One acquisition, one expansion and two new business — don’t look now but Charlestown-based Indigo AG, one of the most well-capitalized startups in the area, is foraying into the $7.5 billion agricultural transportation market with a digital logistics platform.
Founded in 2013, the agricultural technology company helps farmers improve profitability, adhere to better farm practices aligned with sustainability goals. The company uses microbiology research to help farmers replace chemicals and fertilizers and increase crop yield.
Commenting on the company’s latest digital logistics platform, CEO David Perry said, “We feel like it’s necessary to put all the pieces in place to have the impact that we want to have.”
Perry noted that the trucking industry in the U.S. is highly fragmented and inefficient. Farmers who own trucks use it less than 10 percent of the time, in an industry which faces a shortage of trucks and drivers.
Indigo’s digital logistics platform connects truck-owning farmers with drivers who haul grains across regions through an app. Perry hopes that this service will bring more underutilized trucks to the market and avoid backhauls.
Backhauls happen when drivers need to transport grain from, say, Western Kansas to Wichita and drive back empty, leading to inefficient usage of the truck and contributing to fuel emissions. Farmers who don’t own trucks can find transportation for their produce.
“We’re taking care of the first-mile delivery,” Perry said. “Think about it like ride-sharing for grains.”
The company has raised $650 million in funding and is valued at over a billion dollars. In December last year, the company acquired Somerville-based TellusLabs, a startup that uses algorithms to analyze planet-wide imaging data to predict crop yields.
