Amazon businesses face logistics and credit hurdles

Businesses in the Amazon region face significant logistical and financial hurdles when attempting to bring bioeconomy products to market. The journey of pirarucu fish from Fonte Boa to São Paulo illustrates these challenges, involving complex transfers between small boats, ships, and trucks, often complicated by poor road conditions like the BR-319.

Michelle Guimarães, CEO of Navegam, notes that inadequate infrastructure in both the capital and the interior prevents these products from achieving necessary scale. To address these gaps, companies like Navegam focus on logistics, while ForestFi works to connect Amazonian socio-biodiversity businesses with much-needed capital.

Both companies are supported by AMAZ, a major impact business accelerator in Northern Brazil. The accelerator has analyzed over 500 companies in the last five years and currently supports 16 businesses aimed at reconciling economic development with forest conservation.