Green Xpo Lab and InnoBovino from the ACTIVA-CATIE program win CONECTA Central America's Pitch Fest 

• The event took place at Parque La Libertad in Desamparados, San José, as part of CONECTA Central America, an initiative by Bridge for Billions focused on supporting ventures financed by BID Lab. 

November 30, 2023. In a prominent event that brought together various startups on November 21, the projects Green Xpo Lab and InnoBovino, both from the InnovaRural program of ACTIVA-CATIE, secured the first and second place . in CONECTA Central America's Pitch Fest. 

This festival, featuring 11 startups from different sectors of Costa Rica, included the participation of three projects from InnovaRural. This program,driven by ACTIVA-CATIE, aims to promote sustainable business models in the country's rural sector, covering areas such as agriculture, livestock, forests, rural tourism, food, and associated technologies, among others. 

The participating projects were InnoBovino, a mobile application simplifying livestock management led by Gabriel Orozco; Green Xpo Lab, dedicated to information analysis for monitoring crop conditions, executed by Carlos Saito; and Muchabucha, a business specializing in the production of artisanal kombucha, with Emily Fung as the founder. 

Juan José Serrano, Incubation Manager for InnovaRural at ACTIVA-CATIE, emphasized: "For us, the innovation and entrepreneurship laboratory at CATIE, it is gratifying to know that we have projects of such high quality as those that have won in this and other events, which are a testament to the excellent projects that exist and can be developed in the rural sectors of Costa Rica." 

The results of the . Pitch Fest reflect the success and quality of the ventures supported by ACTIVA-CATIE. This achievement underscores the positive impact the program has had on the development of sustainable initiatives in the rural context. 

For more information about the work of ACTIVA-CATIE and to explore the ventures that have been part of it, visit us at activa.catie.ac.cr. 

About ACTIVA-CATIE  

It is an innovation and entrepreneurship laboratory led by the Forests and Biodiversity Unit in Productive Landscapes of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) and accredited by the Development Banking System (SBD) to promote, through non-refundable funds and specialized advice, various businesses in the rural area of Central America.