Suyana, Plant Squad, Fotortec, and ClearLeaf Peer-Selected for Investment During Village Capital’s Latin America Future of Food Accelerator

September 20th, 2021 (Mexico City) — Four Latin American “future of food” startups have received capital to help them scale their businesses and improve food resiliency in the region.

Suyana, Plant Squad, Fotortec, and ClearLeaf were selected by peer entrepreneurs to receive equity-free investment as a part of the program Future of Food LatAm 2021, an impact accelerator run by Village Capital and supported by the Visa Foundation. 

The accelerator focused on supporting entrepreneurs who are building tech-enabled solutions to increase access to agricultural infrastructure, develop alternative plant-based food, prevent food waste, and strengthen agricultural productivity.

After three months of training, entrepreneurs benefited from Village Capital’s award-winning curriculum, intensive feedback from their peers, valuable connections, and one-on-one mentorship with potential customers, investors and industry experts. Nineteen participating startups selected four of their peers as the best-prepared for investment and will receive USD $20K each. The selected startups are: 

• Suyana (Cochabamba, Bolivia and Santiago, Chile) provides climate insurance against agricultural catastrophic risks in places where limited historical information is available. 
• Plant Squad (Mexico City, Mexico) develops alternative plant-based protein products that are nutrient dense and environmentally conscious.
• Fotortec (Santiago, Chile) transforms agricultural waste into mushrooms that can be used as a flavor and protein enhancer in the food industry. 
• ClearLeaf (San Jose, Costa Rica) creates a non-toxic, completely natural fungicide that enhances plant growth and decreases health risks for farmers and consumers. 

These startups are joining international companies to create more resilient communities that are free from hunger and food waste. The team at Village Capital believes that the agritech and foodtech sectors have a bright future ahead. After receiving over 100 applications and the increase in Venture Capital investments during this year, the potential generated by an underserved population is clear.

Regional entrepreneurs are creating services and products to match their consumers’ specific needs. Additionally, the region’s diverse topography and biodiversity shape a complex agriculture ecosystem, from production, to employment, and underserved needs. Entrepreneurs who are developing business models around these factors can set an example for other regions on how to solve similar challenges. 

Village Capital sees great potential to replicate business models that Latin Americans develop or to escalate their solutions to other regions, and export not only their food but also their Latin American business models to the world.