Staff protested at EFishery’s office in Bandung earlier today. / Photo credit: eFishery labor union
Dozens of eFishery labor union members rallied outside its Bandung office Thursday, voicing concerns about the Indonesian aquatech unicorn’s future.
In a statement, the union claimed they heard that eFishery, which recently halted operations, is planning to do mass layoffs and close down in February. Workers also criticized “negative and unbalanced” reports of alleged fraud within the company.
The union, which was formed on January 13, also stressed that a statement by one of eFishery’s shareholders about systematic fraud within the company has unfairly tarnished the reputation of all employees.
“The majority of eFishery employees have integrity and excel in their respective fields,” the union stated. As a result, workers have demanded that the company cancel the reported layoffs and reassess business lines.
“This is based on the fact that eFishery still has cash and liquid assets exceeding 1 trillion rupiah (US$61.3 million), while its real operational business exceeds 3 trillion rupiah (US$184 million),” according to the statement.
The union also urged eFishery to resume business operations and called for the fraud allegations to be addressed publicly. “Management must clearly state that the majority of eFishery employees were not involved in financial reporting fraud,” the group demanded.
Tech in Asia has reached out to eFishery for comment.
The company has been grappling with a deepening crisis. In December 2024, it launched an internal probe into allegations of financial fraud. Co-founders Gibran Huzaifah and Chrisna Aditya stepped down following the investigation.
EFishery then appointed Adhy Wibisono as interim CEO and Albertus Sasmitra as interim CFO. But Wibisono has also resigned, according to DealStreetAsia.
A Bloomberg report revealed that according to the ongoing investigation, management had inflated revenue by nearly US$600 million in the nine months through September 2024.
Patrick Walujo, CEO of GoTo Group, has called the situation at eFishery “embarrassing” during DealStreetAsia’s Indonesia PE-VC Summit 2025 in Jakarta. Walujo is also the founder of Northstar Group, one of eFishery’s investors.
Currency converted from Indonesian rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 16,287 rupiah.
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