RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday, September 24th, Facebook launched its first program to accelerate startups with solutions for agriculture in Latin America, the Campo Digital (Digital Field). In partnership with the accelerator Baita, based at UNICAMP (University of Campinas), the technology giant will select ten companies in the country with digital services or technologies that benefit small and medium-sized producers.
“We want to use our experience in technology to foster the innovation ecosystem in the sector. There are several solutions on the market that attend large businesses, but they are not accessible to the small ones”, said Andréa Leal, Facebook’s Public Policy manager. Depending on the initiative’s results, she anticipates that the company will be able to “develop other initiatives not only in Brazil, but also in other Latin American countries.”
Campo Digital is the first Facebook program to foster innovation in the agriculturl sector in the region. The company has already implemented actions to develop local communities and support small businesses but noticed greater demnd from small farmers for its solutions during the pandemic.
“With the closure of restaurants and the interruption of trade shows, we perceived an increase in the use of our tools by small producers, who sought to reach the final consumer. We saw an opportunity to contribute to the digitalization of a sector that employs and feeds the population,” said the executive, recalling that small farms generate 67 percent of jobs in the agricultural sector and produce 70 percent of the food consumed in Brazil, according to the Agricultural Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Between Thursday,September 24th and October 18th, startups in operational stage which have solutions for any link in the production chain, from the supply sector to the final consumer, will be selected. They should contribute to productivity, efficiency and sustainability gains. The ten finalists, to be announced in November, will undergo an online acceleration and mentoring program by Baita for four months, in which they will have access to lectures, workshops and networking with agribusiness professionals, as well as be guided to define goals and assess their business model.
Facebook teams, startups and companies that already work with small and medium-sized farmers will also be involved in the mentoring process. In addition, specialists from ESALQ (Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture) and UNICAMP, universities recognized for their training in the sector, and EMBRAPA (Brazilian public agricultural research corporation) and the Eldorado Research Institute, which combine knowledge on digital technologies, will contribute to the training of entrepreneurs. The Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA) will be another sponsor, in order to ensure that the solutions meet specific problems of farmers in different regions.
At the end of the initiative, in April next year, the startups’ founders will introduce their business models to a panel of experts and investors, among them the IDB Lab (Innovation Laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group – IDB), SP Ventures, Yield Lab and other funds focused on AgTechs. “Our goal is that at Demoday (the program’s conclusion event), startups will be ready to attract investments,” says Facebook’s Public Policy manager.