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Hello reader,
When I first heard the news that aquaculture unicorn eFishery’s co-founders had been suspended from their roles, I was shocked.
The revelations that followed – including the fact that eFishery had overstated its revenue by US$600 million – have left many of us in the community feeling off-kilter. Were we all blind? How could this have happened? What does it mean for Southeast Asian startups?
Whatever it is, it’s certainly a time for reflection for all of us in the region’s tech ecosystem.
As for eFishery’s fate, that’s still up in the air. However, major changes are definitely afoot within the company, with mass layoffs that are apparently underway.
Today we look at:
- The waves of layoffs at eFishery
- Thai healthtech startup HD bagging fresh funds
- Other newsy highlights such as ByteDance having to pay for code plagiarism and Grab’s AudiProtect feature raising privacy concerns
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A big L
Image credit: Timmy Loen
EFishery is ramping up layoffs, according to people familiar with the matter. The exact number of affected employees remains unclear, but a source suggests that up to 90% of staff could be affected.
- The bigger story: In December 2024, eFishery launched an internal probe into allegations of financial fraud, and its co-founders stepped down following the investigation. A draft audit of the company later uncovered more troubling details, including the use of “external books” to present inflated financials to outside parties.
- A difficult time: The layoff process appears to be accelerating after FTI Consulting, which is leading the investigation, took over management of eFishery on February 4. At the time, eFishery said that it had to make several “difficult decisions” to align operational costs with the group’s “actual business scale.”
- Question mark: A general shareholders meeting is expected to be held soon to determine the future of the company.
Read more: Embattled unicorn eFishery accelerates mass layoffs
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