Tepbac, Vietnam’s answer to eFishery, seeks to raise $20m

Tepbac CEO and founder Duy Phong Tran / Photo credit: Tepbac

EFishery became the sole startup admitted to Southeast Asia’s tech unicorn club in 2023 and the world’s first-ever from the aquaculture space.

In Vietnam, one startup is looking to emulate eFishery’s success. Tepbac – which serves 5,000 shrimp farmers in three southern provinces Long An, Ca Mau, and Bac Lieu – is seeking US$10 million to US$20 million in funding to scale its business.

CEO and founder Duy Phong Tran, whose family has been shrimp farmers for over 25 years in Bac Lieu, established Tepbac in 2012.

Initially, it was just an informational website where farmers can get advice about sustainable shrimp farming practices and technology applications.

The company’s business has since diversified, now offering farm management software Farmext. It also offers IoT devices that automate feeding, monitor water quality, and optimize electricity usage in shrimp farms.

Tepbac also operates an ecommerce marketplace for farm supplies, as well as a network of aquaculture labs.

“In the next five years, Tepbac’s goal is to have 80% of shrimp and fish farmers in Vietnam using at least one of our products. Additionally, we plan to expand our solution to India, Thailand, and Indonesia,” Tran tells Tech in Asia in a recent interview.

Tepbac has raised only US$2.3 million so far, a tiny amount compared to eFishery’s total funding of about US$386 million. However, both ventures share Aqua-Spark as a common early-stage investor.

“The Tepbac cofounders were able to build wide-reaching relationships with the Vietnamese smallholder community over the last 12 years through their media platform,” says Maria Velkova, Aqua-Spark investment manager and a board member of Tepbac. “This gives them a huge competitive advantage in their market.” 

Tran believes he’s not in the business of raising a lot of money, though. The only way to compete is to constantly innovate its tech solutions and convince farmers to use them, he says.

For example, its automatic feeder does more than just release feed. It suggests feeding programs based on environmental conditions. Tepbac’s water monitoring device also keeps track of metrics such as pH, temperature, salinity, and oxygen levels.

According to Tran, shrimp farming in Vietnam has a very high mortality rate due to disease outbreaks and climate change effects, posing serious challenges to small and medium-sized farms.

Tran stated that Tepbac’s revenue in 2023 reached approximately 10 billion dong (US$395,500). The startup offers its IoT device package at around US$2,770 and a Farmnext subscription of US$82 per year.