Agricultural technology startup Indigo Ag has changed the name of its primary digital offering from Indigo Marketplace to Market+ by Indigo.
And the move isn’t just about having a new title.
The technology has evolved; and though it was initially considered a digital merchant, Market+ has since become an independent and neutral merchandising solutions provider, meaning it’s taken itself out of the platform’s transaction flow.
"Market+ is the culmination of how far we've come,” Amit Menipaz, the company’s head of global marketplaces, said in a press release. “No longer the intermediary, Indigo's technology and tools are designed from the ground up to help ag supply chain participants realize higher value in their existing relationships by increasing efficiency, optimizing assets, and expanding revenue opportunities.”
In the past year, Indigo has made significant updates to the platform to more effectively function as an enabler in the ag ecosystem. By removing itself from the transactional flow on Market+, the company can directly connect a wider set of stakeholders across the agricultural supply chain — think farmers, cooperatives, processors, carriers, shippers, and consumer brands — with a suite of integrated and data-driven tools.
This includes Merchandise and Sell, which enables buyers and farmers to shift from an offline contracting process to a streamlined digital one. It includes Hedge, which helps buyers and farmers contract with customized pricing capabilities, and Transport, which digitizes the load management lifecycle for dry-bulk transportation and allows users to track and manage freight across dedicated and third-party fleets.
It also includes Insight, an offering that uses algorithms and AI to help make decisions, and Source, which contributes to the scalable, sustainable sourcing of crops.
The name shift to Market+ comes just a few months before Indigo is set to release a new suite of marketing and merchandise tools. Expected to be out in early 2022, the offering will introduce new buyer-facing tools that could save time and money, while making better decisions based on personalized facility and farm analytics.
Since its inception in 2014, Indigo Ag — which has its North American Headquarters in Memphis — has seen its share of victories. In January 2020, the company closed a $200 million funding round, and in Aug. 2020, it secured another $360 million, while adding the CEO of Moderna Inc. to its board.
But the company has also faced challenges, too.
In December 2018, the company announced it would create 700 jobs in Memphis. From then to Feb. 3, 2020, the company grew its local workforce from about 175 to 340, according to a performance report it made to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. But, as MBJ reported, between Feb. 3 and Oct. 27, 2020, the company added a total of two jobs. In Jan. 2021 the company told MBJ it still plans on meeting job goals made in Memphis.
