URËK · SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA
YOUR INNOVATION.OUR EXECUTION.
Fourteen years taking projects from concept to market in bioeconomy, blue economy, and trade, building the innovation ecosystems that make those businesses possible. From Costa Rica, across Central America and the Caribbean.
ABOUT
Urëk means toucan in Bribri
Founded in Costa Rica in 2012, Urëk takes its name from the Bribri word for toucan — a bird known for presence, intelligence, and precision. The connection is not decorative: the work is watching a market carefully, then moving on the right opportunity at the right moment.
Fourteen years later we manage innovation for companies, research centers, multilaterals, and governments across Central America and the Caribbean in bioeconomy, blue economy, and trade. Where most firms deliver a recommendation, we deliver the result.
WHY URËK?
- 14 years managing innovation in agriculture, aquaculture, poultry, swine, livestock, and food
- Market creators: innovation managers behind Central America's first aquaculture innovation center
- Access to our network of scientists, specialists, and research centers to support your projects
- A network spanning investors, multilaterals, academia, government, and industry
- Fee structures tied to outcomes, not billable hours
SERVICES
From concept to market
We plug in wherever the project actually is: a hypothesis, a lab result, a plant that needs to scale, a market that does not exist yet. And we stay until it reaches a customer. Every project gets a dedicated team of contracted specialists and one full-time Urëk project manager who does not rotate off.
Outsourced Innovation
We become your innovation department. Full ownership of the R&D and innovation portfolio: methodology, budget, specialist team, external partners, and delivery to market. For companies that need the capability without the payroll.
Ideation & Conceptualization
Structured ideation and concept validation against real buyers, not assumptions. Cheap experiments first, capital later: you learn what the market will pay for before you fund development.
Project Management
Execution end to end: work plans, budgets, procurement, milestones, partner coordination, and reporting. The unglamorous part where most innovation projects quietly die.
Project Evaluation
Technical, economic, and environmental feasibility studies a board can decide on. Clear numbers, stated assumptions, explicit risks, including when the answer is no.
Technology Transfer
Moving research out of universities and research centers and into production: licensing structure, IP terms, scale-up path, and the operational work of making a lab protocol run at industrial volume.
Technical & Strategic Advisory
Direct access to our network across investors, multilaterals, research centers, government, and industry. Boards, agencies, and NGOs use it for decisions they cannot take on internal data alone.
BUSINESS UNITS
Three business units, one philosophy
One firm, three practices, one philosophy: we own the execution — we don't just advise on the project.
Bioeconomy Innovation
Our foundation. End-to-end innovation management for companies with underexploited biological assets: agri-industrial corporations, agricultural cooperatives, biotech startups, and more. From ideation through R&D, scale-up, financing, and commercialization, our commitment is to create value through methodologies that generate environmentally conscious innovation: new business lines, process optimization, fundraising, and market access.
- Ideation through commercialization
- Underexploited biological assets, turned into products
- R&D management, scale-up, and fundraising
- Fees tied to results
Blue Economy & Aquaculture
We didn't just enter the blue economy: we helped build it. Urëk is the innovation manager for Ocean's Oasis, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing businesses and projects that contribute to ocean regeneration, leading the first specialized startup accelerator and the first aquaculture innovation center in the region.
- Innovation management from concept to execution
- Central America's first aquaculture innovation center
- Multilateral and institutional fundraising
- Producers, startups, NGOs, and government agencies
Trade & Market Access
Market access to and from Central America. We provide solutions for our clients across agricultural and food industries — representing innovative brands in the region and connecting our clients' products to international markets. We operate a trading and logistics platform with infrastructure throughout Central America.
- US and European brand representation in Central America
- Central American products into the US market
- Agri-inputs, agri-food, and food industry
- Regional logistics and warehousing via Rex Cargo
- Florida entity in development
PROJECTS
Fourteen years. Products that reached the market.
A sample of recent projects in blue economy, agroindustry, agriculture, livestock, poultry, swine, biotech, and public-sector consulting.
Ocean's Oasis — Aquaculture Innovation Center
Blue EconomyInnovation management from concept design through the November 2025 launch of Central America's first aquaculture innovation center and blue economy acceleration program, backed by development agencies, universities, and national research centers.
Fishery Subproducts
AquacultureTransformation of by-products into hydrolyzed proteins and other high value-added products.
Poultry Waste Management
PoultryAdvisory and technical support in the microbiological management of waste.
Biostimulants
AgricultureIdeation, market research, R&D management, field validation, and commercialization of a biostimulant line, from concept to commercial product.
Essential Oil Extraction
AgroindustryProject management to optimize and scale essential oil extraction processes.
Wound-healing Gel
BiotechDesign and management of bioprospecting, formulation, and in vitro validation projects.
Pineapple Leaf Fiber (PALF) Valorization
AgroindustryFeasibility study for the industrial transformation of pineapple leaf fiber into bio-based materials.
Porcine Collagen
SwineProject design and management for extracting collagen from porcine-derived tissues.
TEC Pre-Feasibility Study
ConsultingConducted for the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC), sponsored by the Ministry of National Planning (MIDEPLAN). Pre-feasibility study on mechanisms to improve national access to R&D and innovation inputs.
Clients & Strategic Partners
CONTACT
Let's Talk
Tell us where the project is stuck. We'll tell you whether we can move it.
LOCATION
Escazú, San José, Costa Rica