IFC Enters the ranks of eFishery Investors

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has become an investor in aquaculture startup eFishery. IFC through the "WM-IFC Co-Invest SPC Golden Hook SP", an investment vehicle in collaboration with Wavemaker Partners, succeeded in acquiring 1,12% of the company's shares through three secondary transactions. This agreement is called guiding exit the previous two investors were Maloekoe Ventures and Social Capital.

IFC's entry has also been confirmed by eFishery Founder & CEO Gibran Huzaifah and is said to be part of the series B round that it got last year. This strategic action connects IFC's series of efforts to help Indonesia's economic recovery through various initiatives in the private sector. Previously, this financial institution under the auspices of the World Bank has also invested in startups insurtechPasarPolis and parent company AntherAja.

Series B funding section

Exactly one year ago, eFishery managed to achieve series B funding led by Go-Ventures and Northstar. Based on data submitted to regulators, the value of around $15 million has brought the post-investment valuation to $80 million.

Founded in 2013, eFishery has four main products. The first is eFisheryFeeder, which is an automatic feeding device. Second is eFisheryFeed, helping fish and shrimp farmers get feed products at competitive prices. Then there is eFisheryFund, which is loan program for cultivators. And the fourth is eFisheryFresh, a platform online groceries to help farmers sell their crops.

Last year, eFishery also collaborated Experience Sharia as a partner and encourage attendance paylater sharia-based and establish strategic cooperation with investree related to the distribution of capital loans to farmer/cultivator partners. Apart from that, this financing service has also partnered with iGrow, BRI Syariah, Amartha, and Batumbu.

Aquaculture startups in Indonesia

The global Aquaculture market size is expected to have a market growth in the forecast period 2020 to 2025, at a CAGR of 3,5%% in the forecast period 2020 to 2025 and is expected to reach $239,8 trillion in 2025, from $209,4 trillion in 2019.

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 percent of the world's seafood supply. According to data FAO, 90 percent of production volume is produced in Asia.

In Indonesia itself, there are already several startups that have started targeting similar segments. Just say it Aruna, a technology startup that provides a platform to make it easier for fishermen to sell their products directly to global and domestic markets. This company has also succeeded in obtaining funding in 2020 from East Ventures, AC Ventures, and SMDV.

Another startup operating in a more specific sector is Jala. This startup presents technology solutions to optimize shrimp farmer productivity in Indonesia. In 2019, his team succeeded in securing initial round funding from 500 Startups amounting to 8 billion Rupiah.

Quote from Liputan6.com, As the largest archipelagic country in the world, Indonesia has a marine economic potential of $1,4 trillion per year. However, currently the utilization rate for this sector is only 7,5 percent to 20 percent.

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