After receiving more than 700 applications in its third call for rural sector ventures in Costa Rica, the innovation and incubation laboratory of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), ACTIVA, has already selected 30 new ventures with which it will work during 2023 and which will be granted the seed capital provided by the Development Banking System (SBD, its Spanish acronym).

The selected businesses are distributed in the seven provinces of Costa Rica with a wide variety of focuses such as ecotourism, circular economy, bio-inputs, forestry nurseries, agro-tech and agriculture, including dairy processing; hydroponic green fodder; biochar; fruit dehydration; coffee production; fresh water for human consumption; butter production; among others.

“43% of the new beneficiaries of ACTIVA-CATIE are women and 57% men, with age ranges between 20 and 66 years, which demonstrate a process of inclusion with equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs. Of these new beneficiaries, 20 are in the prototyping phase and 10 in the start-up phase, located in the seven provinces of the country, but mostly in the canton of Turrialba,” said Vladimir Valera, director of ACTIVA.

The laboratory was born and has grown as part of CATIE’s Forests and Biodiversity in Productive Landscapes Unit, so it is essential that the supported enterprises include biodiversity management and conservation in their value propositions, in addition to being aligned with the national carbonization plan, the national bio-economy strategy, job creation and the inclusion of women and young people.

The consideration of biodiversity as a fundamental element for improving their livelihoods encourages entrepreneurs to adopt, to the extent possible, a nature-based approach to solutions. An example of this are the ecotourism ventures that base their service offerings on the existence of natural ecosystems such as primary and secondary forests, making the sustainable management and conservation of these ecosystems fundamental pillars of their businesses,” Valera said.

Currently, the laboratory has already granted more than US$550,000 in non-refundable seed capital for rural sector ventures, as well as various workshops and training with experts. On this occasion, ventures that are in the prototyping phase will be supported for a period of six months with specialized training, while start-up proposals will receive nine months of guidance.

Since 2020, ACTIVA-CATIE has been responsible for building a platform to implement incubation programs in different areas of the rural sector and contribute to the creation of businesses for sustainable development. Since then, it has been one of the 11 seed capital operating agencies of the SBD’s Seeds of Transformation program; it has alliances with Costa Rican institutions such as the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (PROCOMER) and, at the international level, it has worked with partners such as the National Forest Institute (INAB, its Spanish acronym) in Guatemala, as well as the World Resources Institute (WRI), among others. World Resources Institute (WRI), entre otros actores.

“However, we have a clear objective, which is to achieve the internationalization of ACTIVA by leveraging resources from donors who want to support our work in other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our goal is also to become a reference in the region for entrepreneurship and innovation in the rural sector and to be part of the University Incubator Index (UBI) ranking of university incubators,” said Valera. University Incubator Index (UBI, por sus siglas en inglés)”, señaló Valera.

In addition to the joint work that will be carried out with the 30 new ventures, it is expected that by 2023 the fourth call for rural ventures in Costa Rica will be launched, as well as the start of operations in other countries in the Latin American region. If you would like to learn more about the work of ACTIVA-CATIE, we invite you to visit the official website: activa.catie.ac.cr activa.catie.ac.cr