Introducing The Next Big Thing The Company Thatll Lead the Revolution

Introducing The Next Big Thing The Company Thatll Lead the RevolutionIntroducing The Next Big Thing The Company Thatll Lead the Revolution It may come as no surprise that the future is hybrid - from cars to college majors to careers - its all about combining skills and strategies in order to innovate. As such, the next big hybrid is agtech, or agriculture technology. And its champion is Boston-based Indigo , whose goal is ironically simple to help farmers sustainably feed the planet.Agtech is an industry based on technologies, old and new, that are responsible for increasing the output and efficiency of agricultural production, says Lauren Ashbrook, Senior Communications Lead at Indigo . In recent years, agtech has become a buzzword, most often describing emerging technologies that are aimed at increasing agricultural production to meet the demands of a ballooning population.For the past few years, agriculture technology has been a hot sector for venture capital ists, entrepreneurs and data hounds, but it has now reached critical mass presenting a huge opportunity for job seekers. According to a Boston Consulting Group study , in 2015, the combined agtech investments of agribusiness companies and early-stage investments of VC firms totaled an estimated $20 billion to $25 billion.Some of the most popular subgroups of this hot industry are agricultural bioscience, data-enabled agriculture, automation and robotics, supply chain and logistics, agricultural processing, and alternative business models. Indigo works to utilize plants natural microbes to improve crop health and productivity. They work with farmers to provide microbial seed treatmentsfor corn, cotton, rice, soybeans, and wheat that lead to higher-yielding, hardier crops that can withstand water shortage.In short, Indigos seed treatments maximize field productivity, enhance crop quality, and satisfy increasing consumer demand for sustainably grown food, adds Ashbrook. Thus far, weve focused ur research and development on products that address water stress (i.e. arid or drought conditions), which is not only a pressing concern for the agriculture industry, in parteicular, but also a problem that is projected to worsen under all climate change scenarios.In order to reach their goal of helping farmers sustainably feed the planet, Indigo hires engineers, data scientists, and more that will develop products that address biotic stresses, such as pests and disease, in order to provide growers with efficacious tools that enable them to meaningfully reduce agricultural chemical use.Whether working on the finance, manufacturing, crop product management or bioprocessing teams, every Indigo employee has - you guessed it - a hybrid love of farms, healthy food and a clean planet for future generations. We caught up with Ashbrook and Indigos VP of People, Katie Czerepak to talk about the career opportunities in agtech and what its like to lead the second green revolution .Glassdoor Why is the agtech industry booming right now? Any reason behind the growth?Lauren Ashbrook There is a lot of opportunity for innovation in agriculture. By 2050, the planet will have 9.7 billion people to feed. At the same time, the yield gains resulting from modern agricultural technologies have largely plateaued, generating annual yield increases of just over 1 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.Compounding the problem, recent gains in agricultural productivity stem from the increased use of existing technologies such as synthetic fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, plant breeding and hybridization, and genetically modified traits (GMOs). We are now faced with the challenge of increasing our planets capacity to produce food without leaning on existing technolog ies, many which have raised environmental and health concerns.The agtech industry is beginning to recognize, articulate, and tackle this challenge. To sustainably meet the demands of a growing population will require new innovations, new models, and wide-scale collaboration in agriculture and beyond.Glassdoor What makes Indigo special in terms of its relationship to growers/farmers?Lauren Ashbrook While Indigo has much to offer in the way of cutting-edge computational biology and crop science, the companys core mission focuses on grower profitability. We work to ensure that growers, rather than middlemen or large corporations, capture most of the value associated with their crop. We design our offerings to enable farmers to have sustainable businesses, while also enabling healthy food production.Launched this year, Indigos production model for Indigo Wheat strengthens our relationship with growers by creating a partnership that positions them to succeed from the start to finish of the growing season. More than just a transaction, this model complements growers expertise with a comprehensive package of products and services, including our microbial seed treatment, agronomic advice, precision ag tools, to give growers a competitive edge. Moreover, our model moves to connect consumer preferences with agricultural practices. Consumers increasingly want, and are willing to pay for, high-quality food, produced in a sustainable way. Given this, we are able to provide farmers with a significant harvest-time premium for growing Indigo Wheat, a sustainably and traceably produced crop.Taken together, the assets that we provide have the potential to dramatically raise farm revenue, attracting the next generation of growers.On top of this, growers are a critical part of our R&D process. Weve developed the Indigo Partners program to assess and validate new technologies on real growers fields, rather than hyper-controlled trial environments. The data and insights gathered i n partnership with growers allow for us to bring innovative and effective products to market.Glassdoor How would you describe Indigos workforce and team?Katie Czerepak A bedrock of our values is treating others with transparency, respect, honesty and integrity. We aim to be radically transparent by sharing company information, feedback and details behind policies with all employees. For example, we openly share our compensation bands so that everyone knows what the possible compensation ranges are at each level .We are really proud of attracting some of the best and brightest from many different backgrounds business, agriculture, science and technology and creating an environment conducive to collaboration. We are proud of our global diversity , with 25 different countries represented among our 200 employees.Glassdoor What kind of employee thrives at Indigo?Katie Czerepak At Indigo, we are trying to do something extraordinary, and to accomplish extraordinary goals, you need ex traordinary people. When we decide whom to bring onto our team, we think first about our core values, as we want everyone at Indigo to be committed to collaboration, transparency, and integrity. We are proud of the talented and diverse team we have in place, all united by a dedication to farmers and to the sustainable production of food for our growing world.Its the think big and mission-driven nature of Indigo that has attracted talent to Indigo, and those who succeed here are the ones that are eager to be part of our experienced and innovative team, and to work together towards a greater good.Glassdoor Indigo is hiring. If you could speak to a room full of agrotech enthusiasts, how would you pitch them to work at Indigo?Katie Czerepak I can honestly say that I think Indigo is the most exciting company to be working at right now. First and foremost, we are a truly mission-driven company , and we all come to work inspired by making the planet a healthier place. As a parent of 3 yo ung kids, knowing that the work Im doing is leaving our world better for them is extremely gratifying.Second, there is a thrill to being part of a fast-growing company where we are scaling quickly and making things happen. It allows for just fantastic career development because our people are always being asked to meet aggressive goals and come up with innovative ways to do that.And because of the combination of these 2 things (which is not all that common), we have been able to attract really smart and high caliber people, and are cultivating a really strong company culture that is inclusive, energizing, and rooting in doing the right thing. Working at Indigo means joining an insanely talented team that has the potential to not only impact an industry, but to fulfill a larger vision of a world where nutritious food is transparently sourced and resources are conserved for future generations. Its really funGlassdoor Boston is an interesting location for tech, and agrotech at that . Why Boston? What makes it the next Silicon Valley?Katie Czerepak As a company uniting agriculture, science, and technology, being in Boston allows us to uniquely draw on the best minds from some of the top universities in the world. Boston, home to some of the top technology companies as well as cutting-edge science and research institutions, is a hub for talent.Boston is buzzing with excitement around emerging technologies in pharmaceuticals, digital technologies, and now in agriculture. Its not the next Silicon Valley - its its own thing