GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, March 31, 2022 – Sucafina, a leading sustainable Farm to Roaster coffee company, announced today its investment in Agrosmart, a startup that builds ‘smart farming’ data-led solutions for a more sustainable, climate-resilient food chain.
The Brazil-based company has a data network that includes more than 100,000 farmers and over 90 crops, across nine countries in Latin America (Latam). Its digital agriculture platform uses data science and analytics to help farmers and producers to increase their yield while saving water and energy and reducing inputs.
The investment, made in partnership with privately-held investment firm LemanVentures, represents the second transaction in Sucafina’s new agribusiness investment division. Launched in November 2021, it is focused on investing in companies that are developing innovative solutions at the intersection of sustainability, technology, and new consumer trends.
Mariana Vasconcelos, Agrosmart’s co-founder and CEO, comes from the south of Minas Gerais in Brazil, a key region for coffee production. She says, “Climate is directly impacting supply chains, and coffee has special importance to us due to our origins and Brazil’s relevance in the market. Partnering with Sucafina is an important step to be able to increase our reach to support more farmers around the globe to become more sustainable and climate-resilient.”
“We’re delighted about this investment in Agrosmart, an innovative company in the exciting and fast-evolving AgTech sector,” says Nicolas A. Tamari, CEO of Sucafina. Stefano Rettore, Founder and CEO of LemanVentures, adds: “We are looking forward to partnering with Agrosmart’s leadership team to use data science to accelerate the transition to more productive, sustainable, and climate-resilient food systems.”
Founded in 2014, Agrosmart uses software data analysis collected from soil sensors and satellite images and provides recommendations to optimize planting, irrigation, climate resilience, and disease management. The data also helps partner organizations track key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics in their value chain.
Other investors in the company include: SP Ventures, Bradesco CVC (the second largest private bank in Latam), Positivo CVC (Latam’s largest hardware manufacturer), and Swiss Pampa (founded by Gonzalo Ramirez Martiarena). In 2021, Agrosmart grew 170% and is now raising a series-B funding round to continue the expansion of its Enterprise SaaS strategy and embedding financing into its offering.
ABOUT SUCAFINA
Sucafina is a leading sustainable Farm to Roaster coffee company, with a family tradition in commodities that stretches back to 1905. Today, with more than 1,000 employees in 32 countries, the Group is one of the leading coffee trading houses in the world and one of the few focused entirely on coffee. Sucafina’s extensive supply chains span from producer-facing export operations to destination sales offices around the world.
ABOUT AGROSMART
Agrosmart is a platform that collects and processes data to generate insights that support 100,000 farmers to make data-driven decisions overcoming the uncertainty of climate and climate change. Agrosmart’s network of farmers aggregates information that continuously improves the quality of the insights provided and supports companies in the whole food system to transition to a more productive, sustainable, and climate-resilient supply chain.
ABOUT LEMANVENTURES
LemanVentures is a privately held investment firm focused on enabling the Food Transition. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, its portfolio ranges across the Food and Agriculture sectors, as well as across geographies. LemanVentures leverages its global network to invest in companies that have ambitious goals and to deliver superior results for all stakeholders.
