Agricultural Startup Agriaku Receives Series A Funding of 520 Billion Rupiah

Startups agritech Agriaku announced the acquisition of a series A funding of $35 million (approximately 520 billion Rupiah) led by Alpha JWC Ventures. Investors previously, namely MDI Growth (ARISE, Centauri, and MDI) and Go-Ventures participated in this round, along with new investors, BRI Ventures and Mandiri Capital Indonesia.

Not only that, Agriaku also added to the presence of strategic investors, such as Gentree Fund, K3 Ventures, and public company Thai Wah, which in the future will help the company's international expansion. Alto Partners, InnoVen Capital and Mercy Corps Social Ventures Fund participated in the latest round.

At the same time, Agriaku also welcomed two new figures in its leadership ranks, namely Abraham Seodjito (CSO) and Valmik Mirani (CCO). Abraham previously worked at Traveloka Thailand as Chief Product Officer of Financial Services. Meanwhile, Mirani is Assistant Vice President at Paytm and Vice President for Marketplace Strategy Office at Tokopedia. These two figures will strengthen technology-based solutions and operational performance at Agriaku.

In an official statement, a number of Agriaku investors also gave their statements. Alpha JWC Ventures partner Eko Kurniadi said that agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to the Indonesian economy, but this sector still faces many inefficiencies, including in the supply chain.

Agriaku has the best position for empowering the Farmer's Shop by securing a consistent supply of agricultural equipment at transparent prices, expanding their supplier network, and providing the necessary financing to grow their businesses. "We are happy to partner and be a part of Agriaku's journey," he said, Monday (11/7).

ARISE Partner Aldi Adrian Hartanto added, “It was an honor to witness the extraordinary execution by the Agriaku team from day one. We are proud to continue to support the team for the third time and beyond to empower more Toko Tani and other agricultural stakeholders across the archipelago.”

Agriaku Products

Agriaku was founded by Irvan Kolonas and Danny Handoko in May 2021. This startup has a mission to increase farmers' productivity and income with the help of technology. This is because the agricultural sector in this country contributes 13,7% of GDP 2020. However, the upstream agricultural market is highly fragmented with an unorganized value chain.

“The fragmented upstream agriculture industry makes it difficult for farmers, suppliers and retailers to get what they need on time, resulting in frequent supply and price volatility. In addition, they also face problems with low manual work efficiency, inadequate logistics services, and limited access to financing," said Agriaku Co-founder and President Irvan Kolonas.

In overcoming these problems, Agriaku provides a B2B platform marketplace, connecting manufacturers and suppliers so that they can provide direct farming tools to retailers (Toko Tani) at competitive prices. Then Toko Tani will distribute the products directly to farmers in the field. Agriaku has two applications, namely Agria Aku Mitra App (to serve Farmers' Shops) and Agriaku Seller Web (to serve Farmers' Shops). beg).

It is claimed, Agriaku is now present in more than 500 cities in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. The company will add to its services, establishing its position as a provider of comprehensive agribusiness solutions. The fresh funds raised will also be used to expand the network of Toko Tani and its distributors, expand the product and technology team so that they can continue to innovate.

According to Irvan, AgriAku will focus on optimizing the economic unit and expanding revenue by innovating in offering value-added services, such as logistics and financing to distributors and manufacturers to help them grow operationally with the AgriAKU platform. "We will also strengthen market penetration in the expansion of farmer shops and distributor networks, as well as business expansion such as providing agricultural products."