Name: Luis Salazar, Investa VB
Country: Peru
Organisation: Investa VB
Website: www.investavb.com

We first approached FAC due to the importance that we consider agriculture has for our country, the world and the planet’s sustainability. We have already been supporting agtech entrepreneurs for several years and we will continue to do so.

However, what attracted us to the cause of ‘Revolutionizing the World’s Menu’ is that we could easily identify several beneficial consequences like social inclusion, generation of employment and the increase of the productivity of agriculture while reducing the environmental and social costs. Even more, because Peru is a megadiverse country with a growing ag-industry. Peru is the leader in avocados, grapes, bananas, asparagus, and others. The agriculture sector in Peru accounts for 5.4% of GDP and employs 4 million Peruvians (24.2% of the EAP). Key indicators of this growth are that over the past decade, this sector has grown at an average annual rate of 3.2%, while agricultural exports increased from just USD 119 million in 1990 to just over USD 6 bln in 2019.

The biggest challenge being an agripreneur in Peru is that even though Peru is a megadiverse country and there is a huge supply of valuable products, there is a lack of entrepreneurial knowledge, experience and tools inside the Peruvian ag-tech ecosystem. Therefore, many startups end up not having a viable (and scalable) value proposition, a strong team, nor a product-market fit.

FAC helps to connect the local ag-tech ecosystem with other broader global ecosystems of innovation and entrepreneurship. Therefore it boosts the technology transfer and startup exposure.

This sector has the potential to completely reshape global agriculture, dramatically increasing the productivity of the agriculture system while reducing the environmental and social costs of current ag production practices. The agripreneurs have to adapt increasingly to the market demand, changing consumer habits, enhanced environmental regulations, new requirements for product quality, chain management, food safety, sustainability, and so on. 

The ag-tech innovations are absolutely essential. Politicians, practitioners, as well as, scientists have recognized that farmers and growers increasingly require entrepreneurship, besides sound management and craftsmanship, to be sustainable in the future.

Our FAC-entrepreneurs (winners of the national competition) have increased their exposure inside the startup ecosystem, which allowed them to win several prizes and acknowledgment, like the FAC Up Nutrition Award, and since then have even been acknowledged by the Presidency of The Republic.

We believe a concerted effort to develop an Ag-tech entrepreneurial support system will result in immense benefits for Peru and Latam itself, as a megadiverse region with several environmental and food-chain limitations and problems, which can be solved if we work together.

Create: 

We mobilize local communities to create agro innovation hubs globally

Collaborate:

We facilitate the sharing of ideas and resources to achieve a bigger goal

Cultivate:

We support you so that you can make a positive impact in the world