From November 8th to 11th, entrepreneurs from 12 businesses selected by AMAZ impact accelerator to participate in the pre-acceleration process will be together in Presidente Figueiredo, in the interior of Amazonas, in an immersion journey to develop their business plans and thesis of social and environmental impact on the Amazon. The pre-acceleration continues throughout the entire month of November, virtually, with access to advice, mentoring and technical support from the AMAZ and Idesam (Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon) team.
The business performance in this period will define the six that will be accelerated and will receive an investment of R$ 200 thousand in 2022.
The objective is to help entrepreneurs understand and maximize their business growth capacity in financial, technical, operational terms and, especially, in terms of positive social and environmental impact.
“Pre-acceleration is the final step in the selection process. Only half of the businesses will receive investment and will join AMAZ's portfolio in 2021, but all 12 that have made it so far are already winners will receive our support during 1 month of the pre-acceleration phase, which qualifies them to seek new support or join the portfolio in 2022” defines Mariano Cenamo, director of new businesses at Idesam and CEO of AMAZ.
The 12 finalist businesses work with innovative solutions for the development of products and services in strategic value chains for the conservation of the Amazon, such as forest restoration and production, commercialization of socio-biodiversity products, environmental services and the carbon market, food, forest products timber and non-timber, agroforestry systems, cosmetics and community-based tourism.
They are located in the states of Pará, Roraima, Acre, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, with operations in the northern region. Call 2021 enabled the registration of businesses whose operations take place in the Legal Amazon, but which could also be based in other regions of the country.
AMAZ's selection was focused on early stage businesses that have already validated their product or service in the market and are preferably already earning more than R$ 500 thousand per year. Most businesses are in the traction, pre-scale and scale phases. Some projects in earlier stages were selected for presenting innovative solutions and with the potential to gain post-acceleration scale.
“We were very impressed with the quality of the businesses and the scale of impact we can achieve with them. We strongly believe that building a new economy depends on attracting and developing good entrepreneurs and innovative businesses in the region,” says Cenamo.
The projects selected for acceleration and investment in 2022 will be announced in December.
The impact accelerator AMAZ is coordinated by Idesam (Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon), and has a hybrid finance fund (blended finance) of R$ 25 million for investment in impact businesses over the next five years, the first geared exclusively to the region.
Its founders are the Vale Fund, the Humanize Institute, the ICS (Climate and Society Institute), the Good Energies Foundation and the JBS Amazon Fund. Its strategic partners are PPA (Platform Partners for the Amazon) and GIZ (German Cooperation Agency), and it also has a wide network of partners such as Move.Social, Sense-Lab, Mercado Livre, ICE, Costa Brasil, Climate Ventures and private investors.
Discover the businesses that will participate in the pre-acceleration:
► Amazon Hub = E-commerce of products from the Amazon's socio-biodiversity. It was born with the proposal to work with all the links in the chain necessary for Amazonian brands to be able to access the consumer market, but chose to streamline the strategy and work with specialized partners in each area, focusing on e-commerce sales, digital marketing and promotion of the products. It operates in the states of AC, AM and PA.
► Aromas of the Amazon = Started as a project by the company Agrotec Consultoria – which has been operating for eight years in the Transamazônica-Xingu region in the areas of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension. Its main objective is to meet the demands and services in the agribusiness segment, with a focus on low-carbon technologies. It operates in the state of PA.
► BrCarbon = Climate Tech Brasileira created to promote forest conservation and ecological restoration actions. It works with financial flows from the carbon market to promote natural climate solutions. It works with innovative strategies and through the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to accelerate, multiply and consolidate carbon projects in Brazil. It operates in the states of AC, AP, AM, MT, PA, RO, RR, TO and MA.
► Bravo Acai = Healthy food brand and superfoods. In addition to dreaming of a market with healthier products, it also seeks to change its business model: it wants to impact communities directly, not buying from Marajó middlemen, buying and supporting the economic development of açaí producers in the region, and investing in certification and in the improvement of processes. It works in partnership with Bio-Assets (REDD+ project) in the region. It operates in the states of AP and PA.
► Coopercintra = The Cooperative of Family Farmers and
Solidarity Economy of Nova Cintra was created with the objective of operating and marketing non-timber forest products (such as muru-muru, for example, which is the flagship today), already worked on by the local association. It operates in the state of AC.
► Floresta SA = Scaled regenerative models, with a portfolio of 10 agricultural and timber crops. In addition to bioeconomy products, it brings to the financial market an opportunity for direct investment in agroforestry in the Amazon, with a target return of 17% per year. It operates in the RR state.
► Inocas = Its objective is to generate an alternative to soy and palm oil, leveraging the macaúba production chain as a source of sustainable vegetable oils. The company's pilot is located in the Cerrado biome region of Alto Paranaíba, MG, and will have implemented, by the end of 2021, the planting of 2,000 hectares of macaúba in an agroforestry system in partnership with family farmers. The company is already in the pre-operation phase of its first expansion, located in the region of Vale do Paraíba, SP, and also intends to start in 2021 the expansion to the Legal Amazon, with the planting of 3,000 hectares.
► Kawa = Offers its customers a line of natural restorative phytocosmetics, both for those who use them and for the environments from which the inputs come. Among its suppliers are the Ashaninka and Huni Kuin peoples in Acre and Guarani in São Paulo. It operates in the state of AC.
► Mahta = Foodtech that operates in the area of food supplements produced with ingredients predominantly from Amazonian communities. It aims to generate innovation and value, in addition to reducing negative environmental impacts, through production chains with the participation of local communities, a model that can be replicated for systemic change in the food industry. Simultaneously, it will deliver differentiated nutritional value to consumers, boosting the conservation and regeneration of the Amazon. It intends to act in the states of AC, AM, MT, PA, RO and RR.
► Pacajá Furniture = Production of furniture and decorative objects from forest management waste. The business is linked to the ABC Norte Farm (Fazenda Pacajá) and seeks to use waste and promote the company's socio-environmental responsibility program. The farm's main activity is certified sustainable forest management (PEFC/CERFLOR) for wood production. The dream is to expand the furniture industry project to other surrounding communities, adding them to the production of furniture and, thus, guaranteeing sustainable income alternatives for these families. It operates in the state of PA.
► Soul Brasil Cuisine = Its mission is to present products with ingredients from Brazilian biodiversity – especially the Amazon – sustainable, organic, vegan and free of artificial substances for Brazil and the world. It has been in the market for almost three years, present mainly in emporiums and supermarkets in the Rio and São Paulo axis, in addition to exporting to the United States and Europe. The products have organic certification. It operates in the states of AM, PA and AC.
► cheers = Conducts expeditions in Brazilian Conservation Units through
community-based tourism. It seeks to act in the country's socio-environmental development in an innovative way, bringing together experiences with communities, nature and volunteering in expeditions. It operates in the states of AM, PA, MA and GO.
Photo: Vivalá collection
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