DELOS Embrace Layoffs to Achieve Faster Profitability

Startups aquatech DELOS is reportedly taking the layoff route in an effort to focus on businesses that can bring the company on a path of profitability more quickly. Reliable source DailySocial.id provided confirmation regarding this information, although he could not say how many employees were affected.

According to sources, this step was taken because the company wants to focus on short and medium term projects that can have a more significant impact on the industry and the company, in terms of achieving profitability.

"The remaining team is now considered able to focus on important initiatives for the short and medium term, and they are believed to be able to execute them well," he said.

DELOS was founded in 2021 by Guntur Mallarangeng, Bobby Indra Gunawan, and Alexander Farthing. This startup is ambitious modernizing the aquaculture industry in Indonesia, in this case shrimp farming, which has so far lost maritime economic value compared to other countries.

The solutions offered include AquaHero: a pond management application that provides accessibility and transparency of aqua farm performance; AquaLink: supply chain solution from upstream to downstream, connecting producers, suppliers and buyers from all over Indonesia, with fry, feed, shrimp probiotics, pond equipment, logistics and harvest.

DELOS has completed grilling early stage funds worth more than $8 million. A number of investors participated in this round, including Arise, Centauri – both funds managed by MDI Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures, Hendra Kwik (Number Capital), Irvan Kolonas (JAPFA Executive), and iSeed Asia.

Aquaculture prospects

Every year, aquaculture increases its contribution to global seafood production. The sector produced 110,2 million tonnes in 2016, valued at $243,5 billion and accounting for 53% of the world's seafood supply. According to FAO data, 90% of production volume is produced in Asia.

However, there are still classic problems related to supply chains in Indonesia. With 54.000 km of coastline, abundant coastal human resources and a tropical climate, Indonesia looks set to become a clear global leader for sustainable aquaculture, especially with Indonesian shrimp competing on a global scale as the world's second most valuable aquaculture product, an export the biggest seafood.

The Indonesian government targets shrimp cultivation and production to grow 250% over the next three years. However, low technology adoption, substandard management practices, and poor access to financing have limited the growth of Indonesian aquaculture – especially hampering aquaculture productivity.

These factors have created bottlenecks in the middle of the value chain, and limited downstream processor output to an average of 40%-60% capacity. Less than 5% farms are 4 times more productive than neighboring farms (40 tonnes vs 10 tonnes/Ha).

It is this productivity gap that has kept a $2 billion industry from fulfilling its latent potential and becoming a $4 billion industry, according to Indonesia's Ministry of Fisheries.

In Indonesia, there are a number of aquaculture startups, namely eFishery, Aruna, and Jala.