What Mercaris does

Mercaris is a United States-based, privately held company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. The firm operates a subscription-based market data service and online trading platform focused specifically on organic and non-GMO agricultural commodities — a narrow but structurally underserved sub-vertical of the broader agricultural commodities market. The platform serves buyers, sellers, traders, and other participants in the organic and non-GMO value chain who require price discovery, market intelligence, and transaction infrastructure distinct from conventional commodity markets.

The company's product offering combines two integrated revenue mechanics: a recurring subscription data service (providing pricing, market commentary, and intelligence) and an online trading venue enabling counterparties to transact. Co-founder and CTO Chris Duesing is the technical architect, while CEO Kellee James leads commercial operations. The company operates with a lean headcount of 11–50 employees, consistent with a niche specialist data and marketplace business. No public API, SDK, or integration ecosystem has been disclosed, suggesting data delivery is largely portal-based rather than embedded into client workflows.

Mercaris has raised approximately $4.04 million in disclosed funding across six rounds from 2012 through 2021, with investors including Kapor Capital (2012 seed), Closed Loop Capital and Gotham Gal Ventures (2014, $2.5M — the largest round), and CV Catalyst Fund (2020). The funding cadence has decelerated notably in recent rounds, and the company has not disclosed acquisitions, partnerships, leadership changes, or major product launches beyond its founding platform. Competition is intensifying: larger, well-capitalized commodity intelligence firms such as Argus Media have launched dedicated organic and non-GMO market intelligence products, raising questions about Mercaris's ability to sustain pricing power and customer retention without further capital, product investment, or strategic exit.

Name

Mercaris

Website

https://mercaris.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mercaris operates a subscription-based market data service and online trading platform for organic and non-GMO agricultural commodities, serving buyers, sellers, and traders in that niche value chain since 2012. The company is privately held and headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, with 11–50 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Silver Spring

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Core offering

Mercaris operates a subscription-based market data service that provides price assessments, market intelligence, and analytics focused on organic and non-GMO agricultural commodities. The company also runs an online trading platform that enables buyers and sellers in these specialty agricultural markets to transact. Its offerings serve participants across the organic and non-GMO agricultural value chain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organic and Non-GMO Market Data Subscription

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• DTN: Provider of agricultural weather, market data, and analytics for farmers, grain buyers, and processors. Comparable to Mercaris in serving agricultural commodity market information needs, though DTN's coverage is far broader than organic specialization.
• CME Group: Largest derivatives exchange for agricultural commodities, providing benchmark prices and market data products. Comparable to Mercaris as a source of agricultural commodity price discovery and trading infrastructure, though CME operates at exchange-scale rather than niche-organic specialization.
• Argus Media: Global commodity benchmarks and market intelligence provider whose 'AgriMarkets Organic and Non-GMO' service overlaps directly with Mercaris's core organic and non-GMO data offering. Argus is much broader and more established but is the most direct incumbent competitor in this niche.
• S&P Global Commodity Insights (Platts): Global benchmark price and analytics provider across energy, agriculture, and other commodities. Comparable to Mercaris at a high level as a paid commodity intelligence vendor, but operates at vastly greater scale across many more markets.
• Ciq (S&P Global): Provider of commodity intelligence and supply chain data across multiple commodity verticals. Comparable to Mercaris as a paid market intelligence platform for commodity buyers, sellers, and traders.

Emerging players

• Indigo Ag: Agtech company building digital marketplaces and sustainability programs for grain, including tools for sourcing identity-preserved (e.g., non-GMO, organic) crops. Comparable to Mercaris in serving sustainable agriculture supply chains with data and trading infrastructure.
• Where Food Comes From: Provider of verification, certification, and supply-chain transparency for organic and sustainably-raised food. Comparable to Mercaris in serving the organic/non-GMO value chain with information-based services, though focused more on verification than market price discovery.

Others

• Procurement & Market Data at major agribusinesses (e.g., Cargill, ADM internal data products): Large agribusinesses such as Cargill and ADM operate internal market data and trading workflow capabilities that compete for the same procurement and risk management budgets as Mercaris. Listed as adjacent competitors that could substitute for or complement Mercaris's offerings.

Direct peers

• Barchart: Commodity market data, charting, and analytics platform serving agricultural and financial markets. Comparable in offering subscription data, pricing intelligence, and trading workflow tools to commercial commodity participants — directly competitive with Mercaris's data-plus-platform model.
• Urner Barry: Long-established provider of market reporting and price benchmarks for protein and agricultural commodities. Comparable to Mercaris as a subscription-driven price reporting and market intelligence business serving food commodity supply chains.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mercaris

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mercaris