Evaluating only EcoSV’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Unit economics as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Market too small.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
FUNDING
MILESTONE
CRISIS
SHUTDOWN
Full Analysis
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Documented cause
EcoSV built precision agriculture tools for Salvadoran coffee and sugar cane producers, providing weather alerts, market price data, and pest management guidance via SMS and mobile. The platform reached 320 farm clients paying $25/month. El Salvador's total addressable agricultural market — approximately 25,000 commercial farms with viable technology budgets — was insufficient to generate investor-grade returns. The company reached maximum market penetration at $96K annual revenue, far short of the $5M ARR target in the business plan. The founders returned capital to investors and shut down.
Lesson
“Before raising VC capital for agritech in a small Central American country, model the maximum revenue at 100% penetration. If that number is under $10M, raise local/angel capital instead of VC, which requires 10x that number to justify the return.”
Failure anatomy
Collapse type
Slow Death
🐌 LOW
Hype cycle
Decline
Moat type
None
Fatal mistake
Agricultural TAM too small in El Salvador for venture-backed agritech