Venture: Semilla Nueva
Investment: $1.5M grant
Portfolio: Scaling Capital
Investment date: February 2023
Region(s) served: Central America
Sector: Agriculture
Core Impact Metric: Improved nutrition for biofortified maize consumers
Reducing malnutrition in Guatemala
Semilla Nueva develops high-yielding, climate-resilient biofortified maize seeds that have been conventionally bred (non-GMO) to have higher levels of the most important missing nutrients: zinc, iron, and quality protein. Semilla Nueva produces, promotes, and sells these seeds at subsidized prices to farmers and also subsidizes other seed companies to do the same with the goal of improving the nutrition of the Guatemalan population.
Why Rippleworks Invested:
Semilla Nueva’s model has already had a significant impact in reducing the effect of malnutrition in Guatemala and has the potential to reach national-level impact in Guatemala and in neighboring countries in Central America.