Indonesia-based aquatech startup eFishery has become the country’s latest unicorn after raising $108 million in a Series D funding round led by UAE-based G42 Global Expansion Fund (42XFund), DealStreetAsia reported on Thursday, citing regulatory filings.
It was reported that 42XFund contributed $100 million to the round, while SoftBank Vision Fund II chipped in nearly $5 million, according to eFishery’s filings with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Southeast Asian private equity firm Northstar Group invested $3 million, according to the report.
The Indonesian company is valued at $1.26 billion after the latest funding and an increase in its employee share option plan (ESOP) and management share option plan (MSOP), according to calculations by DealStreetAsia – DATA VANTAGE..
The Temasek and Softbank-backed company could raise up to $200 million more in its Series D round, according to its filings. TechNode Global has reached out to eFishery founder and CEO Gibran Huzaifah for confirmation but has yet to get responses from him.
eFishery is said to be “in advanced talks” for a funding round that would boost its valuation to $1.2 billion, Bloomberg reported last month.
eFishery’s $90 million Series C round in January last year valued it at over $400 million. The round of investment was co-led by Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and Sequoia Capital India, with participation from existing investors including the Northstar Group, Go-Ventures, Aqua-Spark, and Wavemaker Partners, the company said then.
Launched in 2013 by Gibran, who himself is a fish farmer, eFishery has deployed thousands of feeders to serve more than 30,000 fish and shrimp farmers in Indonesia, according to the company’s statement last year. eFishery also provides farmers with access to financing.
eFishery said it is building an ecosystem where fish and shrimp farmers could easily upscale their productivity while at the same time creating a more sustainable, safe, and fair environment for them. In this way, the company can provide the highest quality nutritionally packed fish and shrimp products that are obtained directly from the farmers, according to its website.
Indonesia’s eFishery sets to be a unicorn as firm “in advanced talks” to raise $100M – report