O iFood Believes, which encourages the growth of black entrepreneurs in the food sector, it arrived in São Paulo. On March 11th, iFood and Favela Holding (the group that maintains Central Única das Favelas) launched the program in the capital of São Paulo, focused on Heliópolis and Paraisópolis.
In São Paulo, the initiative aims to benefit 100 black entrepreneurs by offering training courses, consultancy and special credit lines.
“iFood is a partner of CUFA For many years, we have always been together in various actions. This new partnership is an example of how joining forces can generate a positive and lasting impact in favelas”, says Marcivan Barreto, president of CUFA São Paulo. “We are building a fairer and more prosperous future for these entrepreneurs.”
iFood Believe was created in June 2023 to support black entrepreneurs. The pilot of the program was carried out in Salvador (Bahia), where 70% of the participants were women and 78% worked alone, without employees.
The first results of the program, in Salvador, were an increase of 23.4%, on average, in restaurant sales and the issuance of 300 iFood Decola course certificates.
What does Crédito offer black entrepreneurs?
In Salvador and São Paulo, entrepreneurs have access to:
- Personalized consultancy to improve the performance of restaurants and stores in the app
- Courses on the online training platform iFood Decola
- Program My High School Diploma, which prepares students for the test that gives a certificate of completion of this stage of education
- Special line of credit for investments in business expansion (such as in inputs, infrastructure, staff or marketing)
- More visibility in the iFood app
What will be different about iFood Crédito in São Paulo?
Entrepreneurs from Heliópolis and Paraisópolis will be able to count on Espaço iFood Crédito, equipped with 25 computers and which will host face-to-face workshops to help entrepreneurs operate on the app.
In the space, participants will take courses focused on the needs of favela entrepreneurs, participate in conversation circles to share their pain and think collectively about improvements.
Furthermore, restaurants that have not yet registered with the iFood app will receive support to digitize their businesses and join the platform. “This way, they will be able to increase their customer base and have a higher income at the end of the month”, says Angel Vasconcelos, equity director at iFood.
“We are reinforcing our digital literacy actions for black entrepreneurs, accelerating the social mobility of these people”, he adds.
At iFood Believe Spaces, entrepreneurs will be able to train themselves to make better use of the app by taking a digital literacy workshop and a basic computer course, in addition to having access to subsidized professional photos to create more attractive menus.
