AgTech Garage, the largest innovation hub specialized in agribusiness in Latin America, has open registration for Intensive Connection Latam, a startup development program that will reach its fourth edition in 2022. In 2021, with a reach throughout Latin America, 209 startups signed up to participate in the initiative and 12 were selected to develop projects with the hub's Innovation Partners.
This year, seven agribusiness giants are part of this category and will be able to choose innovative solutions to contribute to their challenges on and off the field. AgTech Garage's Innovation Partners are: the Brazilian companies Suzano, in the paper and cellulose segment, and the cooperative financial institution Sicredi, the American machinery company John Deere, the Moroccan fertilizer company OCP, the French animal health company Ceva, the global agribusiness and food company Bunge and German multinational health and nutrition company Bayer.
Startups interested in participating in the program can register for Intensive Connection Latam from February 1st to February 24th through the link. The proposed themes are strategic to continue fueling innovation and competitiveness in agribusiness.
In the first phase of Intensive Connection, 35 startups will be selected (5 per partner company), which will present themselves to a committee made up of the companies' executives. This committee will be in charge of choosing the 14 winners (2 per company), able to experience a unique journey of experiences and learning lasting six months. The list of finalists will be announced on March 23. The winners will be announced on April 7th.
José Tomé, CEO of AgTech Garage, reinforces the ever-increasing relevance of open innovation in the strategy for building agribusiness in the present and future. “Having seven leading companies in their agribusiness segments as Innovation Partners of AgTech Garage, and participating in Intensive Connection, demonstrates the relevance that open innovation has already achieved in the sector. By innovating in a network, with different actors, we and our partners gain speed to orchestrate the digital transformation in agriculture and promote food production in an even more sustainable way”.
Henrique Provenzzano, Coordinator of Open Innovation Programs at AgTech Garage, highlights the new features of this year's edition, which will promote a high-level approach between the hub and the different areas of the companies. “This year, we will have meetings with Human Resources, Legal and IT professionals from partner companies, which enhances results and learning. This approach will undoubtedly have an impact on culture and the way companies work with innovation”, says Provenzzano.
The generation of shared value among the group of Innovation Partners, in turn — now made up of seven companies, considering the arrival of John Deere in this 2022 edition — is another highlight of the program. “The fact that seven large companies are cooperating in an environment of transparency and mutual learning generates intangible value in sharing experiences and learning open innovation methodologies, metrics and good practices”, adds Provenzzano.
Startups interested in participating in Intensive Connection can apply for any of the challenges proposed by AgTech Garage's seven partner companies.
At Bayer, innovation and digital transformation are considered essential for the advancement of both the company and farmers. It is through co-creation that the company has brought agility and efficiency to processes to identify producers' pain points and achieve results. Aiming to develop new business models with startups through data science and digitalization, Bayer seeks solutions for:
Dirceu Ferreira Junior, Open Innovation leader at Bayer's agricultural division for Latin America, says that the chosen theme speaks directly to Bayer's three strategic pillars: delivery of innovative solutions, definition of new sustainability standards and pioneering digital transformation in the field . “Data science and digital innovation are paramount so that we can sustainably improve the efficiency of our own operations and, at the same time, empower farmers to make better decisions,” he says.
According to Dirceu Jr., through Intensive Connection, Bayer is able to strengthen its efforts to shape the agriculture of the future and benefit not only farmers, but also consumers and the planet, taking responsibility for innovative solutions to be available to small, medium and large rural producers. large. “Investing in digital transformation and sustainability, recognizing that being self-sufficient to innovate is increasingly difficult, is essential to face one of the main challenges posed to the global food system: producing more per hectare with the increasingly optimized use of resources” , says the executive.
Taking into account the challenges of Bunge's logistics chain, the company is looking for alternative solutions that concretely promote the optimization, digitalization and sustainability of its processes. In this sense, registrations are open for startups with solutions such as:
Makoto Yokoo, Logistics Director at Bunge, recalls that the company moves around 25 million tons of grains annually in Brazil and that logistics, therefore, is a fundamental part of its operations. In this area, the company has already had a very successful experience of network innovation, with the digitalization of the internal freight contracting process. “The solution, developed in partnership with Target, was so successful at Bunge that we created a joint venture called Vector to make it available to the market and further explore its potential. We are excited about the possibilities that may arise during the Intensive Connection through network cooperation with the market”, says Yokoo.
By participating in initiatives such as Intensive Connection, the company reinforces its commitment to its customers to provide the best and most modern solutions and practices, even before demands appear in the market. “Looking at the logistics process itself, which is the theme with which we will participate in this edition of the program, we see opportunities to generate value for all stakeholders. Among them, truck drivers. We want to make this professional’s daily life more practical and simple, so that they are more efficient and have a better quality of life”, says the Bunge director.
Today, Ceva's biggest challenge is to map, classify and understand its diverse audiences: pet owners, dairy and beef cattle breeders, equines and poultry and pig producers. In order to offer its customers personalized solutions and impact the health of more animals around the globe, the company seeks solutions that:
Giankleber S. Diniz, General Director of Ceva in Brazil, states that each of the actions and projects developed by Ceva are based on transformation and innovation -- whether in the production environment, business or customers' lives. “Intensive Connection is fundamental for the development of open innovation within the company. Today, we have this focus spread throughout the company, regardless of the area, and we are all connected looking for the best solutions for the market”, says Diniz.
