The world’s largest seed company, Monsanto, is partnering with a global software company to invest in agricultural technology startups in Brazil.
Monsanto and Microsoft announced their plans Monday, according to Reuters.
Monsanto and tech company Qualcomm are expected to join a Brazilian investment fund, managed by Microsoft, to evaluate and fund ideas for technology that can be used to improve agricultural production.
“We want to foster new startups in the agricultural sector. There is a vast area for research and development,” Rodrigo Santos, head of Monsanto in Latin America, told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Agribusiness Forum (GAF 2016).
According to Reuters, ideas that are selected will receive more than $450,000 initially and will have the option to pay back the investment or convert the money into equity.