Six startups selected for the fourth and final cycle of sustainable soy for the cerrado program
Bioflore, Green Bonds Brasil, Preservaland, Regrow Ag, Sintrópica Capital Natural and Terras App Solutions offer solutions to raise income by conserving native vegetation on the region's farms.
Cerrado landscape. Photo: Adobe Stock
Six startups were selected to join the fourth and final cycle of the Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program. Bioflore, Green Bonds Brasil, Preservaland, Regrow Ag, Sintrópica Capital Natural and Terras App Solutions all offer solutions for environmental service payments, carbon markets, financial mechanisms, monitoring, environmental compliance, and suitability, to meet some of today's main demands for environmental conservation and restoration. The companies will join fifteen initiatives already included in the program's first three cycles and will fit into an integrated portfolio of innovative solutions for a sustainable soy supply chain, deforestation-free and with no conversion of native vegetation. The PSSC is the result of a partnership between the Land Innovation Fund and AgTech Garage, with strategic support from the Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation (EMBRAPII), and the Center for Research and Development in Telecommunications (CPQD). The PSSC has initial funding of about R$3.4 million to support startups, with the possibility of increasing its revenue from the entry of new partners interested in supporting this innovation ecosystem for sustainable agribusiness.
The four cycles of the program received a total of 163 applications, from more than 17 states in the country plus the Federal District, and from abroad. The finalists were chosen based on criteria such as innovation, business model, team profile, environmental impact, technical and economic feasibility, and synergy with the overall objectives of the Land Innovation Fund to develop, test, and deliver scientific, technological, and business solutions for a sustainable, deforestation-free soy supply chain in South America. Another relevant consideration was their potential to complement and interact with other PSSC projects also addressing major challenges on the international sustainability agenda.
"The four cycles of our Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program enable an innovation landscape to develop through exchanges among diverse players, whose solutions have the potential to transform soy supply chains at different stages of development," explains Carlos E. Quintela, director of the Land Innovation Fund. "The 21 initiatives selected by the PSSC provide innovative solutions for farms as a whole – from crops to the standing forest – in line with major issues on the international sustainability agenda, and ensure diversity for our project portfolio," he adds.
"The 21 initiatives selected by the PSSC provide innovative solutions for farms as a whole – from crops to the standing forest – in line with major issues on the international sustainability agenda, and ensure diversity for our project portfolio”, explains Carlos E. Quintela, director of the Land Innovation Fund.
Finalists selected for the 4th cycle include the startup Terras App Solutions, which develops rural management, socio-environmental monitoring and agricultural traceability applications; Sintrópica Capital Natural, a hub for research and development on end-to-end solutions in Payment for Environmental Services (PES); Bioflore, a platform and application to build a bank of land areas for carbon offsets and income generation; Preservaland, an initiative to monetize forests on farms; Green Bonds Brasil, a fintech to build a chain of custody for the voluntary carbon credit market in Brazil; and Regrow Ag, responsible for developing a measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) tool adapted to the characteristics and tropical conditions of Brazil's soil, climate and soy production systems.
Besides the six finalists in the 4th cycle, the startups Adapta, Agrorobótica, AgTrace, BrainAg, BrCarbon, Busca Terra, Connect Farm, Forestmatic, Green Bug, Maneje Bem, SafeTrace, SciCrop, Plantem, Quiron, and One and a Half Degrees are also active in the PSSC portfolio.
The Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program:
Over the past two years, the PSSC has brought unique features into its portfolio of services to meet the need for a complete innovation ecosystem, addressing the challenges of agribusiness and enhancing the reach of solutions on the ground. "The progress made during the PSSC's four cycles shows our commitment to making innovation part of our core business and putting it into practice, as we manage and implement our processes and programs," explains Carlos E. Quintela.
In addition to mentoring, connections with executives, exchanging experiences with entrepreneurs, participating in workshops and events through the Learning Days, and thematic classes and technical-scientific support by a team of researchers at the Cerrado Fellowship, the startups participating in the portfolio will be able to make a direct connection with ten farmers in the For Farmers Program. This initiative, launched during the Program's 4th cycle, puts farmers at the center of the innovation ecosystem and facilitates the adoption of new technologies in the field.
