Startups will present fish skin leather and cupuaçu vinegar during ExpoAmazônia

Manaus (AM) – Innovative businesses that develop solutions for the Amazon’s production chains will have the opportunity to present their projects to entrepreneurs and investors during ExpoAmazônia Bio&TIC 2023, which will be held in Manaus on the 28th, 29th and 30th of November, at Studio 5 Centro de Convenções. In total, 10 startups will make their pitches during “Demoday”, which takes place on the 28th, from 4pm to 7pm, in a time of interaction, networking and business opportunities.

The startups are part of the Priority Bioeconomy Program (PPBio), coordinated by the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon (Idesam), one of the public policies of the Superintendency of the Manaus Free Trade Zone (Suframa). Each startup is inserted within an Amazonian production chain such as açaí, vegetable oils, pirarucu management and other socio-biodiversity products.

One of these startups, which in one year of existence has already managed to raise R$2 million via PPBio, is Yara Couro. Born in Amapá, the initiative develops a technology that transforms fish skin residue into sustainable leather, which can be used in accessories, bags and shoes and even as a coating for other industries.

“Yara Couro was designed to be a profitable business that values ​​local culture and the fish chain. There is a serious issue of underutilization of fish, since 40% of fish is fillet and the rest is waste that is not used and often thrown away inappropriately. We saw this problem as an opportunity to work with this waste with a visionary and pioneering product, which reflects the essence of the Amazon. It is waste transformed into luxury and raw material”,

explains the CEO and founder of Yara Couro, Bruna Freitas.

For the entrepreneur, events like ExpoAmazônia are an opportunity to present to the world the potential of the bioeconomy in the North of the country.

“I feel very grateful to present our project, especially at such a necessary and current event, which expands the debate on the bioeconomy. It is an opportunity to network, take the project forward and understand how we can expand this bioeconomy vision in the North and the Amazon”,

complete.

Another startup confirmed at ExpoAmazônia Bio&TIC 2023 is Elevar, which will present an organic cupuaçu vinegar. The product, made from typical northern fruit, aims to reach the growing market for fruit vinegars, reinforcing the importance of conservation and conscious use of Amazonian biodiversity. To do this, it uses a fermentation technique to transform the Amazonian raw material.

“Today, Elevar has three products to be launched: cupuaçu vinegar, kombucha (a natural soft drink) and murupi pepper sauce with chestnut oil. The idea of ​​our products is to expand the diversity of healthy products and value Amazonian biodiversity”,

explains the founder of Elevar, biologist Luan Honorato.

Another innovative business that values ​​regional inputs is Da Cruz Destilados, creator of Eurydice, the first artisanal gin produced 100% in Amazonas. Incubated by the Business Incubation and Development Center (CIDE) and with funding from PPBio, the startup develops and manufactures alcoholic drinks and ingredients for mixology and cocktails, using raw materials from the Amazon. A distinguishing feature of the distillery is that it uses the same alcohol used in the local production of guaraná syrup and soft drink concentrate.

“The same raw material used in the concentrates hub to produce soda at 5 reais per liter is used to make products at around 100 reais. In other words, we optimize a regional raw material, adding quality through refined distillation techniques”,

completes chemist Fabiola Benarrós, technical manager of the company.

ExpoAmazônia Bio&TIC

With the theme “Sustainable Amazon Technology for the World”, the proposal of ExpoAmazônia Bio&TIC 2023 is to leverage the Bioeconomy (Bio) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hubs as two viable and sustainable economic vectors for maintaining the forest Amazon and the socioeconomic development of the Amazon.

To this end, the event will provide relevant lectures divided into six “knowledge tracks”: bioeconomy, biotechnology and markets; entrepreneurship and business management; appreciation of traditional knowledge; academic productions in BIO&TIC; information and communication technology and market; and creative economy and culture.

The opening of the Expo will take place on the 28th, at 3 pm, with the participation of Bosco Saraiva, superintendent of the Manaus Free Trade Zone (Suframa); Radyr Júnior, municipal secretary of Labor, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Semtepi); Serafim Corrêa, state secretary for Economic Development, Science, Technology and Innovation (Sedecti); Rodrigo Rollemberg, Secretary of Green Economy, Decarbonization and Bioindustry at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC).

Also on the first day, some of the main lectures will be: “Digital Diversity: the fundamental role of Women in Technology”, with Tanara Lauschner, professor at the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam) and undersecretary of Science and Technology for the Amazon at the Ministry of Science , Technology and Innovation (MCTI); and “Transforming the Digital World: diversity, innovation and the future of work”, with Ariadne Vieira Henriques, cos & business analyst and teaching director at the Maués (AM) Technology and Robotics Center.

ExpoAmazônia 2023

ExpoAmazônia Bio&TIC 2023 is organized by the Manaus Digital Pole Association (APDM), Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon (Idesam), Government of Amazonas – through the Secretariat of Development, Science, Technology and Innovation (Sedecti-AM ) -, Manaus City Hall – through the Municipal Secretariat of Labor, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Semtepi) and the Amazon Biobusiness Center (CBA).

In addition to discussing, integrating, consolidating and leveraging the region’s Bioeconomy and Information and Communication Technology hubs as two viable and sustainable economic vectors for the maintenance of the Amazon forest and for the socioeconomic development of the people of the Amazon, the fair aims to strengthen the Bio&TIC ecosystems and constantly integrate them with actors from national and international innovation ecosystems.

*With information from consultancy

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