Cooperative Ventures Invests In OpenTug Technology Platform

Cooperative Ventures has invested in OpenTug, a logistics technology company that uses artificial intelligence to improve inland and coastal marine transportation.

Cooperative Ventures is a joint venture between CHS Inc. and Growmark Inc. that invests in agricultural technology startups and develops commercial relationships between those companies and cooperative partners. Its goal is to create long-term value for farmers, cooperatives and the broader agricultural supply chain.

In addition to the investment, CHS is working to implement OpenTug’s BargeOS barge management system to improve efficiency within its supply chain.

BargeOS combines commercial planning, voyage management, invoice reconciliation and reporting in a single platform. The system is designed to reduce idle barge days, improve the accuracy of estimated arrival times and minimize demurrage charges.

The platform integrates barge GPS monitoring with BargeOS Autopilot, which automatically processes traffic reports and operational emails. Together, those functions provide users with a real-time view of barge movements and voyage activity. OpenTug said the resulting performance data and visibility can improve customer returns and help optimize the grain supply chain.

“Partnering with CHS and Growmark allows us to accelerate digital transformation across one of America’s most critical supply chains,” said Jason Aristides, CEO of OpenTug. “With BargeOS, we’re turning data into actionable insights that help cooperatives and farmers move product more efficiently, reduce waste and strengthen return on investment. This collaboration represents a shared commitment to innovation that benefits every link in the agricultural ecosystem.”

“Cooperatives rely on resilient, cost-effective transportation to move grain, fertilizer and other key products efficiently through the supply chain,” said David Black, executive vice president and chief information officer of CHS Inc. “OpenTug’s platform offers a digital bridge to improve visibility and coordination across marine freight networks, and this investment will ultimately help our supply chain and the cooperative system become more efficient so we can deliver more value to our farmer-owners.”

According to OpenTug, improved visibility and coordination can allow its customers to move more cargo with fewer barges. The added transparency can also help cooperatives respond more quickly to disruptions and maintain the movement of agricultural commodities.

“OpenTug’s platform has the potential to revolutionize how products move through the river system,” said Heather Thompson, enterprise marketing executive director at Growmark. “This investment will help strengthen the supply chains that depend on barges to move product to the right place at the right time, ultimately enabling us to better serve our farmer customers.”

OpenTug joins Cooperative Ventures’ growing portfolio of companies offering technology intended to improve productivity, sustainability and profitability throughout the agricultural value chain.