The growth in the number of technology-based startups in the agricultural sector is slowing down, and their geographical concentration has started to decline as such companies expand into important production regions. Those are some of the conclusions in the sixth edition of Radar Agtech Brasil. The survey conducted by Embrapa, SP Ventures, and Homo Ludens for the year 2025 provides an overview of the agricultural innovation ecosystem, focusing on innovation hubs, startups, and investors.

Data shows that the Brazilian South had higher numbers than the Southeast, becoming the region with highest number of innovation environments. Out of the 390 environments that were mapped in the country, 37.18% are in the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do sul, 32.82% in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. 

The standout is Rio Grande do Sul, which has seen a significant increase in the number of incubators. According to Radar Agtech coordinator and Embrapa analyst Aurélio Favarin, the data show a clear participation of state governments in innovation encouragement. “Incubators work at the initial stage of the innovation process. It makes sense that a state considering developing an ecosystem would starts by incubators. Most of them are connected to state universities. There’s a plan for that, to create conditions for the creation of startups,” Favarin reports.

The Brazilian Southeast has the highest numbers of hubs, accelerators and ecosystems with governance, which shows a more mature stage in comparison with the South. While one focuses on business acceleration and development, the other focuses on the early stages of startup formation.

Deceleration and maturity                                     

Regarding numbers, the survey found 2.075 agtechs in Brazil in 2025, 5% more than the previous year. The number indicates a deceleration when compared with historical series that began in 2019. According to the authors of the survey, the moderate growth indicates higher maturity in the ecosystem and the consolidation of business models. 

“Between 2019 and 2021 there was a boom of innovation environments and investment funds that contributed to a big increase in the amount of agtechs. With time those initiatives start to accommodate themselves, and only the best structured ones remain. The ecosystem is still relevant, but with a less expressive increase. It is an expected behavior and shows the innovation ecosystem maturity”, Vitor Mondo, Embrapa researcher, analyses

Brazilian Southeast and South regions concentrate 79% of agtechs, with 55.2% and 23.7%, respectively. However, the data show that, despite the historical concentration, there is proportional growth in agtechs companies in the North, Northeast, and Midwest regions of Brazil, reflecting a gradual geographic expansion of the ecosystem toward areas that are important to agricultural production. In 2019, Brazilian North and Northeast together had only 5% of agtechs. Currently the Brazilian North has 7.6% and Northeast has 6.5%. The Brazilian Middle-East region has 7.1%. 

According to the data, in 2025 the Amazon state counts with 17 agtechs, Goiás with 15 and Mato Grosso with 14. Minas Gerais and Rondônia were the states with more new agtechs, both with 13. Rio Grande do Sul (minus 27), Tocantins and Distrito Federal (minus 7) and São Paulo (minus 6) were the states with highest reduction in agtechs numbers.

“This tendency happens at the same time as the agtechs proportions inside of farms increase. This is a positive sign that the companies are at a maturity level in which they can directly access farmers,” Mondo says.