Main users: Wider community

​Advance Coffee is a pre-acceleration program for startups. Exclusively aimed at developing technological and innovative solutions for the coffee production chain, it boosts companies and nascent projects, providing knowledge, opportunities and connections.

The purpose of Advance Coffee is to drive innovation in the coffee production chain, promoting technological solutions that optimize production and quality of life for producers. The program is a platform that unites university research with the market, developing innovative businesses that solve real problems in Brazilian coffee growing. The main objectives are to develop new technologies, products and services that add value to coffee growing, promote environmental and economic sustainability and improve the quality of life of rural producers.

In addition, connecting academia, industry and government to create innovative solutions that benefit the entire coffee production chain. Advance Coffee helps the Technological Park and the Innovation Area work better, providing a platform to develop innovative businesses, promoting collaboration between academia and the private sector and helping to boost the local economy. It also strengthens the reputation of the Technological Park and the university as leaders in coffee innovation.

Advance Coffee is a pioneer in the development of a pre-acceleration program aimed exclusively at coffee growing, which makes it an innovative initiative in Brazil. The solution offers an adequate space for entrepreneurs to improve their business ideas and connect them to the final consumer, promoting innovation and sustainability in a simple and efficient way in the coffee production chain.

In addition, Advance Coffee is innovative in bringing topics such as technology, research and business to the discussion table, uniting these areas to solve problems in Brazilian coffee growing. The program seeks to develop new innovative products and services, from the field to the consumer's cup, promoting the sustainable technology of coffee production and the commercialization of products more efficiently.

Another innovation brought about by Advance Coffee is the connection between entrepreneurs and professionals who understand coffee, such as producers, cooperatives, roasters and other players in the production chain. This connection allows the proposed solutions to be more assertive and aligned with the needs of the market, which generates benefits both for entrepreneurs and for the production chain as a whole.

Since its first edition, the Advance Coffee program has had a significant impact on the coffee production chain in Brazil. Over the four previous editions of the program, more than 10,000 people were directly impacted through mentoring, lectures, workshops and specialized monitoring. More than 50 startups were pre-accelerated and 12 companies were awarded, showing the effectiveness of the program in developing new businesses and innovative solutions.

Over the years, several solutions have been developed by program participants, including export, certification, irrigation, geoprocessing, biological products, consulting and marketing. These solutions have contributed to optimizing the production and quality of life of coffee producers, in addition to boosting agribusiness in the country. This is fundamental for the economic viability and sustainability of the coffee production chain.

The impact of Advance Coffee goes beyond the number of people impacted and companies developed. The program has encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship in the region, in addition to strengthening the relationship between the university and the market, boosting the development of the tecnoPARQ Technology Park and contributing to the creation of an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Viçosa region.

​The beneficiaries of the solution are the academic community, coffee producers, professors, researchers, students and entrepreneurs who wish to develop innovative solutions for the coffee production chain. Society as a whole also benefits, as its objective is to improve coffee production, one of Brazil's main export products.

​The program is carried out by tecnoPARQ, a unit of the Technological Center for Regional Development of Viçosa (CenTev), an organ of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) and LavrasTec, Technological and Scientific Park of the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), in partnership with EMBRAPA Café.