Monsanto (NYSE:MON) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) have joined forces to back agricultural start-ups in Brazil.
Genetically engineered food specialist Monsanto will invest 300mln reais (US$92mln) into a fund run by the software giant that sponsors innovations that adapt digital technology for agriculture.
If chosen, a start-up can receive up to R$1.5mln (US$459,000) in capital that can be repaid after three years or converted into shares.
"Agriculture was a vast arena for research and development," Rodrigo Santos, head of Monsanto in Latin America, told Reuters.
Monsanto and Microsoft already have ties with founder Bill Gates’s charitable foundation a backer of the seeds and crop enhancement group.