AI in Brazil’s ag sector: The Yield Lab Latam taps into opportunity with forthcoming fund

Venture capital firm The Yield Lab Latam is doubling down on its commitment of bringing innovative digital technologies to Brazil’s agriculture sector with a forthcoming fund focused on early-stage AI start-ups, slated to launch later this year, Kieran Gartlan, managing partner for the firm, told AgTechNavigator.

AI’s ability to easily capture data and integrate with farmers’ workflows is unlocking agtech opportunities, Gartlan said. “AI is really going to address a lot of the problems we had with agtech adoption,” he emphasized.

For instance, many AI applications are built on technologies that farmers already use, like WhatsApp, Gartlan explained. Most (85%) Brazilian farmers use WhatsApp daily for their farming operations, according to a McKinsey report.

“It’s not practical to expect [farmers] to be downloading apps and inputting data into Excel sheets and then trying to gain value from that. A lot of what AI does is take out the friction of data capture. It can use vision or computer vision AI to capture data or voice AI. There are all sorts of ways now that it’s easier to input data into an AI processing platform by just taking pictures or giving advice messages,” Gartlan elaborated.

Also, AI tools are taking the place of traditional software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings because they provide insight to Brazilian farmers in real time and in the context and language that is relevant to them, he explained. Many SaaS offerings “were too chunky and clunky to learn and to use and onboard farmers,” he added.

“You had to wait a whole season to get any sort of idea that this [software was] actually providing any value. With AI, they’re much lighter tools. They’re cheaper to set up [and] asset-light …for startups to build them. It’s much easier and less costly. So, they also unlock value for farmers much quicker,” Gartlan said.

Building an AI ecosystem in Brazil

This year, The Yield Lab Latam began hosting a series of intelligent AI events in Brazil, with the first one taking place in February. The event brought together Cargill, BASF, and CNH and three Brazilian start-ups: Grão Direto, a grains marketplace; GoFlux, a logistics software company; and Veridi Technologies, a company focused on soil biodiversity.

Grão Direto is “probably the most liquid, physical grains marketplace for soybeans, globally,” providing Brazilian farmers with WhatsApp agents that “give them advice on what the best strategy is for selling their grain,” comparing prices from different buyers and trading companies, Gartlan said.

Also, The Yield Lab Latam and start-ups are exploring how AI can make regenerative agriculture financially feasible, which will be part of the firm’s second AI event, taking place on May 28 in Brazil, Gartlan explained.

“This second event, we’ll be looking at how AI can turn ESG into ROI, so into returns. So, I think that was a big problem. We have a lot of focus on regen ag and sustainability, but unless that converts into returns and profit for the farmer — or whoever’s deploying it — then it never gets off the ground,” he elaborated.