Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais - ACAFE

What Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais - ACAFE does

Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais (ACAFE) is a Brazilian non-profit civil association founded on May 2, 1974, headquartered in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. It functions as a coordinating consortium for 14 community universities (10 universities and 4 university centers) that together serve approximately 142,000 undergraduate students and represent nearly 70% of higher education enrollment in the state of Santa Catarina. ACAFE's mission is to promote administrative, technical, and scientific exchange among its member institutions in teaching, research, extension, and administration.

ACAFE's core products are organized around examination and selection services delivered through a web-based platform with dedicated portals per examination type. The portfolio includes the Vestibular de Medicina (Winter and Summer entrance examination cycles), SUA (Sistema Único de Acesso — a unified university access system covering 12 campuses, 215 courses, and 2,690 spots), Processo Seletivo ACT (teacher recruitment for municipal schools), and public competition administration for government clients such as CELESC and Polícia Civil de Santa Catarina (including a 406-position civil police competition). The underlying technology is an integrated examination management system supporting concurrent cycles for vestibular, concurso, and processo seletivo, with candidate portals, document management, and results publication.

ACAFE's revenue model is built on examination registration fees (transaction-based pricing) collected from candidates for vestibular examinations, public competitions, and selective processes on behalf of member institutions and government entities. The organization employs a small central staff (8 employees) to coordinate a much broader system that encompasses 7,125 collaborators, 10,522 master's and doctoral professors, 710 undergraduate courses, 95 master's programs, and 41 doctoral programs across member institutions. Its market position is reinforced by constitutional recognition under Article 242 of the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution and Articles 170, 171, and 193 of the Santa Catarina State Constitution, which codify the community university funding model and student access guarantees.

Name

Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais - ACAFE

Legal name

Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais - ACAFE

Website

https://acafe.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Short description

ACAFE is a Brazilian non-profit association coordinating 14 community universities in Santa Catarina, administering unified entrance examinations, public competitions, and selection processes through web-based candidate portals. It serves approximately 142,000 students and holds constitutional recognition under Article 242 of the Federal Constitution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Examination Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

National/State Examination Boards & Testing Agencies (EDADAFAA)

Keywords

• University entrance examinations
• Public service competitions
• Higher education consortium
• Teacher recruitment processes
• Community university network

Headquarters

HQ city

Florianópolis

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Examination Registration Fees: Revenue generated from candidate registration fees for vestibular examinations, public competitions, and selective processes conducted for member institutions and government entities

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ACAFE is a non-profit civil association that coordinates unified entrance examinations (vestibulares), public service competitions (concursos públicos), and selective processes for 14 community universities and government entities in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The organization provides web-based registration, examination administration, candidate management, and results publication infrastructure shared across its member institutions and external clients such as CELESC and the Civil Police.

Product overview

ACAFE operates as a unified platform consortium managing multiple entrance examination and selection systems for 14 community universities and public institutions in Santa Catarina. The product portfolio includes: (1) Vestibular de Medicina - university entrance exams for medical programs in Winter/Summer cycles; (2) SUA (Sistema Único de Acesso) - unified university access system across 12 campuses with 215 courses; (3) Processo Seletivo ACT - teacher recruitment for municipal schools; (4) Concurso Público Celesc - public utility company competitions; (5) Concurso Polícia Civil - civil police recruitment; and (6) ACAPS CFP - professional formation courses for security personnel. All systems share common infrastructure for candidate registration, examination administration, results publication, and enrollment coordination.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Vestibular de Medicina Entrance examination system for Medicine programs across member universities, offered in Winter (Inverno) and Summer (Verão) cycles, including registration, exam administration, and results management.
• Processo Seletivo ACT Teacher recruitment and selection process (Aditivos Contratos Temporários) for municipal schools, handling applications, examinations, and candidate placement.
• Concurso Público CELESC Public competition for CELESC (Centrais Elétricas de Santa Catarina), managing examination cycles for positions including administrators, engineers, technicians, and analysts.
• Concurso Público Polícia Civil Civil police public competition for positions including Police Delegate and Civil Police Agent, including all examination phases and ongoing result updates.
• SUA (Sistema Único de Acesso) Unified university access system managing applications, course offerings, and scholarship programs across member institutions, providing 12 campuses, 215 courses, and 2,690 spots.
• ACAPS CFP (Curso de Formação Profissional) Professional formation course for public security personnel, managing training phases, examinations, and certification for candidates from public security agencies.

