Monsanto is an American multinational Chemical, and Agricultural Biotechnology corporation. They have over 100 years of history in chemical production and being among the first to genetically modify a plant cell and conduct trials on genetically modified crops. Today Monsanto’s business consists mostly of producing agricultural seeds and weed killers for farmers. So it came as a surprise when Monsanto recently acquired the Climate Corporation, a company that provides highly accurate weather prediction and farm crop insurance for 930 million USD.

However, this can be seen an effort to broaden their services for their target market. Just as Google provides many services such as Gmail, YouTube, and Chrome to supplement their advertising business (96% of their revenue in 2011), Monsanto wants to create a comprehensive service, from the purchase of the seeds to the final product. With these newfound capabilities they will be able to help farmers monitor their crops 24/7. Climate Company’s insurance business will be put to use as well. With his new acquisition, Monsanto will be further specializing in its business by broadening its services.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/10/4823004/monsanto-bets-the-farm-on-big-data