Aquatech Startup DELOS Receives Initial Funding Led by Arise

Startups aquatech DELOS announced the acquisition of initial stage funding with an undisclosed amount led by Arise, fund specially made by MDI Ventures and Finch Capital. MDI Ventures itself participated in the round, along with other investors, such as Hendra Kwik (Number Capital), Irvan Kolonas (JAPFA Executive), and iSeed Asia.

The company plans to utilize the fresh funds to strengthen and upgrade DELOS shrimp production software to accurately forecast and recommend actions to increase farm profitability and productivity. In addition, funds will also be used to develop integration value chain and on-board more DELOS agricultural partners.

DELOS was initiated this year by Guntur Mallarangeng, Bobby Indra Gunawan, and Alexander Farthing. The mix of founder it features a multidisciplinary team spanning aquaculture, marine biology, technology and business. This startup is in close partnership with Dewi Laut Aquaqulture, a leading local aquaculture company, and Alun as the company fintech leading aquaculture, to accelerate technology development in-house.

DELOS has the ambition to encourage the growth and modernization of the Indonesian aquaculture industry. Currently, there are still classic problems in the supply chain in this sector due to the lack of technology adoption. Whereas global demand for seafood-based protein is increasing, while wild-fished stocks are dwindling under immense pressure. Aquaculture supplies more than 60% of all seafood consumed.

With its 54.000 km coastline, abundant coastal human resources, and 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, namely export. greatest seafood.

The Indonesian government recognizes a new revolution, has targeted shrimp aquaculture and production to grow by 250% over the next 3 years. However, low technology adoption, non-standard management practices, and poor access to finance have limited the growth of Indonesian aquaculture – particularly 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.

Cross-disciplinary team OF THE and cutting-edge technology will be critical to supporting the national agenda to promote this growth while maintaining economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Guntur and team are trying to improve the experience, network and its IP, farm management system full stack researched and developed internally to increase the productive capacity and output of Indonesia's existing shrimp farms by 50%-150% – creating value for farmers, increasing national export volumes, and enhancing Indonesia's reputation as the world's leading aquaculture country.

In an official statement, Arise Partner Aldi Adrian Hartanto explained, the classic challenges in the layered value chain, low productivity, and lack of financing hinder the Indonesian shrimp industry from being fully utilized, even though it accounts for 77% of the total value of fishery products.

“DELOS technology-based solutions have succeeded in immersing technology and operations into the culture and infrastructure of local farmers while bridging them with existing stakeholders. This leads to a higher FCR (Feed Conversion Ratio), SR (Survival Rate), and Harvest, making it a deadly flywheel," he concluded, Thursday (28/10).

Aquaculture startups in Indonesia

Size global aquaculture market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period 2020 to 2025, with 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, worth $243,5 billion and accounts for 53 percent of the world's seafood supply. According to FAO data, 90 percent of production volume is produced in Asia.

In Indonesia, there are already several startups that have started targeting similar segments. Call 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. The company has also successfully secured funding in 2020 from East Ventures, AC Ventures, and SMDV.

One more startup that is engaged in a more specific sector, namely Jala. This startup presents technological solutions to optimize the productivity of shrimp farmers in Indonesia. In 2019, his team managed to secure an initial round of funding from 500 Startups of 8 billion Rupiah.