Quantifiable outcome

• 445,841 health clinic attendances, 32,393 dental services, 55,423 physiotherapy sessions, 30,742 psychology consultations, 28,713 legal services annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 14 member community universities of the ACAFE system. Founded by municipal law, participates in unified entrance examinations and collaborative research programs. FURB represents one of the founding institutions contributing to the system's scientific initiation projects and patent portfolio.
• Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState university participating in ACAFE system entrance examinations. Contributed to governance since 1979 with presidents Lauro Ribas Zimmer (1979-1990) and João Nicolau Carvalho (1976-1979). Hosts sectoral chamber coordination for internationalization.
• Universidade do Contestado (UNC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember institution of the ACAFE system with representation in the Deliberative Council and past leadership through president Gaston Mário Cazamajou Bojarski (2004-2006).
• Universidade do Vale do Itajaí (UNIVALI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor member institution hosting coordination for Technology and Information as well as Innovation sectoral chambers. Contributed leadership including Mário Cesar dos Santos (2012-2014) as president and Edison Villela (1990-1996) in earlier governance.
• Universidade da Região de Joinville (UNIVILLE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember institution contributing executive leadership including Paulo Ivo Koehntopp as Secretary Executive (2014) and president (2008-2010). Hosts extension sectoral chamber coordination.
• Governo do Estado de Santa CatarinacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState government partnership for the community university model, with constitutional provisions (Articles 170, 171, 193) establishing funding mechanisms for student access. Government support enabled expansion of the system since the 1970s through FAZ fund resources.
• Ministério da Educação (MEC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal education ministry with regulatory oversight of higher education. Data sharing agreement enables institutions to fulfill legal obligations. Constitutional recognition under Article 242 establishes the system's legitimacy within national education framework.
• CELESC (Centrais Elétricas de Santa Catarina)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublic electricity utility company engaged ACAFE to conduct public service competition for multiple positions including Administrator, Lawyer, Psychologist, Systems Analysts, Accountants, Engineers, and Technicians. ACAFE provides examination services including registration, testing, and candidate evaluation.
• Polícia Civil de Santa CatarinamajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorState civil police engaged ACAFE for public competition administration. Competition for 66 Delegate and 340 Agent positions conducted in 2014, with ongoing results and convocations continuing through 2024.

Scale indicators21 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Consulplan: Brazilian exam organization conducting concursos públicos and selection processes for state and municipal governments. Direct peer competing for the same public sector exam contracts.
• Cebraspe (Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisa em Avaliação e Seleção e de Promoção de Eventos): Brazil's largest exam organizer, formerly CESPE/UnB, conducts vestibular, concursos públicos, and large-scale selection processes for universities and government entities across Brazil. Direct competitor in the same exam-administration category as ACAFE, with broader national scale.
• VUNESP (Fundação Vunesp): Major São Paulo-based exam organizer conducting vestibulares, concursos públicos, and selection processes for universities and government agencies. Direct peer in standardized exam administration with comparable customer base (higher education institutions and public sector).
• Fundação Carlos Chagas (FCC): Long-established Brazilian exam organization conducting public competitions (concursos) and selection processes for government entities. Direct peer in the concurso público administration space, especially for civil service and public sector hiring.
• FGV Projetos / FGV Conhecimento: Fundação Getulio Vargas operates an exam and public competition administration arm, conducting vestibular and concurso services for universities and government. Direct peer with comparable business model and national reach.
• AOCP (Assessoria em Organização de Concursos Públicos): Brazilian exam organizer focused on concursos públicos for government entities across multiple states. Direct peer in standardized public competition administration, competing for the same state/municipal contracts ACAFE serves.
• IBFC (Instituto Brasileiro de Formação e Capacitação): Brazilian institute conducting public competitions and selection processes for government agencies and educational institutions. Direct peer in the standardized exam administration category.
• ABRUEM (Associação Brasileira das Universidades Comunitárias): National association representing Brazilian community universities (the same model as ACAFE's members) and coordinating policy advocacy, research, and collaborative programs. Direct peer as a coordinating membership body for community universities.
• Instituto Quadrix: Brazilian exam and concurso organizer serving government entities and educational institutions with standardized selection processes. Direct peer in public competition and exam administration.

Broad incumbents

• Educational Testing Service (ETS): Global standardized testing organization (TOEFL, GRE, Praxis) operating at massive scale. While not a direct Brazilian competitor, ETS represents the broader standardized testing and assessment industry that ACAFE operates within.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais - ACAFE