Natura, in partnership with the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center, opened registrations on August 5 for the second edition of the AmazôniaUP Program, which aims to contribute to the sustainable development of the region by supporting innovative ideas from entrepreneurs who are currently enrolled in or have completed higher education, technical high school courses, as well as participants from associations, cooperatives, and Amazonian extractive communities. Registrations are open until August 31 and can be made through the website http://centroamazonia.org.br/amazoniaup/.
The program is carried out in two phases. After the registration period, up to 12 ideas or business prototypes focused on natural resources and rural areas will be selected, such as productive chains of agroforestry systems, fishing, tourism, gastronomy, and biotechnology, for example. The chosen projects will undergo a pre-acceleration period, consisting of four workshops, totaling over 100 hours of activities, including lectures, workshops, and events.
On December 13, the DemoDay will take place, during which startups will present their projects to relevant guests in the sustainable business ecosystem in the Amazon, such as entrepreneurs, investors, educational and research institutions, as well as credit and funding agents.
At this event, up to four projects will be selected to receive a grant of 2,000 reais for four months and mentorship from the supporting institutions of the program, the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center, and Natura executives.
Five of the twelve spots will be allocated to the operational area of the Jirau Network, which includes the municipalities of Abaetetuba, Barcarena, Cametá, Igarapé Miri, and Moju, in Pará. The emphasis on the region is a result of the concentration of research centers and universities in the area, as well as sustainable rural businesses focused on maintaining the forest standing and preserving biodiversity.
In the first edition of the AmazôniaUP Program, held in 2017, there were over 70 applicants, with the selection of 10 ideas with prototypes and participation from 33 young entrepreneurs.
“With this program, we advance even further in our purpose of acting in a network and valuing local partnerships in the Amazon, aiming to generate a positive impact in the region,” says Luciana Villa Nova, Sustainability Manager at Natura. The initiative is a continuation of the open innovation lab conducted by the company in 2016. “The Natura Amazon Challenge of 2016 resulted in over 150 startups and businesses from all over Brazil registered, strengthening the connection with communities linked to our value chain in the Amazon, in addition to the acceleration and direct mentoring of 17 ventures in workshops that took place at the Ecopark in Benevides. Now, in conjunction with a local initiative, we will have even more potential to generate innovation for Amazonian sociobiodiversity,” Villa Nova adds.
“This is a seed that we make sprout, a seed that aims to help young people see another type of entrepreneurship, sustainable, which, in addition to economic development, also seeks social and environmental development in our region. We live in the largest tropical forest in the world, which holds the greatest biodiversity on the planet, and we need to learn to do business with this wealth sustainably so that the wealth remains forever,” says Raphael Medeiros, Executive Director of the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center.
The AmazôniaUP Program also seeks to expand Natura's scope of action and relationship with the innovation ecosystem through the Natura Startups Program. With this partnership, Natura will start to engage with ideas still in the early stages.
“When we connect with the startup ecosystem, we have enormous potential to be explored. The AmazôniaUP Program brings a differential in relation to Natura's engagement with this universe of companies, by promoting projects still in the early stages, in the region where our supply chains are concentrated,” says Luciano Abrantes, Digital Innovation Director at Natura.
Supporting the initiative are: 4 Advisory, Conexsus, Execute, Sustainable Amazon Foundation, Rômulo Maiorana Foundation, Imazon, Humanize Institute, Ipam, Mendonça and Demachki Associated Lawyers, PCT Guamá, Health and Joy Program, Sebrae, Silveira Athias Soriano de Mello Guimarães Pinheiro & Scaff Lawyers, Sol Informática, and UNAMA-University of the Amazon.
