In the News

• Beneficial microbes—referred to as endophytes—are sourced in nature and can be re-introduced into the plant through seed coating to improve plant health in agriculture      
• Researchers at Indigo and the Austrian Institute of Technology demonstrated that a novel spray technique on flowers enables the transfer of beneficial microbes into its seeds     
• The plants grown from the seeds produced by the treated flowers demonstrated improved growth and increased yield 

Boston, Massachusetts, February 28, 2017 - Indigo, a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help growers sustainably feed the planet, announced today the publication of research to improve the microbiome of crop plants. Plants depend upon a complex environment that contains beneficial bacteria and fungi for healthy growth and development. Some microbes that live within the plant itself are known as ‘endophytes’ and are fundamental to the health of plants. Until now, data have shown that these beneficial microbes can be incorporated into plants via association with the soil, or by coating endophytes directly onto seeds.  

By Eric Jeck

The economics of farming are increasingly tilted against the grower.

Growers invest heavily upfront in land, equipment, labor and expensive inputs including seed, chemistry and fertilizer, typically borrowing to do so. They then do their best to manage through whatever weather (or other environmental conditions) impact how much of a crop their fields produce. Ultimately, the value of their crop fluctuates meaningfully with dynamic commodity prices. Growers assume most of the risk in what is typically a leveraged business model with highly variable outcomes.

By Clive Cookson

• Indigo™ Cotton demonstrated an average yield improvement of 11% in the target environment of West Texas
• Farmers experienced productivity gains in diverse growing conditions without increased use of water or agricultural chemicals
• Novel R&D platform and economic proposition enable continuous innovation in cotton and other crops

Boston, Massachusetts, January 9, 2017 - Indigo, a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help growers sustainably feed the planet, announced preliminary data from its first commercial product, Indigo™ Cotton. Launched in the spring of 2016 on approximately 50,000 acres across multiple states, Indigo Cotton is a seed treatment based on naturally occurring, in-plant microbes (endophytes). Indigo Cotton has been developed to help increase water use efficiency, with the goal of improving yields when plants are growing under water stress.

By David Perry

Today, we are sharing the data from the commercial launch of our first product, Indigo™ Cotton.

I’m pleased to report that the commercial data indicate that Indigo Cotton led to an 11% yield increase in the target geography of West Texas, a region that produces nearly half of all US cotton. Based on our research, we had previously set the expectation of a 10% yield increase. It is inspiring to meet and exceed that expectation at large-scale, across more than 40,000 acres.

At the former Hood dairy plant, scientists working for Indigo Agriculture are trying to coax bacteria and fungi to produce supercharged versions of everyday plants. If they succeed, farmers could begin harvesting crops that require less water and fewer pesticides, all without having to mess with a plant’s DNA. There’s a lot of money betting they can pull it off.

At Indigo, we seek to partner with academic institutions worldwide in their research dedicated to the plant microbiome. These partnerships are essential as we work to bring innovative microbial products to growers. We are always eager to expand our network of academic collaborators, and are excited to share this news of our recent partnership with Flinders University in South Australia.

By Sarah Zhang

By Brian Gormley

A couple of Arkansans are key parts of a Massachusetts agritech research firm's plans to spend some $100 million to help farmers raise crops on less water and eventually help feed the planet's population more efficiently.

By Greg Ryan

Boston, Massachusetts, July 21, 2016 — Indigo, a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet, announced today that it has closed a $100 million Series C investment, the largest private equity financing in the agriculture technology sector. The round was led by the $54 billion Alaska Permanent Fund, with participation from previous investors, including Flagship Ventures, Altitude Life Science Ventures and members of the management and board. The new funds will be applied to expand ongoing research and development efforts, to extend Indigo’s team, and to scale commercial operations in preparation for the launch of the company’s second product offering later this year. As part of its long­term commitment to Indigo, the Alaska Permanent Fund also intends to invest a similar amount in Indigo’s future financings.

By Olivia Vanni

By Dylan Martin

By Editorial Staff

By Dan Primack

By Mike Orcutt

By Iris Dorbian

By Signe Brewster 

By Alex Brokaw

By Heather Somerville

By Frank Vinluan

By Tomio Geron

By Lauren Manning

By Ariel Schwartz

By David Perry

Growing up in Arkansas, we knew where our water came from. A plastic pipe allowed water to gravity flow from a nearby spring to a concrete water tank next to our house. Overflow from the spring formed a creek which we dammed to form a seven acre pond that we used to supply water for irrigation, livestock, fishing, and swimming.  

Our system was simple. When rainfall was low, the flow from the spring was less and the pond levels dropped, and we knew that we had to conserve.

By Curt Woodward

By Geoffrey Mohan

By Rachel Raymond

The business of farming has always been synonymous with significant risk. Farmers’ basic business model involves a significant upfront investment in land and machinery. On top of that, on an annual basis, farmers purchase many of their inputs at the beginning of the season, and then must make management decisions throughout the growing cycle to try to minimize the downside created by unpredictable weather patterns. The demand that farmers meet with their production is a function of the ever increasing world population - we all depend on them to produce our food. We at Indigo are passionate about our mission to support farmers in this important undertaking.

By Natalie Shoemaker

By Katie Czerepak

Hopefully by now you know that we here at Indigo are trying to do something extraordinary, and to accomplish extraordinary goals, you need extraordinary people. This post should tell you a little bit about our team and the culture we are building.

At Indigo, everything starts with our purpose and our values. Every day we are driven by our purpose: to harness nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. Our values, which you can read in detail HERE, were developed by the whole company and go beyond just a list of ideals; they define and guide us.

By Geoffrey von Maltzahn

We here at Indigo have been getting this question a lot over the past few weeks. As a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help feed the planet, some are curious about how “Indigo” aligns with our mission.

In fact, Indigofera, the crop genus from which indigo is derived, has a rich agricultural history - one that embodies our ambitious goals and values as we strive to help improve farming and our foods. This history resonated with us, and elements of our own research also pointed us to the name. We’ll get to that, but first, what exactly is indigo?

By Ben Popper 

By Adele Peters

By Nidhi Subbaraman

By Beth Kowitt

By Mike Orcutt

By Lora Kolodny

By Matthew Lynley

By David Perry

We are at a critical moment in time. By 2050, the planet will have 9.7 billion people to feed. That’s over two billion more than today. It’s six USAs, or just under two Chinas worth of additional humans. At the same time, the yield gains resulting from modern agricultural technologies have plateaued, generating annual yield increases of just over one percent per year. Climate change, meanwhile, has caused weather volatility and created record dry spells impacting farmers around the globe. If current trends continue, by 2050 we will no longer be producing enough food to sustain our population.