Fyo, the Rosario company that is a pioneer in digitalizing agriculture, turns 25

This year fyo (Futures and Options SA)the first company in Latin America to offer information for agriculture through the Internet, celebrates its 25 years. With sustainable growth that led it to consolidate itself as a leader in the sector, the company co-founded by Alejandro Larosa Today it stands out for offering an ecosystem of services that covers the entire agricultural commercial chain.

The company was founded in 1999 as “fyo.com”the first website in Spanish that published prices and market reports with the aim of making the agricultural sector transparent. “With Iñaki, co-founder, we met at the Rosario Stock Exchange. In those years, there was tremendous ignorance about how the market worked, why prices moved, how price risk was managed or how hedging was done. “We were fans of the Internet and we saw in this tool a great opportunity to help companies understand the market and obtain information in real time,” he commented. Alejandro Larosa, CEO of the company.

The business model was, at that time, 100% digital, founded on the idea of ​​connecting agriculture with the online world. But in 2002, after the burst of the .com bubble and the economic crisis in Argentina, the company had to migrate towards a more hybrid model. Alejandro said that they maintained the website, but also began to offer input sales and grain marketing services: “We closed the first year in 2003 with 60 thousand tons of grains marketed. I believe that one of the great competencies of fyo is the ability to learn and adapt to the changes that constantly exist in the context and in this particular industry.”

An ecosystem for agriculture

Currently, fyo markets more than 7 million tons of grain per year and operates 14 million tons in the Argentine forward market. Over the years, it developed various business units that cover the different needs of the producer: inputs, collection, sale and exchange of grains, futures operations, investment in funds and liquidity (fyoCapital), financing (fyoCredits), advice and consulting (fyoAdvisory), specialty marketing (fyoFoods) and business digitalization (fyoDigital).

The company also expanded as a group. He incubated Agrofy, the agricultural marketplace, and created Amauta, a company dedicated to the development of nutritional inputs in order to promote sustainable agriculture. Amauta is currently present in all regions of Argentina and operates in 5 countries in South America.

In 2021, they created Biond in São Paulo, pursuing the challenge of tropicalizing their business model. “Biond is the regional expansion of the pure fyo ecosystem. It is the biggest bet we are executing. We seek to adapt each business unit to the Brazilian market, the largest in Latin America and with the highest growth globally. “We want to replicate fyo, adapting to the particularities of the agricultural market in the neighboring country,” he explained. Luciano Morielli, General Manager of fyo.

The value of fyo culture

The growth of the service ecosystem was accompanied by the increase of the team. The company has more than 400 employees working at the headquarters in Rosario and in its commercial offices in Santiago del Estero and Entre Ríos. Adding Agrofy, Amauta and Biond, the holding company has more than 600 workers, spread over more than 4,000 m2.

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fyo has more than 600 workers adding all the companies in the group.

“At fyo, the collaborator is at the center of everything we do. We seek to offer growth opportunities so that each talent can reach their maximum potential. We constantly work to train employees, not only in specific skills that each position requires, but also in soft skills that allow each one to grow as a professional,” he highlighted. Celeste Zacutti, Talent Director of the company.

In recent years, fyo has been certified by Great Place To Work (GPTW) as one of the best companies to work for in Argentina. Celeste highlighted this recognition since it positions them among the highest leaders: “We are convinced that, by creating opportunities, our business grows and we generate quality employment. We permanently review our value proposition, benefits, training and training programs for each collaborator.”

Currently, fyo is a company that has managed to reconvert and grow at a regional level, with great partners who are leaders in businesses related to its ecosystem. (Cresud, Rosental, Lartirigoyen and Viterra).

“When I imagine the next 5 or 10 years of fyo, what is clear is that businesses will continue to have the need to adapt to a context that changes increasingly rapidly and becomes increasingly complex. What I believe will not change is the DNA of the company, which seeks to permanently create opportunities, which thinks big and works as a team. What Fyo knows how to do is what our people know how to do. I am sure that, if we have the best talent, the company will always be able to adapt,” Alejandro concluded.