Monthly Archives: December 2023

Photo: Tucum/disclosure

A meeting point with indigenous culture in its various manifestations. This is what Casa Tucum promises from next year in the historic center of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Casa represents Tucum's physical return to the capital of Rio de Janeiro, where the business managed its own store between 2013 and 2019.

To make the project viable, Tucum participated in a selection process of the Rio de Janeiro City Hall's Reviver Centro Cultural Incentive Program, which selected projects to occupy 27 empty stores in the city center, in the quadrangle formed by Avenidas Presidente Vargas, Rio Branco and First of March; along Rua da Assembleia and along a stretch of Orla Conde.

The City Council has already selected the developers and now defines with each one the property that best suits each use. Renovation and rent assistance will be provided.

“We were already looking for a place in Rio to return to the store. Customers ask, everyone wanted that space back. We prepared this return carefully because we didn't want to return just as a store, but rather giving space to all the proportions that Tucum has today, to the importance of the work we do. This new space will sell indigenous crafts and art products, but will also offer a gallery for the exhibition of resident artists and our collection, a film club and other cultural programs”, defines Amanda Santana, founding partner and creative director of Tucum.

The requirements for occupying the spaces included cultural activities, something that was already considered by Amanda in the Tucum project. And the subsidy from the City Hall was also a great motivation for the return of the physical store to the capital of Rio de Janeiro.

“Casa Tucum will be a space for people to get closer to the reality and culture of our partners. We will expand these possibilities and we will also have a call for the Indigenous Entrepreneurship Laboratory, which will operate within the House in 2024”, adds Amanda.

Casa Tucum is expected to start operating in the first half of next year.

Photo: Mazô Maná

Mazô Maná closes the year 2023 by launching its first product on the market: an Amazonian shake that mixes açaí, babassu, cocoa, cajá, camu-camu, Brazil nuts, mushrooms, cumaru, cupuaçu, soursop, murici, cumari pepper and peach palm.

The product has already been approved by two famous chefs, who are part of the board of Mazô Maná: Bela Gil and Alex Atala. And it is for sale on the company's ecommerce website and also on Mercado Livre.

Innovation in relation to similar products, highlights Marcelo Salazar, creator of Mazô Maná and co-CEO, has an impact on associations of traditional peoples that the company seeks with its model. 

In addition to purchasing ingredients, the company is looking for PSSA (Payment for Socio-Environmental Services) projects for the territories where it operates, and has left it separate in the company's 10% captable for traditional peoples, through partnerships to be contracted with legal instruments that they protect communities and do so calmly so that they understand the arrangement and are comfortable with the model. 

The modeling receives direct assistance from SBSA, a law firm specialized in impact business, as part of its Fair Contracts project. 

The intention is to bring an additional benefit to these communities, opening opportunities for alternative partnership models that can generate additional resources and learning in the medium term. To advance on this front, the startup continues in conversations with some groups in the Terra do Meio region, the birthplace where it was born. 

Mazô Maná intends for the shake and other food products developed to be one of the various sources of revenue. The startup has provided consultancy and developed partnerships with companies and NGOs in the Amazon, as developers of Environmental Services and Carbon projects and seeks ways for these projects to be carried out in the communities' time, with the due process of information and consultation, with fair contracts and involving partners in these communities. 

Marcelo Salazar was at COP-28 in Dubai, participating in several agendas involving the carbon market, PSSA and food systems, including articulations towards COP-30, which will take place in Belém-PA.

AMAZ held a workshop with the startup in Altamira

In May this year, AMAZ, together with Mazô Maná and Simbiótica Finance, held a workshop in Altamira as part of the 2023 acceleration journey.

Two fronts were the focus of this meeting: the beginning of an articulation to build an alternative methodology and other paths for PSSA not limited to carbon, but taking into account the integral protection of the territory by original, riverside and quilombola peoples; and Mazô Maná's strategy in the relationship with community suppliers, such as the one being developed with Rede de Cantinas da Terra do Meio, defined based on fair trade with the search for additional resources based on the entire appreciation of the community's way of life .

Mazô Maná's business modeling was the catalyst for holding the workshop, which also brought together other partners such as iCS (Instituto Clima e Sociedade), SBSA (Szazi, Bechara, Storto, Reicher and Figueiredo Lopes Advogados), Bia Saldanha, Esteban Walther (adviser and investor of Mazô) and Idesam (Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon).

The group visited the headquarters of Mazô Maná and participated in an expedition, organized in partnership with the startup, which included a visit to the business headquarters in Altamira, the warehouse of the Terra do Meio Resex Associations and also one of the partner communities of the Iriri River Resex. Some of the ingredients in Mazô Maná's first product come from the region, and expedition participants were able to discover in loco one of the product processing units and taste first-hand the super shake from Mazô Maná forests.

Photo: Business pre-acceleration 2023/Rodrigo Duarte

On December 14th, six finalist startups from AMAZ's 2023 Business Call participated in a pitch day with investors from the accelerator.

The pitch session was virtual, and included the participation of entrepreneurs from Atlas Florestal, Zeno Nativo, BioAmazon, Coordenada Rural, Moma and Amaz Project.

The final stage of the 2023 Call selection journey provided an opportunity for the finalist businesses to exercise their pitches and demonstrate the type of investment they are seeking and how it will be applied, if selected to join the AMAZ portfolio.

During the pre-acceleration, held in October this year, 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 face-to-face meeting.

“Business pitches, in general, have evolved a lot since pre-acceleration, when we worked with them on the Model C and also on their presentations. Since then, we have been connected with them to help refine the pitches, and the result we saw on the 14th demonstrated maturity in the presentations, a reflection of the work with the Model C and also the advice from our team”, defines Rafael Moreira Ribeiro, who coordinates the selection and acceleration processes at AMAZ/Idesam.

Businesses selected for investment and acceleration will be announced in early 2024.