Indigo

“Harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet”

Founded: 2014 in Massachusetts, USA Category: Agricultural technology Primary office: Boston, MA Core technical team: Boston, MA Status: Private Employees: 350 Amount raised: $609 million  (8 rounds – July 2019)

OVERVIEW Develops microbial and digital technologies to improve grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health Responding to market demands for high quality and sustainably produced food and fiber Connects entire agricultural value chain to increase grower’s profitability, waste reduction and environmental sustainability   PERFORMANCE METRICS Valuation – $3.5 billion (2019) Revenue – $2.1 billion (2018)   ACHIEVEMENTS Company valued at $3.5 billion (2019) Launched Terraton Initiative – a collective and global effort to eradicate 1 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through increased photosynthesis Indigo Marketplace (launched April 2018) has grown from a value of virtual inventory of $719 million to (June 2019) a virtual inventory of $11.6 trillion, bid valuations of almost $50 trillion, and almost 7,000 trucks to transport product. CNBC names Indigo the world’s most innovative company

Sells

• Full offerings: Indigo carbon, Indigo certified crops, Indigo treated seed, Indigo atlas, Indigo grain testing, Certified agronomist program, Indigo marketplace, Indigo agronomy, Indigo production, Indigo transport, Indigo futures lock
• Indigo Acres – comprehensive offer of Indigo’s agronomic tools and services – Provides all season value and support to growers by partnering with them to increase profitability using innovative and regenerative farming methods.
• Indigo Transportation – to move crops from growers to buyers (traceability of product)
• Provides an online marketplace to connect growers with buyers and expand their businesses.
• Precision Agricultural technology
• Data-informed planting advice

Channels

• Digitally enabled Market place to connect growers/farmers directly to buyers to reduce middleman involvement, consequently reducing cost to buyers and maximizing profit for growers/farmers

Competencies

• CEO, David Perry – Veteran serial entrepreneur in Biopharmaceutical with three (3) successful multibillion-dollar market capitalization ventures.
• Lead position in Terraton community
• Large network of Agricultural Research Partners
• High level of technical expertise in underlying technologies, including data analytics, genomics, microbial and digital technologies
• Global network of Drones, Sensors and Satellites for Data gathering and transmission

Resources

Assertions That Best Describe What the Company Did to Scale Early, Rapidly & Securely

1. Increase value by using a compelling image of the desired future company to convince others to provide the funding and resources the company requires.
2. Increase demand of products and services by combining two or more resources in a way that the value created from them exceeds the sum of the value created from each resource separately
3. Increase demand by using scientific and technological advances to develop innovative products and services
4. Increase value by arranging and directing a community comprised of groups that are external and internal to the company and connect everything needed to scale.
5. Enter a new market by partnering with or purchasing local firms to increase sales
6. Develop and sell products that address a problem, job to be done or a need that is shared by a large and growing number of individuals and organizations in various regions to increase sales.
7. Increase value by being responsible and accountable for creating and making visible the quantifiable benefits the company delivers its stakeholders, including customers, partners, investors, members of the company’s value chain, society and others.
8. Increase market share by selling products and services that the target market perceives to be better than available alternatives

References

• Indigo AG website. https://www.indigoag.com/
• Crunchbase. 2019. Indigo AG Overview & Funding Rounds. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/indigoag#section-overview
• Janiec, C. (2019). ‘Indigo Marketplace attracts $12bn in specialty grain supply’. [online] Agri Investor. Available at: https://www.agriinvestor.com/indigo-marketplace-connects-12bn-specialty-grain-supply/
• CNBC (2019). ‘Meet the 2019 CNBC disruptor companies. [online] CNBC News. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/cnbc-disruptors/

Contributors

• Yinka Olanrewaju-Olawepo
• Dan Craigen
• Tony Bailetti