The Seam

American software company

For the fictional community from the Hunger Games series, see Fictional world of The Hunger Games § District 12.

The SeamCompany type| Private company

|

Industry| Software
Founded| November 2000; 24 years ago (2000-11)
Headquarters|

Memphis

United States

Key people

| Mark Pryor, CEO
Services| Commodities exchange
Website| theseam.com

The Seam is an American software company that designs and operates platforms for commodities trading, particularly in cotton. It was launched in December 2000 by four cotton companies and is based in Memphis, Tennessee. Though specializing in cotton trading, its platforms have added other commodities such as dairy and peanuts over time.[1]

## History

[edit]

In 2000, Allenberg Cotton, Cargill (then Hohenberg Brothers), Dunavant Enterprises, and the Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA) joined to create an online marketplace for electronic cotton trading.[2] The Seam was officially established as a company on November 6, and launched in December 2000.[3] Forbes described it as "the world's first online, neutral trading exchange for cotton".[4]

The company subsequently transitioned to cloud-based systems for its trading, processing more than $7 billion in sales through its cloud-based platforms.[5] Mark Pryor, a specialist in banking software architecture, was named the CEO in 2015; he had previously spent eleven years developing The Seam's technology as Vice President, Information Technology.[6][7] That same year, the China National Cotton Exchange announced that it would begin buying cotton on The Seam.[8][9]

In January 2017, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty announced that IBM and The Seam were collaborating to create a blockchain for cotton trading, "a secure, distributed, and immutable digital ledger".[10][11][12]

## References

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1. ^ "IBM's Blockchain Consortium With The Seam Deploys 'Hyperledger' For Cotton Trading". Forbes. January 7, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
2. ^ "Local tech firm partners with IBM to trade cotton in the cloud". Memphis Business Journal. January 5, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
3. ^ "Sewing Up the Seam". PCCA Commentator. Winter 2000–01. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
4. ^ "IBM's Blockchain Consortium With The Seam Deploys 'Hyperledger' For Cotton Trading". Forbes. January 7, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
5. ^ "IBM's Blockchain Consortium With The Seam Deploys 'Hyperledger' For Cotton Trading". Forbes. January 7, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
6. ^ "About Us". The Seam. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
7. ^ Steadman, Jim (July 23, 2015). "Mark Pryor Named Chairman/CEO of The Seam". Retrieved February 10, 2017.
8. ^ "China National Cotton Exchange to buy cotton on The Seam". March 31, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
9. ^ "CNCE, The Seam discuss next steps in cotton trading platform agreement". June 29, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
10. ^ "The Seam to Form Cotton Blockchain Consortium with IBM". NASDAQ. January 5, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
11. ^ "The Seam to form cotton blockchain consortium with IBM on Hyperledger Fabric". High Plains Journal. January 16, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
12. ^ "Memphis company working with IBM to trade cotton in the cloud". Memphis Business Journal. January 20, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.

## External links

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* The Seam website