Boston-based Indigo — which is developing microbes using machine learning to make farm crops more sustainable — announced Thursday that it has raised a $100 million Series C round led by the Alaska Permanent Fund. The new funds will be used to expand research and development, hire more employees and scale commercial operations.
"While early, we believe our approach has the potential to fundamentally change agriculture for the better."
The company said the round is the largest private equity financing in the agriculture technology sector. Other investors included previous investor Flagship Ventures and members of the company's management team and board. The Alaska Permanent Fund has committed to invest similar amounts in future round.
Indigo's funding announcement coincided with the launch of its first commercial product, Indigo Cotton. The company's cotton plant uses microbes developed by Indigo that increases water use efficiency and has a larger yield increase under harsh conditions, including water scarcity, and it has been planted on over 50,000 acres in five U.S. states so far.
“Indigo's unique approach to discovery and product development brings potentially game changing technologies to market in years instead of decades,” said Tyler McClendon of Oxbow Agriculture, one of Indigo's first customers. "Indigo's pricing model to only charge when there is a measurable increase in crop yield makes the decision to use Indigo's products across a large percent of Oxbow's farming businesses an easy decision because there is potential for a crop yield increase with little downside. This adds up to Indigo being very good for both the farmer and the environment."
Indigo is planning to launch its second product, Indigo Wheat, later this year, and it will also be targeted for consistently dry farmland in the United States. The company is developing its crop treatments in its new 65,000-square-foot facility in Charlestown, where its team is expected to double this year.
“While early, we believe our approach has the potential to fundamentally change agriculture for the better,” David Perry, CEO of Indigo, said in a statement. “We are committed to partnering with growers to develop this innovation to benefit both their business and their land.”
