Indigo Agriculture recently closed a Series E funding round of $250 million from investors including Baillie Gifford and Flagship Pioneering. It also launched Indigo Marketplace, a digital platform for buying and selling grain.
Indigo leverages algorithms and machine learning to develop microbial products that increase crop yields in the face of environmental, disease and pest stress. Its new capital will help it execute on its product portfolio, with an emphasis on the growth of Marketplace. Indigo Marketplace provides buyers and growers with the opportunity to transact directly with one another, reducing costs throughout the supply chain and responding to consumer demands for increased food system transparency, quality and sustainability.
Buyers can source grain with a range of characteristics and production practices, while growers have the potential to earn a premium for their crops. The platform is free to use, and in its first three and a half months, Indigo Marketplace has seen significant traction, with thousands of growers and buyers on the platform entering more than $6 billion in grain inventory and $2 billion in demand.
