Experiences highlighted the importance of demonstrating a clear market need and moving from innovation towards commercial application.
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is uniquely positioned to harness the potential of the bioeconomy. With around half of the world’s known biodiversity, abundant biological resources and a strong agricultural and agri-food sector, the region has significant potential to develop more sustainable and competitive models of economic growth.
To explore this potential, IICA and COLEAD organized, through the FFM plus programme, a two-part webinar series, “Unlocking Bioeconomy Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean”, bringing together entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and institutional actors from across the region.
The series attracted a diverse audience from across Latin America and the Caribbean and beyond, with more than 500 people registering for the two webinars.
The first webinar, held on 8 July, provided an overview of the emerging bioeconomy landscape in the region, exploring market opportunities and showcasing innovative businesses and initiatives already turning biological resources into new products and solutions.
The discussion brought together four startups, APASOMICS (Costa Rica), SOS Biotech (Dominican Republic), Skin Graft (US-based) and RefruBio (Colombia), who showcased a range of innovative bioeconomy applications across sectors. The institutional panel then featured the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, the Latin American Bioeconomy Network and the University of Costa Rica’s CEIBA Project, highlighting the role of research, knowledge exchange and institutional collaboration in strengthening bioeconomy ecosystems.
Showcasing innovation is one thing; turning promising solutions into successful, scalable businesses is another. Building on the first session, the second webinar, held on 2 September, explored what it takes to move from innovation to growth, with a particular focus on access to finance and the expectations of investors.
Impact investors from The Yield Lab Latam, Atta Impact Capital and Kampani shared their perspectives on what bioeconomy businesses need to demonstrate to attract investment. While their approaches differ, they highlighted common expectations around technological maturity, a strong business model, measurable impact and market potential.
Three startups, Solena (Mexico), Nat4Bio (Argentina) and Nanomedical Solutions (Costa Rica), then shared their experiences of fundraising and commercialising bio-based solutions. Their businesses illustrated the range of innovations emerging from the region, from soil-health diagnostics combining microbiology and AI to biological post-harvest solutions that reduce conventional fungicide use and edible coatings designed to reduce cassava losses. Their experiences also highlighted the importance of demonstrating a clear market need and moving from innovation towards commercial application.
Together, the webinars highlighted both the significant potential of the bioeconomy in LAC and what is needed to turn that potential into impact: innovative solutions, strong ecosystems and access to the right financing at the right stage of development.
COLEAD is pleased to continue contributing to this dynamic and supporting the development of a more innovative, sustainable and inclusive bioeconomy in the region.
Find the recording of the first webinar here: https://youtu.be/2jlN95Cy08M?si=60CmF6Swc9gSMAi3 (Spanish)
Find the recording of the second webinar here (English) / Spanish.
This activity is supported by the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme, implemented by COLEAD within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union. This publication receives financial support from the European Union and the OACPS. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the OACPS.