The Amazon is not just forest . This is the point that public debate insists on ignoring. The region has something that no other territory has: direct access to the largest repository of biodiversity on the planet, with assets that the whole world wants to understand, buy and replicate.
Fruits, compounds for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries , solutions for the bioeconomy, conservation technologies with real financial returns. The asset exists. What is still lacking is a more mature structure to transform it into scalable businesses.
This is a problem I know well, but from a different angle. I grew up in a rural area, in a house without electricity, and spent years trying to start a business until I found a company that rented generators. And even today I see regions full of founders with real potential, but without the support to go further.
I recently participated in an immersion program led by Endeavor in the North of the country, and this perception became even clearer.
My journey perfectly illustrates what happens when the right support arrives at the right time. When I thought I had already reached a good size, Endeavor came into my life and made me understand that I could dream much bigger, that I could do an IPO , that I didn't need to sell the company prematurely.
I went from being an electrical engineer to a financial engineer. I learned that those who sell grow. Those who grow, hire. Those who hire, structure.
This cycle, which took me years to discover, can arrive much faster for those building a business in Northern Brazil.
And this environment is emerging in the region, still in its early stages, but with consistency. There are bioeconomy centers operating, incubators in operation, and startups solving real problems with technology and creativity.
What's lacking isn't initiative. What's lacking is scale. What's missing is the kind of connection that links those building something in Manaus with mentors, capital, and markets located in São Paulo , Lisbon , or New York .
Endeavor and Sebrae together have real catalytic power for this. Trusting environments are the true engines of growth. Mentorship, genuine exchanges, and a push for those who think their current size is already sufficient.
When this support reaches those who live along the riverbanks and in the outskirts of Manaus , Belém, and other large cities, the effect multiplies, passes on to the next generation, and creates a virtuous cycle that no welfare policy can replicate.
The Amazon Fund, conceived by the Impact Stimulus Fund, of which I am one of the founders, emerges as one of the ways to bring more financial prosperity to entrepreneurs in the region. This initiative seeks to create opportunities especially for those living in the urban centers of the Amazon, boosting the local economy.
The central point is simple: the forest will remain standing as long as the people who live in it remain standing, with dignity and income.
Standing trees have increasing value in the global market. But that value needs to reach those who live in the region. And the only sustainable way to do that is through high-growth, high-impact entrepreneurship.
The world is watching the Amazon. It's high time that entrepreneurship was also being promoted.
Wilson Poit , former municipal secretary of São Paulo, co-founder of the Estímulo Fund, mentor at Endeavor Brazil, and advisor to Sebrae and FIESP.
