São Paulo, Brazil, Sept. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Agrotools, a leading technology and intelligence company for agribusiness, today announced it is establishing an agribusiness innovation hub in the Brazilian sector of São José dos Campos (SJ). As Brazil has an important role in feeding the world, the hub will bring together leaders and innovators in the Agritech sector, encourage collaboration and help pursue creative solutions, including environmental, social and governance factors for agribusiness. The whole world (including the US) will be positively impacted by the technologies derived from the hub.
“I know that our new innovation hub will help expand and further develop the agribusiness sector,” said Sergio Rocha, CEO of Agrotools. “The future of agriculture will be comprised of data, algorithms, satellites and intelligence. To optimize the agri-food system, guarantee production and help solve the challenges of food production, farming will increasingly be more connected with algorithms than with machinery.”
The São José dos Campos Technological Park is one of the main innovation and entrepreneurship complexes in Brazil, much like a South American Silicon Valley. “The headquarters of innovation in Brazil is in São José dos Campos, as it is home to several universities and technology parks in the region, important for the development of the agribusiness chain,” added Rocha.
São José is the Brazilian junction between applied technologies and air/space travel with many global innovators active within the community - companies such as Embraer and Visiona, even Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Agrotools makes use of satellite imagery as a data source for its analyses for agribusiness players, bringing scalable and accessible innovation to the sector. By supporting the development of new start-ups within the agro hub, this opens up M&A opportunities for Agrotools in the future.
Industry giant
Created in 2006 with a mission to end the lack of data on agribusiness in Brazil, Agrotools, was the first company to transform technology into a fundamental tool for understanding the sector and aligning productivity in the field with social and environmental responsibility. “Our digital tools enable the qualified collection of data and the effective monitoring of territories and production chains, ensuring compliance with sustainability criteria,” emphasized Rocha.
Agrotools, in addition to participating in ESG-related topics with its clients, acts on market agendas and participates in discussion roundtables. “The debates in which we engage look at how companies apply best practices and monitor their suppliers, customers and any interactions they need to have with territories,” explained Rocha.
Additionally, Agrotools recently raised 21 million (BRL 100 million) in its investment program, created in 2020, with a focus on the company’s expansion. Agrotools tripled in size during the pandemic and has attracted investors looking for innovation and technology. It was recently named one of the top 100 startups to watch according to Época Negócios, for its innovation in the agribusiness sphere.
Agrotools expects to continue its accelerated expansion process into 2023. For example, Agrotools was among 21 companies chosen for this year’s Emerging Giants Program, a highly competitive development program administered by KPMG. With contracts in place until 2026, Agrotools will continue establishing strategic partnerships with investors who share the same vision - technological innovation of the agri-food chain, in a fairer, greener and more sustainable world.
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About Agrotools
Agrotools is the largest digital platform for corporate agribusiness in the world. By offering a multitude of remote analyses, the platform allows the management of risks and opportunities in any operation with rural territories, from the granting of financial resources and rural insurance to the purchase of raw materials, as well as the sale of inputs, capital markets and retail. The AgTech has been operating in an agile and precise manner for almost 15 years with solutions for different links in the sector's chain: from cooperatives, traders, and reinsurers to food retail. Through its advanced technology platform, which analyzes more than 1300 layers of data from multiple sources, the company aims to democratize access to information in the sector, being a pillar of competitive differentiation and ESG compliance in the market. By providing powerful business and management insights, the platform allows corporate market agents to understand everything that happens with suppliers and customers spread across the rural territory and, thus, make the best decisions on a daily basis. Today, Agrotools analyzes more than 4.5 million rural territories and monitors BRL 15 billion in commodities through its platform. In addition, there are more than BRL 50 billion in rural finance portfolios supported by at least one of the company's solutions and around BRL 100 billion in monitored agribusiness operations.
