The exodus of young Latin American entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley and other U.S. technology centers may soon become a two-way street — growing numbers of U.S. techies are heading south to benefit from generous aid packages for high-tech startups.

Brazil, Latin America’s biggest country, has followed the steps of Chile by launching a program that is offering domestic and foreign high-tech startups nearly $100,000 in government aid, plus free office space, business mentoring, and legal and accounting services.

Under the public-private program, known as Startup Brasil, up to 25 percent of the selected companies will be from abroad, and have to commit themselves to staying in Brazil.

Startup Brasil operations director Felipe Matos told me in a telephone interview that 909 aspiring companies, including nearly 60 from the United States, signed up for the first round of applications for 50 slots, which ended Friday. The United States was the foreign country from where most non-Brazilian applications came from, he said.

“We want to attract interesting minds, and people who can help us become more competitive,” Matos said.