Aruna wins $5.5m in funding to help Indonesia’s fisherfolk thrive

Indonesia-based Aruna, a startup developing tech for the country’s marine and fisheries sector, said it has raised US$5.5 million in new funding from East Ventures, AC Ventures, and SMDV.

Photo credit: Aruna

Founded in 2016, the startup helps local fishermen and women export their products to more markets, potentially boosting their income. These include countries in Southeast Asia, East Asia, North America, and the Middle East.

“Ecommerce helps create more fairness and transparency in the fishing industry, as well as making a more efficient supply chain. By reaching more coastal areas across Indonesia, Aruna joined the effort in building economic equality in Indonesia,” said Aruna co-founder and CEO Farid Naufal Aslam.

What problem is it solving? According to the company, Indonesia is the world’s second-largest fish producer just after China. In 2018, the fisheries sector contributed over US$26.9 billion to the country’s total gross domestic product.

However, while this sector has the potential to produce world-class companies, its main producers remain relatively poor because of a lack of access to various markets, Aslam told Tech in Asia.

“Fishermen don’t have an alternative market besides local collectors (middlemen). Most of them only know the price in the local area, never knowing how much the [product] is sold to the customer [for],” the CEO said. Typically, a fisher’s produce goes through five to six people before it gets sold in markets, he noted.

This is where Aruna’s technology steps in. Its platform allows fisherfolk to facilitate transactions, making the industry’s supply chain more efficient.

In addition, the company is also developing IoT-based solutions to help maintain the quality of goods produced by local fishermen and women. It plans to use the production and transaction data it has recorded to help them map fishing seasons, gauge regional potential, and find efficient trade routes.

What are the opportunities and the challenges? According to Aslam, the market size of Indonesia’s fish trading sector produces nearly US$6 billion in revenues a year, with US$4 billion coming from exporting.

By 2022, Aruna is targeting to reach 5% of Indonesia’s export market, or about US$200 million. Currently, the company holds a 0.01% share of the country’s export market size, which represents roughly US$400,000, Aslam shared.

The company is already making headway in the industry, claiming to have achieved 86x growth in revenue year on year during the first half of 2020. Aruna attributed this growth to a strong global demand for seafood amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, a potential barrier that it has to face to reach its goal is providing fisherfolk with the information and technology they need to implement its platform. In line with this, the company plans to keep developing its technology to make it easier to use.

What are its future plans? The company plans to use the new funds to scale its fisherfolk community ecosystem by expanding to more coastal areas. It also aims to scale its operations into new domestic and export business-to-business markets.