Brazil remains central to Latin American agtech innovation — housing the most start-ups — but companies and ecosystems are popping up across the region, as evident by the first-ever Radar Agtech report covering Latin America and the Caribbeans.
The report is produced by venture capital firm SP Ventures, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), state-owned agricultural research corporation Embrapa, and Homo Ludens. Representatives from each company shared details about the report across two sessions at World Agri-Tech São Paulo event on June 23, 2026.
“We see a powerful innovation force emerging in the region. We see an agtech ecosystem growing, but huge differences between countries. We have some countries like Brazil and Argentina that have very developed ecosystem, but we have in other countries that are actually in the early stages of the innovation challenge,” Federico Bert, manager of digitalization of agrifood systems Programme at IICA, said during a presentation on the report.
Inside the 2026 report
Most of the 2,653 agtech start-ups surveyed in the report (90.6%) across 23 countries were located in Southern Cone, with Brazil representing the largest portion of start-ups (86.3%) in the Southern Cone with 2,075 start-ups. Elsewhere, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia was home to 158, 108, 91, and 79 agtech start-ups, respectively.
Most LatAm start-ups (1,789 companies) prioritized on-farm activities, including 768 start-ups dedicated to system integrations, solutions, and data platforms; 254 on drones, machinery, and equipment; and 210 on farm and company management systems.
The remainder of start-ups were split between pre-farm and post-farm activities, including 628 and 649 companies, respectively.
In the pre-farm sector, 427 start-ups were focused on fertilizers, inoculants, and plant nutrition, while 66 start-ups worked in the area of seeds, seedlings, and plant genomics, and 45 were dedicated to credit, barters, insurance, and carbon credits.
On the other side of the supply chain, 186 start-ups focused on innovative foods and new trends, 160 on biodiversity and sustainability, and 126 on marketplaces and commercialization platforms.
“We think that there is a correlation between the complexity of technologies and the maturity of ecosystems, and innovation increasingly combines digital and biological approach,” said Aurélio Martins Favarin, innovation ecosystems analyst at Embrapa, during a breakout panel.
The Radar Agtech LAC is not only only mapping the agtech ecosystem in LatAm but also identifying opportunities to collaboration, propelling future growth, Martins Favarin noted.
“Regional collaboration is critical for future growth,” Martins Favarin said. “The next challenge is not only mapping innovation but also connecting ecosystems and accelerating collaboration.”
