An aquaculture startup from Bandung, Indonesia, officially holds the status of Indonesia's 15th unicorn. This means that eFishery has reached a valuation of US$1 billion. This achievement also secures eFishery's position as Indonesia's first unicorn in the aquatech sector. The startup is also one of the largest fisheries technology companies in the world.
eFishery has reportedly raised Series D funding of US$108 million or equivalent to Rp1.61 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp14.935 per dollar). While earlier, in January 2022, the startup obtained series C funding of US $90 million.
As cited by DealStreetAsia, eFishery received funding from G42 Global Expansion Fund, followed by Softbank Vision Fund II and Northstar Group. G42 Global Expansion Fund aka 42Xfund reportedly invested US$100 million, Softbank US$5 million and Northstar Group US$3 million.
The news that this startup is raising funds has actually been circulating since last March. However, rumors that this startup is in talks with an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, G42 Global Expansion Fund, have been circulating since last April.
On the other hand, according to Venture Cap, eFishery has also raised $220 million from third parties with a final valuation of more than $1.3 billion.
The startup, which was founded in 2013, has a technology tool, digital platform and e-commerce for fish and shrimp farming. Starting from 100 ponds, the startup has a projection of 1 million ponds by 2025.
Gibran Huzaifah, the founder of eFishery, has managed to take aquaculture to the next level. Gibran sees great potential in the fishing sector. Unfortunately, there are problems with the cost of feed and traditional feeding methods. This problem gave birth to a startup that is currently the 15th unicorn in Indonesia. Currently, eFishery has helped 100 thousand fish and shrimp farmers across Indonesia.
Accorrding to Detikfinance, research conducted by eFishery with LD FEB UI shows that there is a significant impact generated by this startup. eFishery is able to contribute macroeconomically to the country's economy by contributing IDR 3.4 trillion to the GDP of Indonesia's aquaculture sector in 2022. This figure is equivalent to 1.55% of the total GDP of the sector. At the micro level, eFishery has also affected the income of fish and shrimp farmers. This growth reached 88.7% for medium scale farmers, 21.5% for large scale farmers and 1.2% for small scale farmers. This indicates that eFishery has a significant positive impact not only on the country, but also on the aquaculture sector in Indonesia at the macro and micro levels.
In the future, Gibran hopes that eFishery will not only grow in Indonesia, but also expand regionally and even globally.
