Indigo announces appointment of new senior leaders to support company's growth

CHARLESTOWN, Mass., April 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Indigo, a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet, announces today the appointment of three new senior executive leaders reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer and Director David Perry. Indigo also announces the appointment of John Gehring, former Chief Financial Officer of Conagra Brands, to its Board of Directors. New team members bring deep and diverse experience, and strengthen the organization capabilities in agriculture, technology, and food.

New members to the Executive Committee

The three seasoned leaders that have joined Indigo's Executive Committee include:

• Paul T. Dacier as General Counsel
• Ponsi Trivisvavet as Chief Operating Officer
• Gerard Keating as Chief Technology Officer

Paul T. Dacier joins Indigo as General Counsel. Previously, Mr. Dacier served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at EMC Corporation. He was responsible for the worldwide legal affairs of EMC and its subsidiaries and oversaw the company's internal audit, real estate, and facilities organizations, as well as its sustainability and government affairs departments. In 2015, Mr. Dacier was appointed chairman of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Commission by Governor Charles D. Baker, Jr. In 2013 and 2014, Mr. Dacier also served as President of the Boston Bar Association, one of the oldest bar associations in America that has more than 10,000 members.

Ponsi Trivisvavet joins Indigo as Chief Operating Officer (COO). As Indigo grows from an R&D- focused company to one that is solving problems for growers of multiple different crops around the world, Mrs. Trivisvavet will play a key role in scaling the organization to meet those evolving needs.  Mrs. Trivisvavet comes from Syngenta, where she was most recently President of Syngenta Seeds North America.  She has held leadership positions in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Gerard Keating joins Indigo as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).  Gerard oversees the engineering and software product organizations, ensuring seamless integration across software platforms and data systems. Most recently, Mr. Keating worked at analytics technology company DataXu as EVP of Products, where he held the company's engineering, operational, and product functions from inception, in 2009, through 2016.

New Director

In addition to the executive team new members, Indigo is also pleased to announce that John Gehring has joined the company as Board Member and Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Gehring most recently served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Lamb Weston Holdings, a nearly $3 billion spin-off of Conagra Brands, Inc. Prior to that, he served as (CFO) of Conagra Brands since 2009.  Conagra Brands is an $8 billion company whose best-known brands include Healthy Choice, Hunt's, Slim Jim, Alexia, Blake's, Frontera, Bertolli, P.F. Chang's, and Marie Callender's.

"Indigo is focused on addressing significant global problems and building a valuable company in the process," said David Perry, CEO, President, and Director of Indigo. "The leaders whom we have been able to attract to Indigo reflect that mission, and I am pleased and gratified that they have chosen to join us."

ABOUT INDIGO
Indigo is a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. The company utilizes beneficial microbes residing within plant tissues to optimize crop health and improve productivity. Indigo is partnering with twelve research institutions and has tested beneficial microbes on more than ten different crops across three continents in six growing seasons, with trials consistently showing significant yield increases under target stress conditions. The company intends to consider a wide range of stresses, including environmental and biotic stresses. The company's first two commercial products are Indigo™ Cotton and Indigo™ Wheat, both of which improve water use efficiency. Indigo is planning to launch products derived from the plant microbiome in several other crops in 2017. To date, Indigo has closed $156 million in funding. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA, with commercial and customer service based in Memphis, TN.  Indigo was founded by VentureLabs, the innovation foundry of Flagship Pioneering, a firm that conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life sciences companies. www.indigoag.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Indigo
Natacha Gassenbach
[email protected]
+617 852 86 09         

Lauren Ashbrook
[email protected]
+617 909 93 90                                 

Bloom for Indigo
Serra Saridereli
+ 1 212 715 1604
[email protected]

SOURCE Indigo

Related Links

http://www.indigoag.com