empreendedor (Entrepreneur Rooms). FNQ and SEBRAE RS certify municipal entrepreneur service centers with bronze and other level certifications.
- SicrediminorSEBRAE RS provides services inside SanVitto Sicredi branches, such as in Caxias do Sul, expanding service reach through financial cooperative branches.
- FNQ (Fundação Nacional da Qualidade)minorPartnership to promote quality management and certification of Entrepreneur Rooms (Salas do Empreendedor) in municipalities, with the goal of improving public service delivery for small businesses.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SEBRAE - RS competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SEBRAE Nacional: Parent organization of SEBRAE-RS and the overarching national SMB support system. Operates the same business model (training, consulting, events, market development) across all Brazilian states; SEBRAE-RS is effectively one regional unit within this national system.
- SENAI (Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial): Sister entity in Brazil's "S-System" of parafiscal-funded workforce development organizations. SENAI delivers industrial training, technical courses, and consulting funded by mandatory employer contributions — closely mirroring SEBRAE-RS's funding and delivery model, focused on industry verticals.
- SENAC (Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Comercial): Another S-System sister focused on commerce, retail, and services training. Same parafiscal funding model, same in-person + online course catalog, same employer-facing training mission — directly comparable to SEBRAE-RS's Dono de Pequeno Negócio / varejo programs.
Regional players
- SENA (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje - Colombia): Colombia's national vocational training and entrepreneurship support institution, funded by parafiscal employer contributions. The international reference point for the SEBRAE-RS model; comparable scope, scale, and mission, but operates in a different Latin American market.
Emerging players
- Endeavor Brasil: Brazilian non-profit supporting high-impact entrepreneurs through mentorship, networking, and acceleration programs. Overlaps with SEBRAE-RS's startup segment and entrepreneurial education mandate, but focused on scale-ups rather than micro/small businesses.
- Junior Achievement Brasil: Non-profit delivering entrepreneurship and financial literacy education, with strong overlap to SEBRAE-RS's educational programs (Sebrae Tá On, courses for MEI/small business). Operates globally with similar age-segmented educational content.
- Aliança Empreendedora: Brazilian non-profit focused on micro-entrepreneurship and income generation in vulnerable communities. Overlaps with SEBRAE-RS's MEI and microenterprise programs but operates at smaller scale and with a more social-impact focus.
- Stone Co. (Stone Educação / Stone Business): Brazilian payments and SMB banking platform that has expanded into SMB education, training, and digital transformation services. Targets the same micro and small business customer base as SEBRAE-RS, but through a commercial, fintech-led model rather than a non-profit mandate.
Broad incumbents
- FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) - FGV EAESP / FGV EBAPE: One of Latin America's leading business education institutions, offering executive education, MBAs, and management training. Comparable to SEBRAE-RS's capacitation and consulting offerings for SMBs, though FGV targets mid-market and executives rather than micro-entrepreneurs.
- BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social): Brazil's federal development bank providing financing, guarantees, and SME support programs. SEBRAE-RS partners with Badesul/RS Garanti (RS state equivalents) to facilitate credit — a structurally similar role in the SMB ecosystem, but at the federal financing level rather than the training/consulting level.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SEBRAE - RS social profiles
Digital presenceSEBRAE - RS financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SEBRAE - RS leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
SEBRAE - RS funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SEBRAE - RS M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments4 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SEBRAE - RS
What does SEBRAE - RS do?
SEBRAE-RS provides training courses, consulting services, events, and digital content to support micro and small businesses across all 497 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul. The organization delivers both free educational resources (online courses, MEI support) and paid specialized offerings (in-person training, consulting, event participation) through e-commerce, physical service units, and municipal partnerships. Core programs include business formalization support, sector-specific services for agribusiness, retail, food, fashion, and startups, and the Cidade Empreendedora municipal development program.
Is SEBRAE - RS a public or private company?
SEBRAE - RS is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was SEBRAE - RS founded?
SEBRAE - RS was founded in 1972. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is SEBRAE - RS based?
SEBRAE - RS is headquartered in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in the Latin America region.
How does SEBRAE - RS make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Training and Courses are the primary driver. The others are consulting Services, event Participation and free Services and Government Funding.
Who are SEBRAE - RS's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SEBRAE Nacional, SENAI (Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial) and SENAC (Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Comercial). SENA (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje - Colombia) is listed as a regional player. Emerging players are Endeavor Brasil, Junior Achievement Brasil, Aliança Empreendedora and Stone Co. (Stone Educação / Stone Business). Broad incumbents are FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) - FGV EAESP / FGV EBAPE and BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social).
Does SEBRAE - RS have an API?
No public API is recorded for SEBRAE - RS.