Photo: Rodrigo Duarte | Odara Audiovisual
** Entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, AMAZ team and facilitators were immunized and were duly tested, with all the necessary health care in the covid-19 pandemic. Most of the activities were carried out in open spaces.
Between November 8th and 11th, entrepreneurs from the 12 businesses selected by AMAZ for the pre-acceleration were gathered in Presidente Figueiredo, in Amazonas, to build Models C. It was a time to look at their own businesses, but also to get to know the other finalists and make connections with them.
The process was facilitated by Antonio Ribeiro (Move Social) and Lucas Harada (Sense-Lab), who explained the dynamics of Model C, the concepts it brings and guided the businesses in a practical elaboration workshop.
During the four days, entrepreneurs were immersed in the understanding and use of the tool, seeking to better understand the functioning of their businesses and the positive impacts they generate or are capable of generating, in addition to reflecting on how they can improve both their business models and impact indicators and narratives that can add even more value to them.
“It was very special to be able to meet all the male and female entrepreneurs in person after such a period of isolation. It is said that the entrepreneur's life is very lonely, and especially in a time of pandemic. We felt a great power between the exchanges and the learning they could have these days. For us at AMAZ, it was also a very important moment, because we had the opportunity to get to know each business and each entrepreneur in a more sensitive and profound way”, assesses Mariano Cenamo, new business manager at Idesam and AMAZ's CEO.
The four days of immersion provided a lot of exchange and connection, in which entrepreneurs built their own business models and positive impact matrix, while generously contributing to the construction of other business models and receiving collaboration for the development of their own models.
This construction, individual and collective, brought a very significant connection between businesses that, although different from each other, have many similarities about operating in the Amazon.
“This exchange is really rich. Hearing the step by step of each of the initiatives, which have their differences, but at the same time their similarities, makes us learn a lot”, says Daniel Cabrera, from Vivalá, a business that carries out expeditions in Brazilian Conservation Units through community-based tourism.
Maria Elisa Ribeiro, from Aromas da Amazônia – whose main objective is to meet demands and services in the agribusiness segment with a focus on low-carbon technologies - highlights the importance of immersion to better understand her business: “We discover issues in our business that do not we had not even imagined it from this immersion and this workshop. That was what was needed for us to consolidate and understand ourselves better as a business”.
Edgard Calfat, from Mahta – foodtech that works in the area of food supplements produced with ingredients predominantly from Amazonian communities - was surprised by the established connection: “We were surprised by the quality of the people, with their preparation, this methodology and the wealth of exchanges”.
“The methodology applied helps us to be clear about the impact that our impact generates. Looking at our project and communicating it in a more efficient way”, assesses Thiago Campos, from Floresta SA, who works with scale regenerative models, with a portfolio of ten agricultural and wood crops.
“With this workshop, we are going to have a more modern business plan, with some goals that we are already designing for the future,” says José Lima, from Coopercintra, a cooperative in Acre that operates in the exploration and sale of non-timber forest products.
“Entrepreneurs are already very ready, with few points to improve in their business model and impact, things they can learn together, within their differences and potential. Keeping this exchange between them, so that they can leverage and advance in their business models and generate impact for the Amazon at the end of the day, is very important”, analyzes Ana Carolina Bastida, investment and acceleration manager at AMAZ.
Next steps
The performance in the pre-acceleration process, together with the results of the visits made by the AMAZ teams to the businesses - in which it was possible to see in loco how each one works and also to analyze finance, governance and management of the projects - will be taken. into consideration when choosing the six businesses that will be accelerated and will receive investment in 2022.
In December, on the 14th and 15th, entrepreneurs participate in a Demoday, presenting their businesses to AMAZ investors and partners, which will also be decisive for their choice. The results will be announced next.
The six chosen businesses will participate in an acceleration process, will receive an initial investment of R$ 200 thousand, and may be reinvested in up to R$ 400 thousand. They also become part of AMAZ's portfolio.
AMAZ impact accelerator is coordinated by Idesam (Institute for 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 12 businesses that participated in the pre-acceleration process
► Read an interview with Antonio Ribeiro and Lucas Harada about the Model C
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