Flagship Pioneering Names David Perry, CEO of Indigo Agriculture, as Recipient of the 2017 Pioneering Leader Award

Recognized for Commitment to Innovations Transforming the Future of Farming

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Nov. 16, 2017 -- Flagship Pioneering today announced the recipient of the firm's annual Pioneering Leader Award. The 2017 award recognized David Perry, CEO of Indigo Agriculture, a fast-growing company that has experienced significant value appreciation under Mr. Perry's leadership. Mr. Perry accepted the award at Flagship's 2017 Annual Meeting, held this week in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Originated in 2013 by Flagship's innovation foundry, Flagship VentureLabs, Indigo is harnessing the power of the plant microbiome to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. The company was conceived and created through the firm's decade-long, institutional investment and innovation in the microbiome — the consortia of microbes living on and around living organisms, including both humans and plants. Through discoveries about the beneficial bacteria and fungi within healthy plants, Indigo has pioneered products that utilize these microbes to improve crop health and productivity.

"David has grown Indigo into a company with a clear mission and the potential to realize remarkable scientific and business value for the world, including farmers. His vision, passion to improve the state of agriculture, and ability to quickly scale the company represent true pioneering spirit," said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. "We congratulate David on his strong leadership, and we look forward to Indigo's continued growth and impact on agriculture."

With Mr. Perry at the helm since 2015, Indigo has grown from a startup to a company valued at over $1B. The company has now launched multiple products, expanded internationally, grown to more than 200 employees, and raised more than $300M in capital, including a Series D round announced in late 2017. Indigo was recognized as a 2017 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.

"2017 has been a great year for Indigo, and I am pleased to accept this award on behalf of not just myself, but everyone at Indigo who has worked so hard to advance our science and change the future of agriculture," said Mr. Perry. "I appreciate Flagship's continued support for Indigo and their contributions to help us to push the boundaries of microbiome science for plants and reinvent the farmer-industry dynamic."

Previous recipients of Flagship's annual entrepreneurial leadership award include Stéphane Bancel of Moderna (2014), Faheem Hasnain of Receptos (2015), and David Schenkein of Agios (2016).

Learn more about Indigo Agriculture at www.indigoag.com.

About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources and develops first-in-category life sciences companies. Its institutional innovation foundry, Flagship VentureLabs®, is where Flagship's team of scientific entrepreneurs systematically evolves enterprising ideas into new fields or previously undiscovered areas of science into real-world inventions and ventures. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has applied its hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster nearly 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $20 billion in aggregate value, 500+ issued patents and more than 45 clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents.

Since inception, Flagship has capitalized its growing portfolio with over $1 billion coming from $1.75 billion of aggregate investor capital committed across five funds. The firm's current portfolio includes pioneering ventures that are transforming human health and sustainability, including: Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB) and Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SYRS), as well as private companies, including Axcella Health, Indigo Agriculture, Moderna Therapeutics and Rubius Therapeutics. Flagship has ongoing corporate innovation alliances with several market leaders, including: AstraZeneca, the Crop Science Division of Bayer and Nestlé Health Science. To learn more about Flagship Pioneering, please visit our website: www.FlagshipPioneering.com.