Agro-food startups in the Canary Islands: employment, training and innovation in AgroTech

Due to its relevance to the agri-food industry, it is one of the ten driving forces of the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy of the Government of Spain: “Now is the time to firmly promote this industry so that it not only maintains, but also accelerates this trajectory of growth, thus contributing decisively to the good future of the Spanish economy”, states the document on which the strategy is based.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of efficient supply chains and alternative ways of growing, processing, transporting and selling food to consumers. According to the annual report of AgFunder - venture capital specialized in the agrotech world - investment in startups linked to the agricultural, livestock and food sector grew by 15.5% year-on-year, reaching a total of 26.1 billion dollars in 2020.

Within the Strategic Plan for the Primary Sector of Gran Canaria, the “poor availability of resources to undertake and innovate and high opportunity cost compared to large companies” is defined as a weakness. As opportunities, the “new trends for the recovery of the Primary Sector (fair trade platforms, microcredits, co-entrepreneurship) and food sovereignty” and the “possibility of introducing new elements of innovation that provide added value and diversification of supply” are marked. .

The Island Council of Gran Canaria sets as its mission “to continue promoting export agriculture due to its high weight in the economy and employment in the sector as a locomotive and driver of innovation, also facilitating its diversification, based on the concept of agroecology”.

In the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy of the Government of Spain, agri-food is an entrepreneurial sector with many possibilities for innovation. Some areas of opportunity -many of them already underway- are automation and robotization in food harvesting and processing; the adoption of biotechnological innovations; precision agriculture and the use of drones, sensors and satellites to improve knowledge and monitoring of crops; and the application to the different branches of this sector of enabling technologies in order to make more efficient use of resources while protecting the environment.

The opportunity to take advantage of the importance of the agri-food sector is key to the current and future economy of Spain. In addition to its vital importance for the food and subsistence of all people, the agri-food industry is one of the main economic sectors of our country, as a whole, and of several Autonomous Communities in Spain specifically, as is the case of the Canary Islands.

Finally, and regarding demand, the great opportunity lies in the growing interest in ecological and sustainable products from agriculture and livestock. Now is the time to firmly promote this sector so that it not only maintains, but accelerates this growth path, thus contributing decisively to the good future of the Spanish economy.

This is the framework in which the Impulsa Ventures startup incubator promotes training and practical revitalization actions to promote startups in the agri-food sector, with positive consequences and effects for the creation of quality employment. It also facilitates softlanding and establishment in the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC)

*Translated by Daniel Rodríguez