eFishery is building an aquatech ecosystem where fish and shrimp farmers in Indonesia could easily scale up their businesses, providing farmers with access to financing and an online feed marketplace

Indonesia-based aquatech startup eFishery has become the country’s latest tech unicorn, raising $108 million in a Series D funding round.

Considering the latest funding from UAE-based G42 Global Expansion Fund (42XFund), which contributed $100 million to the round, SoftBank Vision Fund II, and NorthStar Group, the startup is now valued at $1.26 billion.

According to Crunchbase News, aquaculture startups saw their best funding year ever in 2022. Last year, the sector raised $292 million across 42 startups. Their popularity is growing, since?aquaculture is one of the?most promising industries, which has the potential to contribute significantly to food security.

The now-unicorn started its operations in 2013, with a programmable fish farm feeder that dispenses food for shrimp farms. Next, it quickly developed disease prevention systems for those ecosystems. With time, the company has expanded its services with fintech and retail propositions.

eFishery today provides an end-to-end e-commerce platform that allows fishers to buy niche products and gear. Besides, they can sell their yield directly to distributors and agents, often at a more beneficial price than most traditional markets can offer.

The firm also connects farmers with financial institutions providing flexible loans customised for the aquaculture segment. Additionally, the startup has a distribution system that facilitates the ordering and delivery of fish and other aquatic products for households and businesses.

The previous eFishery’s $90 million Series C round took place?in January 2022. At the time, the company was?valued at over $400 million. That investment round was co-led by Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and Sequoia Capital India, with participation from the Northstar Group, Go-Ventures, Aqua-Spark, and Wavemaker Partners.

We have recently reported that Malaysia and Indonesia have jointly launched the cross-border quick response (QR)?code payment linkage between the two countries, which has significant potential to expand their markets seamlessly and boost cross-border economic activities, tourism, and business interactions.