Rivals feel ripples of eFishery fiasco

IN FOCUS

In today’s newsletter, we look at:

• Indonesian aquatech firms’ struggles amid the eFishery controversy
• The possibility of ShopeeFood overtaking GrabFood

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Hi there,

I still vividly recall being a guest at eFishery’s 10th-anniversary event in Bandung in 2023. It was a grand celebration attended by thousands of fish farmers. Teten Masduki, who was then Indonesia’s minister of cooperatives and SMEs, even gave a speech.

At the time, the company had just raised US$200 million, achieved unicorn status, and opened a bigger office in the city.

EFishery started out offering IoT devices to automate fish feeding. It later expanded into creating an ecommerce platform for fish feed and also ventured into B2B sales.

Now, less than two years after the gathering, the aquatech company’s situation has made a complete 180. An internal fraud case that surfaced recently has put its future on the line.

While the case may affect startups in Indonesia altogether – making investors more cautious – perhaps the most hit sector is aquatech itself.

In this week’s The Big Story, my colleague Putra explores insights from founders of rival aquatech firms in the country on how the eFishery fiasco has affected them.

One of the challenges in this space is that the fish feed marketplace relies on suppliers that are already industry giants – such as Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand and Indonesia’s Japfa. They already dominate the market, and it’s hard for startups to eke out a decent margin for themselves.

While founders remain optimistic that this sector can produce truly profitable businesses and even future unicorns, they still have to figure out the right business model.

Meanwhile, in The Hot Take, I discuss the possibility of ShopeeFood overtaking GrabFood in Southeast Asia’s food delivery market. Shopee’s unit continues to show yearly growth, though it remains far behind Grab.

— Jofie

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THE BIG STORY

As eFishery flounders, aquatech firms refuse to sink

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THE HOT TAKE

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Fuel both your hunger and ambitions at a fraction of the cost.

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