Monthly Archives: November 2023

Photo: Manioca/Disclosure

In November this year, Manioca, a company in the AMAZ portfolio, and Ajinomoto do Brasil, a reference in the production of amino acids and owner of important brands such as SAZÓN®, MID® and VONO®, announced a partnership focused on increasing production and Development of new products.

The investment is the first made by the company outside Japan and was made through Ajinolab, Ajinomoto's open innovation hub, which, with the aim of diversifying its portfolio, sought foodtechs who are innovating based on biodiversity, generating positive social and environmental impacts.

The president of Ajinomoto do Brasil, Shigeo Nakamura, highlights that the investment was determined by the company's commitment to expanding its line of healthy products, seeking to meet growing market demands. “Manioca’s mission, aligned with the appreciation of Amazonian biodiversity, based on eating well and doing good, resonates with Ajinomoto’s values and principles”, says the CEO.

The co-founders of Manioca, Joanna Martins and Paulo Reis, hope that the case will inspire other large companies to approach the region, considering it not only as a place of incredible raw materials, but with an interest in the brands that already operate in the Amazon, opening up space and recognizing the value of entrepreneurs in the region.

Founded in 2014, Manioca aims to popularize the flavors of Amazonian cuisine. It began its journey with family investment, and years later, after being accelerated by AMAZ, it received two rounds of investment from the accelerator. Some time later, the company also received funding from the Amazon Biodiversity Fund (ABF).

“AMAZ connected us with ABF, and this step was very important because it prepared us for the financial issue, growth projection, long-term vision. Generally, the larger the resource, the greater the investor's demands”, says Joanna.

For AMAZ, Manioca's first investor, the approach with Ajinomoto is a good sign for the Amazon impact ecosystem.

“We are very happy to see a large company, like Ajinomoto, investing and believing in a local business like Manioca. This is what we have been working towards in recent years, and this is a very strong sign of how much the Amazon impact business ecosystem has been growing and taking on relevance. It is important for the region that this type of movement happens, after all, it is businesses like Manioca that will help build a new economy for the Amazon”, analyzes Mariano Cenamo, CEO of AMAZ and director of new businesses at Idesam.

Photo: Deivyson Fernandes/Flickr

The Coalition for Impact announced those selected by Collaborative Impulse Call, which promotes learning and knowledge exchange between organizations that operate in different Coalition cities: Belém, Brasília, Campinas, Fortaleza, Paranaguá and Porto Alegre.

The intention is to inspire collaborations and social innovations that expand the potential of initiatives. In total, five projects were selected, based on the following selection criteria, in addition to alignment with the Coalition for Impact's agenda: relevance of collaboration, focus on expanding local references and efficient use of available resources.

AMAZ, together with the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center, Planet Coworking and the Challenge Experience Program, are part of the “Caatinga Bioeconomy” proposal, whose objective is to boost and structure the impact business ecosystem in the region and promote the restoration of the biome.

The Amazon will be used as an inspiring example in this construction focused on the bioeconomy, through the experiences of the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center and AMAZ, as a benchmark of good practices that will contribute to accelerating the development of the ecosystem and fostering collaboration, with a local network of cooperation in favor of the Caatinga bioeconomy.

The activities will be developed in the first half of 2023, and include rounds of lectures, workshops with facilitators and a hackathon.

Photo: Rodrigo Duarte/AMAZ

The last selection stage of the AMAZ Call 2023 takes place on 12/14, when the finalist businesses participate in a pitch day or business rounds to present your companies to investors and partners in the impact ecosystem.

The businesses, which participated in the pre-acceleration in October, have the support of the AMAZ team to prepare their presentations. The connections will be virtual, and both the pitch day Business rounds are moments of learning and construction – as feedback from panel members prepares entrepreneurs for future fundraising rounds – and also opportunities to attract investment and interest.

During the pre-acceleration, entrepreneurs had the opportunity to present their pitches collectively, receiving important feedback from each other, and also from the AMAZ team. The instrument received input from Model C, which was the subject of work during the group's in-person meeting, and is now undergoing refinements and adjustments for presentation to investors and partners.

“The presentation of pitches It’s a moment that entrepreneurs have been preparing for since pre-acceleration. As it is a dynamic instrument, the presentations have certainly changed since then, especially with the construction of Model C. The expectation is to see the maturation of the business vision and the impact reflected in the pitch”, analyzes Rafael Moreira Ribeiro, who coordinates the selection and acceleration processes at AMAZ/Idesam.