MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Farm tech firm Indigo Agriculture confirmed that 150 employees were laid off across the company, including at its North American headquarters in Memphis.
A spokesperson said Thursday the staff reductions were split relatively evenly across the company’s locations in Memphis, Boston, Research Triangle Park and remote locations.
The company did not specify how many were from the Memphis office, but said 280 people are employed in the city, more than this time a year ago.
The layoffs were reported by Bloomberg, which said Indigo employs more than 1,000 people in total, more than the previous year despite the layoffs.
An Indigo spokesperson released a statement saying the company remained committed to Memphis.
Indigo’s mission is to harness nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. In service of this mission, Indigo is focusing resources on the fastest growing aspects of the business which are delivering the most value for our customers – specifically Indigo Carbon and Indigo Grain Marketplace, which currently serves over half of all grain buyers in the U.S. as customers. We have eliminated some roles and reallocated resources accordingly. We expect our employee base to continue to grow as our business expands and we remain committed to the City of Memphis.
Boston-based Indigo moved into the newly renamed Indigo Plaza in downtown Memphis after the firm announced in late 2018 that its North American headquarters would be located in the city.
Some employees were already located in Memphis, and the company promised to add hundreds more positions in the city.
An Indigo spokesperson said the company is receiving a package of incentives from the city and the state.
According to documents submitted to the Economic Development Growth Engine board, Indigo must retain 75 employees and create 625 positions in order to receive PILOT tax incentives from EDGE.
An EDGE spokesperson said that PILOT agreement isn’t active, because the final application has been pending since December 2018, but Indigo said it plans on using those incentives at a later date.
Indigo announced in January that it had raised an additional $200 million in funding, including an investment from Memphis-based FedEx, bringing total capital to $850 million. FedEx Chairman Frederick Smith said the company offered promising solutions to reduce carbon output and address climate change.
