Huge problem, tiny fix
Charlestown lab mining microbes to help feed the world
Like explorers wearing safari hats and hacking their way through the jungle with machetes searching for life-changing treasure, a team of scientists and researchers is searching the world for the key to addressing the world’s impending food shortage.
But instead of searching for gold, researchers at Indigo Agriculture are searching for plant microbes — microscopic organisms — that can be used to increase crop yield and decrease dependence on fertilizer, and the work is happening in Charlestown with lab coats on. At least, most of it. “There are about a trillion microbes that could be beneficial to plants,” said David Perry, chief executive of Indigo. “We’ve taken tens of thousands of samples from every continent on earth except Antarctica, and every latitude.”
Indigo uses these microbes, which are often found on plants growing in the harshest conditions, to coat seeds they sell to farmers, including wheat and soybeans. The microbes, Perry says, make the plants more durable and easier to grow, which cuts down on fertilizer and other chemicals.
Though it does not get as much attention as global warming, the world’s population is growing far faster than food production. Some estimate there will not be enough food to feed the global population as soon as 2035.
“Not only are we not growing agricultural production fast enough, the resources we’re consuming in the current agriculture production are unsustainable,” Perry said. “We’ve got to produce more food, and we’ve got to figure out more means of doing so; otherwise, we’re going to exhaust our resources.” Still, it is not as simple as finding some plant samples, scraping the microbes off and then tossing them onto some seeds. Indigo uses DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence to try to predict which microbes will be most helpful to plants. Then the company grows more of the select microbes in a process not unlike brewing beer. “We dry them out; we put them into a formulation that allows us to coat seeds with them,” Perry said.
Indigo expects about a million acres of farmland to use Indigo seeds this year, and expects about $500 million in bookings this year. That would be an enormous jump from last year, when the company saw $67 million in bookings. Indigo has raised more than $400 million in investor funding, and is valued at over $1 billion.
Perry said the company likely will go public in the coming years, but the timing is unclear.
“The expectation is we will do an IPO at some point. We don’t have specific timing,” Perry said. “Likely more than 12 months, but less than 24.” Monday Startup is a weekly feature. If you know of a startup with a compelling story, we’d love to hear about it. Email jordan. graham@bostonherald.com.