Evaluating only AgroAndes’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Distribution as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
FUNDING
CRISIS
SHUTDOWN
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Documented cause
AgroAndes built a digital marketplace connecting highland Andean farmers in Peru's Sierra region with Lima-based food processors and export companies, promising to cut out the middlemen (acopiadores) who extracted value from agricultural supply chains. The concept was compelling and the social impact was real. Operationally, AgroAndes encountered the Andes: intermittent mobile connectivity in highland villages, farmers who operated in Quechua with limited Spanish literacy, seasonal harvest timing that demanded physical logistics coordination impossible to do remotely, and acopiadores who offered immediate cash payment while AgroAndes offered 30-day payment cycles. The model could not be made digital-first in communities that needed physical-first.
Lesson
“Test the distribution assumption before building the technology. If your target users need a physical presence first and digital second, build the field agent model before the app.”