Participants of SAD 2025 in San José, Costa Rica, Source: IICA.
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) successfully concluded the fourth edition of its Digital Agriculture Week (SAD), held from September 22 to 26 of this year at the IICA headquarters in San José, Costa Rica. The SAD is a space that brings together key players from the digital agricultural innovation ecosystem (Agtech) in Latin America and the Caribbean. It fosters dialogues, networking, experience exchanges, the presentation of best practices, and recognition of disruptive business models with an impact on agricultural value chains.
This year, more than a hundred representatives from startups, agribusinesses, governments, think tanks, national agricultural research and innovation institutes, investment funds, multilateral organizations, and academic institutions participated throughout the week, creating connections that will continue contributing to the development of agtech in Latin America and the Caribbean. This reflects the broad recognition the SAD has gained in the agtech ecosystem of the region since its first edition in 2022, when it was inaugurated by a pioneering group of no more than twenty people.
Four organizations from Incofin's Agtech portfolio were selected by IICA to participate in person in SAD 2025, out of a total of 20 organizations selected from across the region. In addition, Incofin, as a promoter partner of the SAD, facilitated the in-person participation of a fifth organization from its portfolio. These five organizations from Incofin’s Agtech project, co-financed by IDB Lab and the SSNUP program, made a prominent representation during the various meetings held throughout the week, sharing experiences and best practices from their business models. The Incofin Agtech portfolio organizations that participated in person in SAD 2025 were Corporación Interactuar, Imix, Producers Direct, SpaceAG, and Suyana. Besides showcasing their Agtech initiatives, they also established strategic connections to scale their projects.
Incofin, Promoter Partner of SAD 2025 by IICA
Source: Luis R. Hernández.
On the third day of SAD, Incofin took a leading role in the "Investment Bridges for Agtech Innovation" forum, alongside representatives from SP Ventures, IDB Lab, Brumas VC, and ACTIVA-CATIE. José Enciso, Director for Latin America at Incofin, delivered a presentation highlighting, among other things, the importance of impact investing as a catalyst for the growth and consolidation of business models that have a clear thesis on including smallholder farmers in the development of Agtech initiatives. He also emphasized the collaboration Incofin is advancing with IDB Lab and SSNUP in supporting the 14 organizations within its Agtech portfolio.
José Enciso's Presentation on Day 3 of SAD 2025
Source: Luis R. Hernández.
Finally, we would like to thank the five organizations from our portfolio that participated in person at SAD 2025, as well as the IICA team, represented by Federico Bert and Alice Alcantara, with whom the Incofin team collaborated to enable our participation as a Promoter Partner of the event. We also extend our gratitude to our counterparts in the Agtech project at IDB Lab, particularly William Ernest, for supporting these efforts, which have helped open up visibility and networking opportunities for the organizations in our portfolio.
Prepared by:
Luis R. Hernández, Agtech Project Coordinator, Incofin Foundation.
The author takes full responsibility for the contents of this report. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the view of IDB Lab, Incofin Foundation, SSNUP, the Donors, ADA, Incofin IM and any of the members of their Board of Directors.
