LatAm List – Unbox Capital, a Brazilian private equity firm, recently led a $40M investment for a minority stake in Solinftec, an agritech startup that uses software and hardware to optimize agricultural processes in real-time.
“Solinftec is a company with a DNA of innovation that, combined with the culture of entrepreneurs to develop scalable solutions with a clear value proposition for its customers, is transforming agribusiness,” said Patricia Moraes, founding partner of Unbox Capital.
Solinftec was founded in 2007 by a group of Cuban automation engineers led by founder and CTO Britaldo Hernandez, and since then has grown to monitor 18 million acres of crops including corn, cotton, coffee, and oranges worldwide. Currently, the agritech company monitors about 72% of Brazil’s sugarcane crop.
“Solinftec is facing the world’s food problem, continually exploring new technological frontiers that allow it to increase food production with fewer resources. With technology, we are changing the way food is produced,” said Hernandez.
This funding will help Solinftec expand into new regions and crops, such as the soybean market.
Unbox Capital manages about $100M for the Trajano family, owners of one of Brazil’s largest Brazilian retail companies Magazine Luiza.
“We experienced firsthand the digital transformation of the retail sector in Brazil, which is why we strongly believe in technology as a disruptive force. We are very happy with our partnership with Solinftec, a company that is leading the digital transformation of agriculture,” commented Luiza Helena Trajano, Chairman of the Board of Magazine Luiza.
Solinftec has 500 employees and serves clients in 11 countries including Brazil, the US, Canada, and Colombia.