Suzano Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Suzano, the world’s largest market pulp producer, has made a strategic investment in BemAgro, a leading Brazilian AgTech startup delivering Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to optimize the agricultural cycle at every stage, from planting to harvesting.
The investment comes as part of a US$2.6 million funding round led by CNH, a world-class equipment, technology, and services company in the agriculture and construction sectors. Suzano Ventures joins the round as a strategic investor alongside ATVOS, Brazil’s second-largest producer of market ethanol, from sugarcane and its biomass. This funding round close also marks the conclusion of BemAgro’s latest funding series, which began in February of this year, when the company raised US$1.8 million in its first round – also led by CNH, with participation from Rural Ventures, MMAgro, and Agroven.
Through the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, BemAgro’s digital agriculture solutions facilitate accurate and automated data processing to optimize crop planting, growth, and harvesting, therefore increasing operational performance and productivity, and reducing costs.
With a proven track record and strong results in enhancing agricultural processes within Brazil’s sugarcane industry, this partnership will allow BemAgro’s pioneering solutions to be transferred to eucalyptus farming. With more than 5 million hectares processed, the technology is widely used in Brazil, Latin America, and Asia. In sugarcane fields, it reduces herbicide and input application by an average of 70% by detecting weed infestation, and increases productivity by 7.5% detecting early stage gaps.
With a two-year roadmap in place, Suzano Ventures will support BemAgro in refining and accelerating the application of its digital agriculture solutions for precision silviculture. More than just capital, Suzano Ventures will provide BemAgro with access to Suzano’s farms and infrastructure, operations, and market and technical expertise, promoting the creation of new algorithms designed specifically for eucalyptus farming. This will, in turn, both validate the use of BemAgro’s technologies within the eucalyptus industry and allow Suzano to advance its silviculture capabilities.
Álvaro Gómez Rodríguez, Senior Manager at Suzano Ventures said:
“Having seen the positive impact of BemAgro’s offering in comparable industries, we are confident that the integration of its technologies within Suzano’s silviculture operations will substantially increase efficiencies at all stages of the eucalyptus lifecycle. By facilitating more detailed monitoring of our seedlings, this technology will allow us to better assess the quality of growth at this critical stage, when the long-term health of the tree is mostly determined.
“Our provision of capital, alongside access to Suzano’s farms, operations, and technical expertise, will provide the resources necessary to accelerate the development of BemAgro’s technologies, alongside its adoption across the sector.”
Johann Coelho, founder and CEO of BemAgro added:
"A testament to the revolutionary technology being developed at BemAgro, we are proud to have Suzano Ventures and ATVOS join us as strategic investors following the close of our latest funding round. We believe these major industry players will help us not only to realize our vision but do so more quickly and efficiently.
This funding will support the continuous development of BemAgro’s technology and revenue generation. More than just financial investors, our partners are also our customers – therefore supporting our goal of reaching 10 million hectares under management in the years to come. This strategic partnership aligns to project a new cycle of revenue generation, increased investment in AgTech, and an expansion of market verticals."
Alexandre Maganhato, CTO of ATVOS comments:
“ATVOS has been undergoing an intense transformation process in recent harvests, resuming investments in new technologies and innovation in its business fronts, whether in crops or in industry. The partnership with BemAgro is in line with important pillars of the company's strategic planning: having greater control over agro-industrial operations based on data analysis and the generation of practical information from the field, which will help us in decision-making and in the application of corrective measures to minimize costs, optimize inputs, increase our productivity rates and take care of the environment.”