The Yield Lab Latam

Kieran Gartlan is Managing Partner at The Yield Lab LATAM, where he invests in agricultural technology companies across Latin America. Based in Brazil for over three decades, he has worked across agriculture, commodities, and technology sectors, and publishes the Brazil AgTech Report covering startups, technologies, and capital flows in Brazilian agriculture. His focus centers on how artificial intelligence, capital, and emerging technologies are reshaping farming systems, including production, finance, logistics, and decision-making processes.

Roberto Vitón is the founder and managing director of Valoral Advisors, an advisory firm focused on global food and agriculture investment. The firm works with fund managers, institutional and private investors, and business owners on investments in farmland, AgTech, agribusiness, and related sectors, with a stated emphasis on productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. Vitón serves as a board member and advisor to various organizations within the food and agriculture industry.

Santiago Murtagh is Managing Partner at The Yield Lab, focusing on the Latin American market. He has led teams through organizational transitions and contributed to initiatives recognized with the 2018 Global Competitiveness Award, the 2012 Republic of Argentina National Award for Excellence, and the 2010 Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame.

Tomás Peña is Managing Partner at The Yield Lab LATAM, where he supports agtech startups through strategy and business development. With over 14 years of experience in the sector, he has contributed to launching and scaling multiple projects and securing funding. Peña holds a degree in Economics from UCA Argentina and has completed business innovation programs at Universidad Torcuato di Tella and Austral University.

Graciela Budinich is a Principal at The Yield Lab LATAM, an organization focused on agricultural innovation in Latin America. She works as an ecosystem developer across multiple industries, facilitating connections among entrepreneurs, corporations, scientific institutions, innovation bodies, and public and artistic organizations.

Guilherme Paiva is Principal and Portfolio Manager at The Yield Lab LATAM, where he manages approximately 35 companies across seven countries with roughly $50 million in assets under management, spanning seed to Series B stages. His background spans venture capital, corporate development, and startup operations, including experience as a founder and CEO who raised over $1.5 million and scaled a company. His investment work encompasses deal sourcing and due diligence through post-investment value creation activities including financial modeling and board-level strategy, supported by fluency in English, Portuguese, and Spanish as well as technical expertise in engineering and physics.

Teresita di Marco holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and currently serves as an Associate at The Yield Lab LATAM. Since 2006, she has developed and executed projects in international relations, sustainable development, and cultural management across Argentina, Spain, and Switzerland, with focus on social, economic, and environmental impact. Her research addresses sustainability as an internationalization strategy for regional enterprises, examining the relationship between public and private sector coordination.

Marcelo McGrech is an independent director at bio4 argentina with extensive experience in finance and agribusiness sectors in Argentina. He has developed expertise in business management, commercial network development, and long-term relationship building, with a background in digital product development and implementation.

Armando Besada is a Digitalization and Scalability Analyst at The Yield Lab LATAM. He holds degrees in Business Administration from ESEADE and Political Science.

Augusto Pantaleao is a Business Development Analyst at The Yield Lab LATAM with experience in innovation ecosystem development and digital transformation across Latin America. At CREA-SP, he established an innovation lab that conducted Brazil's first public procurement initiative under the Startup Legal Framework, resulting in five innovation contracts with three successful pilot implementations. Previously at AgTech Garage, he expanded corporate partnerships by closing over 15 new contracts and managing a sales pipeline encompassing 400+ companies while implementing structured metrics tracking.

Darina Díaz is a Project Manager for Dealflow at The Yield Lab LATAM, bringing an economics background and experience in strategic execution and multidisciplinary team coordination. She has analytical expertise in quantitative tools and R, and focuses on evidence-based approaches to economic development and female inclusion in investment.