Initiative fosters business models that create economic solutions for sustainable development, generating income for producers, communities and indigenous peoples who keep the forest standing
Startups selected to participate in the Partners for the Amazon Platform Acceleration Program (PPA) gathered in Manaus for a business roundtable with impact investors, institutes and philanthropic foundations. The pitches presentation took place on 12/05 in Manaus.
A total of R$ 4.8 million were invested in 9 impact businesses, which operate in the areas of food production, energy generation, sustainable extraction, environmental education, river transport logistics and marketing platform: Na Floresta, Coex Carajás, Oka Sucos, Prátika Engenharia, Tucum Brasil, Academia Amazônia Teach, NavegAM, Manioca and Onisafra.
The amount invested in the business is four times higher than that invested in the business roundtables promoted by PPA in 2018, which accounted for a total of R$ 1.1 million. The investors in the 2019 round were SITAWI, USAID, Conexsus, Fundo Vale, Instituto Humanize, FIIMP, Grupo Rede Amazônica and Althelia Funds, almost all of them PPA members.
“The round totally exceeded our expectations. We were surprised at the stage of business development and at how much they are ready to receive investment and start an expansion process”, assesses the executive coordinator of PPA and director of new businesses at Idesam, Mariano Cenamo. “This round was a little different from the one we carried out last year, mainly because many businesses were still in the business modeling and start-up phase. With this new group, a major focus will be to develop measurement and communication strategies for the impact of their businesses”, he assesses.
Ted Gehr, director of USAID Brazil, points out that “in addition to the real progress in the number of subscribers and the volume of investments from one year to the next, I was very impressed with the quality of the presentations. It was clear that they thought seriously about the business plans, and the enthusiasm that everyone showed with their products and services and with the sustainable development of the Amazon”.
Investors bet on the future that starts now
Before starting negotiations, CEOs of PPA member companies and investors participated in a panel on impact investing in the Amazon that highlighted the innovation and vanguard of these businesses in changing the key to economic development in the Amazon and the importance of having technical mechanisms and to foster this movement.
Denis Minev, CEO of Bemol and a member of PPA, assesses that the Acceleration Program and the investment rounds are already having results in a short time of operation: “Many people talk about the issue of the bioeconomy, which is a very important issue in the Amazon as a all, but I see a lot of talk and few people creating things that will effectively improve living conditions in the region using the bioeconomy. And this PPA initiative is already showing that it is possible to build new companies, mobilize good and profound entrepreneurs, scientists, entrepreneurs who really know the Amazon, to build this more prosperous future here”.
Márcia Côrtes, from the Humanize Institute, also reinforces the potential of the bioeconomy in Brazil: “The Humanize Institute decided to participate in the PPA because it believes that this enormous business potential is in the Amazon, and it needs investment and research to advance. These entrepreneurs are pioneers in promoting businesses with purpose and positive impact. PPA was able to identify this network of entrepreneurs and sustainable businesses that are already taking place in the forest, and this is the future of the environmental issue. This tendency to have businesses that leave the forest standing, that restore, to preserve with this intelligence of generating income and also generating prosperity for the people who live in the forest”.
One of the investors in the round, the Vale Fund, which has been operating for ten years in the Amazon, supporting local development projects through philanthropy, has been looking more closely at the ecosystem of businesses with an expanding impact on the forest: “We learned, in that time all, that it is not possible to transform if we do not offer new possibilities for the local economy, of change of mentality. And this cannot be achieved with the traditional model of philanthropy alone. We are now looking more at this impact business bias, and this business round has exceeded our expectations. We currently support three businesses, but several others, when they gain maturity, production volume and services, have great possibilities of making connections with the work that Fundo Vale has been doing, including in the area of forest restoration and preservation. This is just the beginning. We have incredible potential ahead if we help these businesses to develop”, assesses Márcia Soares, from Fundo Vale.
Investment that makes a difference
For early-stage impact businesses, it is often difficult to find investors who work with tickets for smaller amounts, which makes it difficult for businesses in early stages, which need smaller contributions to run, to access resources. This is also an important contribution of PPA to these startups, as indicated by Andrea Resende, director and head of impact investing at SITAWI.
“SITAWI has a history of partnering with PPA and other projects focused on impact investing and sustainable development in the Amazon. Supporting the development of new sustainable business models in the region is one of our priorities. This work of PPA, of bringing together different types of investors and capital to make financing these businesses possible, is fundamental, because companies and businesses will only become big if they have the first, second check. We are happy to further expand SITAWI's participation in this new round, with technical support in the selection and evaluation of businesses and as the main investors”, he assesses.
Eight of the 15 startups selected for the PPA 2020 Acceleration Program participated in this year's business roundtables, as well as two others that were part of the Program in 2019: Na Floresta, Coex Carajás, Oka Sucos, Tucum, Academia Amazônia Teach, NavegAM, Nossa Fruits, Manioca and Onisafra. Investments in each business varied according to their needs and level of structure.
Other businesses selected for the 2020 Program competed for the PPA Entrepreneur Award, also given during the business roundtable, which awarded three of them with R$ 10,000 each: Instituto Ouro Verde, Serras Guerreiras de Tapuruquara and Cacauway.
Artur Coimbra, owner of the company Na Floresta, received the biggest investment ticket of the business roundtable. The main product is Na'kau chocolate, produced since 2017 with Amazonian cocoa purchased from riverine communities and agro-extractivists: “We have already gone through a lot of difficulties and casualties to continue existing. With this resource we will work and bring feedback to everyone who supports us and do even more. We also need this PPA acceleration program, so that we can listen to ourselves and get help from other people to better deal with the business model, financial issues, numbers. Professionalize us even more. The Amazon needs this, and our commitment is to serve the people who are here”, he says.
Another invested startup, NavegAM, seeks to solve an important bottleneck for the Amazonian businesses themselves: river transport logistics. “We left with more than double what we asked investors. We are going to invest everything in developing solutions aimed at the Amazon, seeking to solve the bottleneck that is, in addition to passenger transport and river freight, the difficulty of obtaining information in this sector”, assesses Geferson Oliveira, one of the members of the business.
About the Acceleration Program and PPA
The Acceleration Program is led by a group of PPA companies, coordinated by Idesam and has strategic and financial support from USAID, CIAT, Instituto Humanize and Fundo Vale.
The Partners for the Amazon Platform (PPA) is a platform for collective action, led by the private sector, that seeks to build innovative, tangible and practical solutions for sustainable development, conservation of biodiversity, forests and natural resources in the Amazon. It operates through four thematic groups (GTs): (1) Entrepreneurship, impact investing and sustainable business acceleration; (2) Strategic investment opportunities, based on tax incentives and bioeconomy; (3) Strengthening Amazon value chains and local purchases; (4) Strengthening of relationships between communities and companies based on integrated territorial management and Social and Environmental Uses of Private Reserves.
To get to know the companies and organizations that make up the Platform, Click here.
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