Mario Bustamante Is Using AI and Drones to Maximize Farming Profits

Name: Mario Bustamante

Company: Instacrops

What are you building, and who benefits most from it?

We are helping farmers maximize crop yields. They use our platform to increase their crop yields by 12% on average.

Instacrops is live, with 300+ customers across Latin America. It has exceeded $5 million in revenue, growing more than 100% year-over-year.

We are backed by Y Combinator, Oxbridge Capital Partners, SVG Ventures, SQM, and the CLIN Fund.

What is one of your startup’s most impressive accomplishments?

I’d say being selected by YCombinator.

What has been the biggest challenge so far, and how did you overcome it?

Developing our project in Latin America. The great challenges we have in the region are associated with connectivity and access to financing for farmers. We are proud to have had the endurance to do this and build our business for 8+ years with a wonderful team of almost 50 people.

What tool or app could you not live without and why?

Asana, Slack, Zoom, and Gmail. As a CEO, I have to look for ways to maximize my productivity.

What marketing strategies have worked for you?

Hiring a good marketing manager who knows how to use our resources efficiently.

What’s the best piece of advice you have for other entrepreneurs?

Start small, move fast, and think big. Make your first product ugly, embrace failure, and build from scratch with no resources. What happens is normal, and all successful entrepreneurs have faced setbacks.

What does your company’s trajectory look like over the next five years?

We want to conquer Latin America and reach the U.S. and EU markets. We have thought globally since the foundation of our startup. In five years, we see ourselves acquiring other startups in the climatech sector to be number one in the world in this space.

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