CAF Invests in Brazilian COVID Testing Startup

CAF—development bank of Latin America—invested R$2.5 million in Neoprospecta, a Brazilian biotechnology startup, based in Florianópolis, specialized in genomics, molecular biology and bioinformatics technologies for the identification, monitoring and control of microorganisms.

With the aim of stimulating investment in projects with high social impact through its Investment and Business Development Fund (FIDE), CAF is funding Neoprospecta, which produces RT-PCR tests with an innovative method. “Our PCR tests have shown the smallest margin of error and are very useful for diagnosis, but they were also more expensive,” explains company president Luiz Fernando Oliveira.

“To address this issue, we developed a process that analyzes the biological material of 10 patients in the same sample, allowing us to deliver results 16 times faster than the conventional test and reducing the cost per test by up to 80%,” added Oliveira.

CAF’s investment helped build a laboratory with the capacity to process more than 300,000 tests per month, thus improving access to this solution. Given the high uncertainty associated with scientific research and biotechnology businesses, private stakeholders are unwilling to accept commercial risk in a traditional loan transaction.

“It is possible to combine economic performance with a social perspective. By investing in a biotechnology company without access to traditional sources of financing, CAF is filling a market gap and encourages private investment in innovation, with a multiplier effect and stimulating the creation of high value-added businesses,” noted Jorge Arbache, CAF’s Private Sector Vice President.