AMAZON STARTUPS AND COMPANIES - SHOWCASE 1: FOOD, BEVERAGE, AGRICULTURE, COSMETICS & BIOTECHNOLOGY
December 7th, 2022 at 11:00 AM ET
A session featuring 7 of the most promising and pioneering Amazon-focused companies developing new and innovative business models that help protect and restore ecosystems. A selection of investable companies from the Amazon Startup Hub, orchestrated in partnership with CERTI.
Fernanda Stefani
100% Amazonia
Known as the “factory of the forest,” 100% Amazonia processes and exports ecosystem-friendly ingredients that are either wild-harvested sustainably from the forest or cultivated through regenerative practices. 100% Amazonia’s product portfolio spans 50 ingredients and 25 species, and has serviced 69 countries in the functional food, beverage, cosmetics, and pharma industries. 100% Amazonia is flipping the economic script on deforestation by creating innovation that monetizes the value of plants, strengthening Amazon supply chains, and boosting regional entrepreneurship and product pipeline.
Edgar Montenegro
Amapuri
Amapuri is recovering large stretches of Amazonian soils by harnessing the regenerative engine of agroforestry, the commercial engine of carbon credits, and the global demand for superfoods. The large-scale regenerative agroforestry system that is being designed by Amapuri intermixes native hardwood species with açaí palms to sequester carbon, create wildlife habitat, restore soils, create green jobs, while stabilizing fruit supply and optimizing production and logistics.
Ekkehard Gutjahr
Amazon Oil
Amazon Oil works directly with riverine and traditional communities to extract cold-pressed oils, butters, and resins from nutrient-dense trees– many still unknown to the global cosmetics industry–such as the burití, bacaba, and patauá. By training communities on sustainable extraction methodologies and offering alternative streams of revenue that reduce deforestation pressure, Amazon Oil is putting the Amazon region on the map as a globally relevant exporter of refined botanical oils with demonstrable socio-ecological impact.
Philip Kauders
Courageous Land
Courageous Land is a vertically integrated agroforestry company that designs and operates biodiverse agroforestry systems that are optimized for carbon removal, climate change resilience, green jobs, and cobenefits. Courageous Land’s strategy of reforestation via agroforestry serves to restore soils and recover the biotic pump, while delivering carbon-negative food, ingredients, and timber to the world. Courageous Land aims to reforest 10,000 hectares of degraded Amazon lands by 2030, while stimulating large-scale adoption of agroforestry by smallholders across the basin.
João Tezza
Darvore
Darvore combines innovative nanotechnology with the rainforest’s biological “technology” to beautify the world and create value that protects native forests, serves the global cosmetics market, and strengthens local economies. Davore’s commitment to fully utilizing the biodiversity of native forests creates efficiency and sustainability that is key to overcoming the opportunity cost of deforestation.
Paola Salazar
Ecoflora
Ecoflora is solving both problems at once by unlocking the commercial potential for the Jagua (Genipa americana), a native tree whose fruit provides a stable and natural blue colorant, which the food and cosmetics industries have sorely lacked. Stable at a wide range of pH, temperature, and light exposure, the blue natural pigments created by Ecoflora are becoming the best option available globally for replacing synthetic blue dyes with natural alternatives. By consolidating value around protecting the native Jagua tree, Ecoflora is servicing the massive global personal care and domestic industries looking for nature-positive and healthy pigments, while serving as a leader on environmentally sustainable and socially responsible practices.
Andrea Abram
Luisa Abram Chocolates
Luisa Abram is a family-run ‘bean to bar’ chocolate-maker that makes wildly grown chocolate products from the Amazon basin. By partnering with riverside communities who steward wild ancestral cacao trees, Luisa provides local communities with incentives for protecting surrounding forests while providing global markets with top-tier, rare-origin chocolate. Abram provides family farmers with training and infrastructure to enrich their earning potential, and to quality-control every stage of the process– from the harvesting of the cacao to the finished bar and logistics. This explains why Luisa Abram chocolate tastes so good and so personal at the same time.
