SQMa mining company linked to Julio Ponce and the Chinese Tianqi, Bimbo groupowner of Ideal in Chile and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have come together as contributors to a specialized venture capital fund to invest in agricultural and food technology in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is The Yield Lab Latam Opportunity Fund, which aims to invest in 30 companies in the Seed and Series A/B stages in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, “Latam Impact Fund”, managed by Sonen Capital and Fondo de Fundos, is in the process of closing to participate in this initiative.
As explained by YLL, the objective of the initiative is to select startups that “are reconfiguring the agri-food value chain in an inclusive, transparent, innovative and disruptive way. Since its inception, it has had the support of renowned operators in the innovation market and institutional investors in several Latin American countries, to promote innovation in the food and agriculture technology sector, and close the gap between agri-food ecosystems. and venture capital across the region.”
“Our investment stems from Grupo Bimbo’s broader commitment to achieving a future with net zero carbon emissions. We believe that The Yield Lab Latam (YLL) will enable the Latin American agricultural sector to adopt more sustainable practices by fostering the development of technology according to the unique challenges facing the region,” he said. Constantino Matouk, Global VP of Bimbo Ventures.
“Sustainable agriculture represents one of the sectors in which our strategy of the Latam Impact Fund is oriented, given its enormous potential to generate positive social and environmental impact. By partnering with The Yield Lab, a fund manager who truly understands the needs and challenges of the agricultural sector in the region, we want to accelerate the change needed across the sector to help increase access and availability of food, as well as opportunities for rural communities”, adds Sandra Sainz, CEO of Sonen Capital.
Pablo Altimiras, Executive Vice President of Iodine and Nitrates at SQM explained that “the food value chain is changing and, as a major producer and developer of specialty nutrients, our goal is to be part of this change. Together with the fund, we hope to identify disruptive technologies and business models that, together with our competitive advantages, will allow us to maintain our leadership position in high-value crops.”
As YLL has stated during the next 30 years, the forms of production and consumption of food will be radically different from those known at present, so the industry will have to adapt and transform to more robust, efficient and sustainable designs.
In YLL they add that “our investors are key players in the food value chain: producers, corporations and service providers committed to the sustainable future of the sector. The objective is to connect them with startups and innovation actors (centres, academia, agencies) to address the identified pain points and long-term opportunities, thus creating a network that generates true impact value.”
For the partners of The Yield Lab Latam, Tomás Peña, Kieran Gartlan, Santiago Murtagh, Roberto Vitón and Camila Petignat “with the closing of this fund, The Yield Lab Latam consolidates itself as one of the leading AgriFoodTech investment companies in Latin America. In the last five years it has launched three investment funds and invested in 19 companies in seven countries”.
