Indonesian agritech startup, eFishery, closed US$90 million in its Series C round, making it the largest funds raised by an aquaculture technology startup in the world. This round of investment was co-led by Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and Sequoia Capital India, with participation from existing investors including the Northstar Group, Go-Ventures, Aqua-Spark, and Wavemaker Partners.
The funds raised will be used to scale up eFishery’s platform and strengthen its digital products, making it the largest digital “cooperative” for fish and shrimp farming. eFishery also aims to expand regionally, targeting the top ten countries in aquaculture, such as India and China.
“Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of fish and we believe its aquaculture industry can play a meaningful role in feeding the world’s growing population,” said Anna Lo, investment director at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “eFishery is pioneering the adoption of technology for local fish and shrimp farmers with a complete, integrated platform that supports them to improve productivity across feed supply, production, and the sale of fresh produce. We are delighted to be partnering with the eFishery team to support them to provide a reliable and sustainable supply of aquatic food products to Indonesia and beyond."
Based in Bandung, eFishery revolutionizes traditional farming methods and provides solutions designed specifically to improve outcomes for fish and shrimp farmers. It offers an end-to-end platform providing farmers with access to technology, feed, financing, and markets.
Since launching in 2013, the company has deployed thousands of smart feeders, serving over 30,000 farmers across 24 provinces in Indonesia. At the peak of the pandemic, eFishery scaled its network tenfold since December 2020 and deepened the adoption of its fresh and feed services.
eFishery’s latest suite of cutting-edge products includes eFarm and eFisheryKu App. eFarm is an online platform that provides farmers with comprehensive and easy-to-understand information about their shrimp farming operations, while eFisheryKu is an integrated platform where fish farmers can purchase their farming supplies, such as feed, at competitive prices.
Farmers can also apply for a loan through eFund, which links fish farmers directly to financial institutions. A key component of eFund is Kabayan (‘Kasih Bayar Nanti’, translates to ‘Pay Later’), a service that provides fish farmers with financing that can be used to purchase fish farming needs through installments. All processes are done seamlessly with just one app, eFisheryKu. To date, more than 7,000 farmers have been supported by this service, with the total loan approved exceeding US$ 28 million.
“We are focused on increasing farmers’ productivity. Through the introduction of new technologies, we’re streamlining the fish and shrimp farming business, making the industry more effective, efficient and sustainable. For example, our upstream technology, eFeeder, optimizes yield days and increases farmers’ production capacity by up to 26% while also optimizing feed efficiency by up to 30% by reducing time and labor costs. We also connect farmers with buyers via eFresh, our downstream technology, which increases their purchasing power. As a result, the solutions ecosystem lowers operational farming costs and increases the farmers’ income by up to 45%,” said Gibran Huzaifah, co-founder and CEO of eFishery.
eFishery will be investing this Series C funding into growing its team and strengthening its products and operations in Indonesia. It will also extend its venture by expanding the business into regional markets. eFishery aims to acquire one million farmers in the next 3-5 years, and through its tech-driven solutions, eFishery will help to modernize farming techniques and improve outcomes.
