Indonesian agritech startup, eFishery, closed its Series B round, co-led by Go-Ventures and the Northstar Group, together with existing investors including sustainable aquaculture investment fund Aqua-Spark and early-stage enterprise and deep tech VC Wavemaker Partners. The funds raised will be used to strengthen product development, anchor eFishery’s position within the domestic aquaculture industry and grow the team.
Launched in 2013 and based in Bandung, eFishery offers an end-to-end platform providing fish and shrimp farmers with access to feed, financing and markets. The company serves thousands of farmers in 24 provinces across Indonesia. eFishery raised a pre-Series A round in 2015 and a Series A round in late 2018. eFishery’s business has quadrupled over that period and was profitable over the past two years.
“Through the introduction of new technologies, we increase yields and lower costs for fish and shrimp farmers. With products that support the entire aquaculture ecosystem, from ponds to last-mile distribution, we help farmers build more profitable and sustainable farming businesses,” said Gibran Huzaifah, co-founder and CEO of eFishery. “This new funding will allow us to grow the company, roll out across Indonesia and achieve our vision of being a leading aquaculture intelligence company. We are excited to partner with Go-Ventures and the Northstar Group, who we believe can add significant value to our platform.”
The company will be investing the Series B funding into strengthening operations and building stronger data capabilities and algorithms for the eFisheryFeeder. eFishery is also piloting new sensors, including those specifically for shrimps, and aims to launch these new sensors later this year.
To simplify matters for farmers, eFishery has recently set up eFisheryPoint, a one-stop physical hub located near the farmers to allow them to access eFishery products easily. At the eFisheryPoint hubs, fish farmers can purchase eFishery products, sell their fish or participate in other engagement activities, such as arranging product training, product demos or repairs. Currently, there are 30 eFisheryPoint in Indonesia and eFishery plans to open 100 new hubs across Indonesia by the end 2020.
“eFishery’s products support tens of thousands of fish and shrimp farms in over 180 cities, based in 24 provinces across Indonesia. There are some 3.3 million fish farms across Indonesia. Our most effective sales channel is marketing our products directly to the farmers by arranging field visits. With the launch of eFisheryPoint, which allows us to engage with farmers easier, as well as our efforts to penetrate the domestic market further, we are aiming for a 10-fold increase in our business,” said Huzaifah.