He highlights that in the last edition of the program the result was surprising. “We work on several projects and today we have this within actions that will have global reach. We are open to helping and contributing to startups and Brazilian agribusiness with AgTech Garage, our main partner on the open innovation front”, he adds.
The advancement of connectivity has accelerated the digitalization of agriculture and John Deere is ready to be part of this journey. Its objective is to support farmers and generate shared value for the market in general, especially startups. At Intensive Connection, John Deere seeks solutions that are capable of impacting the profitability of agricultural properties in at least one of the following aspects:
Leandro Carrion, Value Generation and Customer Experience Manager at John Deere, highlights that the company is committed to generating value for small, medium and large farmers and that Intensive Connection helps catalyze innovation in agribusiness. “A program like Intensive Connection allows companies of different sizes to connect for the sake of innovation, which provides the sector with accelerated growth,” he says.
In his view, digital and environmental transformations need to be encouraged to increasingly increase the sector's productivity in Brazil. “Furthermore, by bringing innovation to rural areas, we not only benefit farmers, we bring development to all rural communities”, he adds.
Throughout 2021, even before becoming an Innovation Partner at AgTech Garage, John Deere developed a total of 8 projects with startups in the hub. Now, the company's participation in the Intensive Connection program comes to enhance its open innovation strategy alongside other large companies, startups, investors and, mainly, producers.
In the case of OCP, the search in this fourth edition of the IC is for startups aligned with its purpose of democratizing access and customizing solutions for the fertilization of tropical agriculture. In this sense, the focus is on:
Amine Nassaf, Strategy and Innovation Leader at OCP Fertilizers, states that, globally, innovation is one of the company's strategic pillars. “This is our fourth participation in the Intensive Connection program, which demonstrates its relevance for our positioning in the Brazilian ecosystem”, she says. By relating to startups that develop unique technologies, the company highlights that it has the opportunity to think differently and work together to bring innovative answers to the challenges of today and tomorrow.
“We are committed to delivering customized products that not only meet the needs of Brazil’s diverse soils and cultures, but that are used in a conscious and sustainable way. With this vision, we continue to contribute to the prosperity of rural producers and the strengthening of agriculture in the country”, adds Nassaf.
In line with the principles of cooperativism and its sustainable management strategy, Sicredi wants to generate value for its members on three fronts in cooperation with agribusiness startups:
Luis Henrique Veit, Agribusiness Superintendent at Sicredi, highlights that the financial institution's Sustainability Strategy (based on the pillars of responsible solutions; relationships and cooperativism; in addition to local development) was what motivated the choice of the theme. “For this year, we continue to focus on small farmers and the challenge of integrating socio-environmental opportunities and risk management into our financial and non-financial solutions,” he says.
The objective is to support decision-making within the farm, pushing rural producers towards a more sustainable future. “Participation in Intensive Connection opens up opportunities for us to support the development of solutions with the potential to minimize impacts during crises and accelerate the immersion of rural producers in the digital world, contributing to increased productivity, profitability and sustainability in the field”, says Veit .
Ensuring the sustainability of current operations and developing professionals to work with forest 4.0, this is Suzano's focus in this edition of Intensive Connection. To this end, the company, which is a global reference in the manufacture of bioproducts developed from eucalyptus cultivation, will select startups with solutions for:
Gabriel Paulo de Souza, Coordinator of Forestry Operational Excellence at Suzano, reinforces that the “People” pillar is fundamental for the company to lead the digital and cultural transformation of the sector in which it operates. “One of the themes on our strategic roadmap is the evolution of initiatives in an ambidextrous manner, such as, for example, the qualification and training of forestry operators and the effective management of training”, says Souza.
The company's expectation is that increasing the speed of training new professionals can generate income distribution and opportunities, at the same time that the application of technology will bring greater security in operational activities and, consequently, benefits for all stakeholders. “Innovation is in the DNA of Suzano, the first company in the world to produce cellulose from planted eucalyptus. The company is committed to accelerating its transformation via open innovation, bringing real pain points from its production process to be addressed with startups, in addition to promoting entrepreneurship”, adds the Suzano executive.
And Intensive Connection 2022 is seen by Suzano as a powerful tool to accelerate the exchange of experiences and connection with the innovation ecosystem, especially with startups — partners with high execution capacity, technological mastery, testing speed and responsible for bringing solutions for challenges that are common to Suzano and the market.
The Intensive Connection program is equity free, that is, neither AgTech Garage nor partner companies will become partners of the startups and there is no initial commitment in this regard. In the period from May to October 2022, startups will have access to mentoring, networking, events, connections and all the support from AgTech Garage and corporate partners to improve their solutions and gain scalability. The proximity between companies and ag&food techs can also result in product proofs of concept (POCs), businesses, co-development of new technological solutions and even investments outside the context of the program, all to boost the sustainability and competitiveness of agribusiness .
For further information and registration, startups should access program page on the AgTech Garage website.
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