Two weeks from today, the InvestMaryland Challenge will award more than $750,000 in prizes and crown four new winners. Those top companies will be chosen from a dozen finalists and awarded $100,000 top prizes, one each in IT, Life Sciences, Sustainability & Exploration, and Defense & Security. More than $350,000 in other prizes will be awarded as well. MDBizNews asked the same five questions of all 12 finalists to in the run up to the Finale. Today's featured finalist is Mercaris, a Sustainability & Exploration Finalist from Silver Spring.Founder and CEO Kellee James took our questions.
1. What does your company do? Give us your elevator pitch in 100 words or less.
Mercaris provides a market data service and an online trading platform for agricultural commodities that are organic, or that meet other sustainable certifications. Our customers need accurate and reliable price, supply, and demand information, and a way to easily conduct commodity trades. They include family farmers/producers, grain elevators, feed mills, food processors, agribusiness firms, retailers, crop insurers, and agricultural banks, amongst others. Mercaris is transforming the $35 billion dollar organic agricultural sector by increasing market transparency, efficiency, and reducing transaction costs.
2. What sets your company apart from others in the same, or a similar, space?
We are unique in serving the growing organic agricultural sector. Prior to Mercaris, the sector was very opaque, and reports were either too broad, too sporadic, or did not directly support business decision-making. Mercaris is providing the type of data and trading services that are the norm for other sectors of the economy, but deploying them for the first time, in a way that directly benefits organic agriculture.
3. Why is your company important to Maryland?
Agriculture is an important part of Maryland's economy. The sector as a whole is the State's largest employer and organic agriculture is a valuable contributor to the State's farm economy, rural development, and environmental stewardship goals. Our very first grain auctions were held with the participation of Maryland organic farmers, enabling them to get the best market price for their crops.
4. What would the $100,000 top prize allow you to do?
As a startup, we're always looking for resources to help us scale more quickly. We'd like to use the Invest Maryland challenge funds to hire additional team members, and to support some design work on our website.
5. Based on what you've learned during your time with your company, what is the first piece of advice you would give to a new entrepreneur?
The hardest part of starting a company is not having good ideas it's executing on those ideas, it's being relentless and disciplined about testing those ideas, managing resources, and finding and understanding your customer.
