Eduardo Novillo Astrada

Eduardo Novillo Astrada won Argentina’s polo Triple Crown in 2003 with La Aguada, alongside his brothers Javier, Miguel and Ignacio. Years later, he chaired the Argentine Polo Association and co-founded Agrotoken, a company that developed tools to represent grain through digital assets.

The move from sport to technology was not immediate. Between the two came years of competition, work with horses and sports administration. When he began working in tokenization, he brought his knowledge of agriculture and commercial relationships to a project combining farming and technology development.

La Aguada: four brothers and a Triple Crown

In 2003, La Aguada won the Tortugas, Hurlingham and Palermo opens in a single season. The team consisted of Eduardo, Javier, Miguel and Ignacio Novillo Astrada. The Argentine Polo Association recognizes that achievement among Eduardo’s principal sporting accomplishments.

La Aguada was also a family project connected to horse breeding. Competing required preparing the horses, allocating responsibilities and sustaining work that continued long after each match.

Novillo Astrada built an international career, competing in Argentina, England, the United States and Spain. He held a nine-goal handicap for years and reached ten goals in the United States.

A psoas injury in 2018 marked the end of his most demanding competitive period. By then, he had already taken on another responsibility within the sport: chairing the Argentine Polo Association.

Leading the Argentine Polo Association

Novillo Astrada was elected president of the Argentine Polo Association in May 2017 and remained in office until 2021. The association’s assembly recorded his election with seventy votes against thirty-two for the competing candidate.

During his tenure, he emphasized the need to attract larger audiences and broaden the reach of a sport in which Argentina holds a prominent position. Tournament organization, sponsor relationships and the spectator experience were part of that agenda.

The new role also changed his perspective. As a player, he had to focus on his team; as an administrator, he had to consider the interests of clubs, players, organizers and spectators.

Agrotoken: representing grain through digital assets

The technology project emerged from his partnership with Ariel Scaliter, a specialist in blockchain and smart contracts. They founded Agrotoken in 2019, according to the institutional history later published by Justoken. The early transactions that brought the platform wider attention were announced in 2021.

The proposal involved representing physical grain through tokens backed by those commodities. SOYA was linked to soybeans and CORA to corn. The platform aimed to facilitate transactions in which those assets could be used to pay for products or services.

In its early stages, the company announced transactions involving agricultural businesses and began exploring commercial and financial applications. Novillo Astrada focused on business development and relationships within agriculture, while Scaliter contributed technological expertise.

The difference from his previous work was considerable. He had to become familiar with a new industry, recruit specialists and explain a tool whose operation was still unfamiliar to many farmers.

From Agrotoken to Justoken

The project did not remain limited to grain. It expanded its focus to the tokenization of other real-world assets, giving rise to Justoken.

The company describes that evolution as a way to apply infrastructure developed for agriculture to sectors such as energy, manufacturing and the environment. An account of Novillo Astrada’s career focused solely on Agrotoken’s launch would therefore leave out a later stage of his business activity.

The commercial objective also broadened: beyond offering an application for a specific market, the company began developing infrastructure and solutions for other organizations.

Teams and learning

The stages of his career involve different tasks. Winning a tournament requires athletic preparation; leading an association means representing diverse interests; building a technology company requires validating products and finding customers.

Throughout Novillo Astrada’s career, however, one recurring requirement is working with people who bring different expertise. At La Aguada, he did so with his brothers and the teams caring for the horses. At the association, he worked with administrators and clubs. In his technology ventures, he works with development and business specialists.

His experience offers a concrete example of the transition from professional sport to entrepreneurship. The titles explain one part of his story; learning a different business and assembling new teams explain what followed.