During each six-month cycle, after analysis of proposals by an advisory board, outstanding startups may receive financial support from the Startup Finance Facility to develop solutions. With Land Innovation Fund resources and AgTech Garage’s expertise, the initiative to manage and foster innovation solutions has R$ 3.4 million available to develop their solutions. "The pioneering combination of For Farmers and the Cerrado Fellowship, coupled with funding from the Startup Finance Facility, puts the Sustainable Soy for the Cerrado Program on the frontier of innovation in this entrepreneurial ecosystem," says AgTech Garage co-founder and CEO José Tomé, who is "very happy with the results achieved over the Program's four cycles".
As the organization responsible for bridging startups and entrepreneurs with research centers whose infrastructure and technical skills are essential for the selected projects, EMBRAPII can also grant co-financing for technological solutions, based on its own criteria. The program also enjoys strategic support by the Center for Research and Development in Telecommunications (CPQD), active throughout innovation processes – from concept to deployment – and whose expertise will help identify potential synergies for entrepreneurs, researchers, and technology markets, in addition to sitting on training and selection committees during the process.
Here are the 4th cycle’s finalists:
TERRAS App Solutions: A startup focused on developing applications for farm management, socio-environmental risk monitoring and traceability of agricultural products, Terras' proposal is to facilitate (1) access to sustainable rural credit, (2) more technical assistance for farmers, and (3) monitoring socio-environmental aspects and production in project areas to ensure higher yields with socio-environmental compliance by sustainable businesses. Terras App expects these services to enable higher yields on farms, through sustainable, low-carbon agricultural practices, favorable to maintaining biodiversity and preserving the environment.
SINTRÓPICA Capital Natural: A startup dedicated to developing end-to-end solutions in Payments for Environmental Services (PES), the company proposes to structure sustainable rural credit chains and enable resources for farmers, rural cooperatives, sustainable input suppliers and other professionals in the agricultural supply chain to invest in sustainable management, conservation, and restoration actions on farms, generating both financial and ecosystem service benefits. The company uses geotechnology tools to evaluate and measure environmental assets and is developing pricing methodologies based on international market parameters to issue "CPR-Verde" green bonds.
BIOFLORE: A web platform and flexible mobile application for farmers’ associations to build a database of areas where companies can offset their carbon emissions and generate income for small farmers. Bioflore's solution uses artificial intelligence and remote sensing techniques to reduce carbon and biodiversity monitoring costs in remnants of native vegetation and forest restoration projects on farms. The FloreViewer system allows remote monitoring of carbon stock variations and of biodiversity patterns in native vegetation areas on soy producing farms, cutting costs with field trips, as a more affordable solution for farmers interested in the financial benefits of restoring and maintaining Permanent Preservation Areas and Legal Reserves.
PRESERVALAND: Preserving the environment by enhancing the value of forested areas on farms is what Preservaland is all about. This startup connects private companies interested in meeting ESG targets with farmers interested in making a profit from forest areas on their land. Using its digital platform with satellite images that identify and monitor potential environmental preservation areas, the company creates a database of areas that can be adopted for preservation by the private sector. The tool reduces dependence on middlemen in the green business market and makes environmental preservation efficient, accessible, and scalable.
GREEN BONDS BRASIL: This fintech's proposal is to set up a chain of custody for the Brazilian voluntary carbon market, from contracting stock estimate studies, digitalizing credits in a blockchain structure and API registry, marketing to companies who want to offset their emissions, all the way to providing transparency and traceability in the process. The custody of carbon credits is a pioneering initiative by Green Bonds Brazil. The company intends to create a database that can be monitored by farmers within a proprietary IP mode, with credits to be traded by companies interested in offsetting their own emissions or hubs that want to negotiate carbon on the market.
REGROW AG: Using scientifically verified crop and soil models, connectivity to farm management platforms, and terabytes of satellite imagery to support equitable markets and ecosystem programs, Regrow Ag has created an independent measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) tool able to monitor whole farms – from crop acreage to legal reserves. The startup intends to adapt and validate a model it already uses to the characteristics and conditions of tropical soil, climate, and production systems, to offer a transparent and robust system for monitoring the country's soy farms. The tool combines remote sensing, modeling, and soil sampling, enhancing the project's economic feasibility and scalability.