Eden Farm, an Indonesia AgriTech company, announced Monday the completion of a $19 million Series A round of financing co-led by AppWorks and AC Ventures, with participation from Trihill Capital, OCBC Ventures, Investible, Corin Capital, and existing investor Global Founders Capital.

“By the end of 2022, we plan to expand to 25 cities and 8 regencies, supplying more than 100,000 customers with 100 percent fulfillment rate of more than 1,000 stock keeping units (SKUs), to finance and generate demand,” Eden Farm Founder and Chief Executive Officer David Setyadi Gunawan said in a statement.

According to him, the company is also securing a higher volume of strategic products through Eden Community Center (ECC), which enables the company to penetrate the business-to-businsess (B2B) market more aggressively all the way to the central market.

“In parallel, we strive to optimize the food ecosystem for both farmers and culinary businesses, through supply chain infrastructure development, market expansion, tech acceleration, and hiring new talent and building human capital,” he added.

Meanwhile, AppWorks Chairman and Founding Partner said, the Eden Farm team has demonstrated resilience, operational expertise, strong empathy for farmers and customers, and incredible knowledge about the AgriTech space, bringing new life into one of humankind’s oldest industries.

“The team has proven that they are coachable and have laid out a powerful vision for the future of agriculture in Indonesia. We’re excited for Eden Farm’s journey ahead and are incredibly excited to help support the team in making an even bigger impact in Indonesia’s agricultural sector,” he said.

AC Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Adrian Li also said Eden Farm is focusing on revolutionizing the supply chain for fresh produce and creating powerful defensibility in the upstream agri-tech space.

“As early investors in Eden Farm, we have seen the company grow and achieve all their milestones as they scaled demand channels and built stronger relationships with farmers on the ground. We continue to support Eden Farm as they further lead this industry into digitization and become a leader in the B2B agri-tech space,” he added.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Indonesia is home to 33.4 million farmers, with the agriculture sector contributing 14 percent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product or $140 billion in market size, growing at 12.93 percent quarter on quarter. With the agriculture sector being heavily fragmented with inefficient supply chains, farmers’ income is limited with significant margin leakage throughout the value chain. Additionally, food and beverage is a $92 billion market, with mom-and-pop stores contributing to $63 billion in market size. The food sector is also expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7 percent.

Founded in 2017, the Y Combinator-backed Eden Farm is one of Indonesia’s fastest-growing B2B AgriTech startups, with the mission to build a complete food ecosystem both for the farmer and B2B market. The company simplifies the supply chain to improve margins by reducing prices and cutting out middlemen, providing accurate demand forecasts for farmers by implementing digital acceleration and achieving production predictability. Taken together, the company is able to better meet customer needs with higher quality products and lower prices, while putting more money in the pockets of farmers. Leveraging demand consistency and predictability, through the company, farmers’ income has increased by over 200 percent, while reducing food costs for customers by 30 percent.

The team is led by co-founders David Setyadi Gunawan (CEO), Ramavito Mountaino (Chief Financial Officer), and Febrianto Gamal (Chief Operating Officer), MBA classmates and seasoned entrepreneurs who co-founded companies in the logistics and consumer space. Built off the team’s strong entrepreneurial and operational expertise, as well as significant time on the ground, the Eden Farm team has cultivated great empathy, insight, and passion for Indonesia’s agriculture space.

With the mission of “Feeding the Nation,” Eden Farm has also built an advanced food distribution network since 2017.

Supported by global investors from 8 countries, Eden Farm now operates in 14 cities and 3 regencies across Java. It has demonstrated strong operational moats by sourcing products directly from farmers, creating defensibility in upstream AgriTech and growth traction through diversified demand channels. Focusing on the B2B market, the company supplies high-quality food ingredients to HORECA, wet markets, traditional culinary, and e-commerce. The company now serves more than 53,000 customers by working with over 2,000 farmers across Java, equipped with five fulfillment centers. As of September 2021, it is supported by 400 key partners to ensure reliable product supply.

ORIGIN Indonesia | Going abroad, food and agritech, China’s innovation