Lead Start-Ups in the Fishery Sector in Indonesia

Start-ups are happening in almost all sectors all over the globe. In Indonesia, developing Indonesia’s digital economy sits firmly on the current administration’s agenda.

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In August 2017, the government finally released Indonesia’s e-commerce road map through Presidential Regulation No. 74 of 2017 on E-Commerce Road Map for the Year of 2017-2019 (the “E-Commerce Road Map”). The roadmap covers key targets to be achieved by various government institutions over the next two years. These key targets are related to the components above, with specific deadlines for each target. The roadmap is designed to be a guide for the central and regional governments to establish policy and an action plan to accelerate e-commerce. It is also expected to provide guidance for stakeholders in the organization of e-commerce activities. To read the full English translation (unofficial) of the road map, click here.

In the fishery sectors in Indonesia a number of start-ups are growing and inventing in apps focusing in certain topics. These include:

Umitron

The company provides computerized aquaculture model by detecting fish behaviour and oceanography data from IoT (Internet of Things) and satellite. They are working on modelling computerized optimal aquaculture through data conversion of the ocean and pond.

E-Fishery

Is established by a student in 2013, primarily produces automatic fish-feeding machines. Its device ‘smart feeder technology’  allows fish and shrimp farmers to schedule feeding times using a smartphone app. Not only to market its smart fish feeder, eFishery also actively assists the cultivators to apply technology and professional cultivation management.

Jala

Is offering a vastly improved management system in shrimp farming industry. Jala presents IoT devices to monitor the quality of pond water 24 hours, where data measurement results can be accessed through mobile devices or web based. By using Jala, shrimp farmers will easily get the data of their pond’s water condition via SMS or internet access in anytime and anywhere. They can also determine the treatment for their ponds by using a decision support system provided by Jala, especially if there is something wrong with the water condition.

Fisco

Fisco is an online marine fish and seafood trading site that links fishermen groups in different regions to the needy market. It is a solution for fishermen who do not know where to sell their fish and solutions for buyers who do not know where to order fish commodities to whom. Fisco has worked with many local fishermen groups and managed to bring them together with Great Traders, Companies, Exporters, Restaurants, Catering, and others.

Aruna

Aruna operates an integrated fisheries B2B marketplace “Pasar Laut” and a fish auction app (eTPI) to help local fishermen and fishery cooperatives to sell their products directly to wholesale buyers. It offers real-time supply management services and is also developing a big data and analytics platform for the fishery industry. eTPI contains features that support the business process typically happening in offline fish auction centres, from inventory to point-of-sales, while Pasar Laut utilises data from eTPI to ensure fair pricing. In April 2017, the company increased the number of partnerships with informal local groups of fishermen and fishery cooperatives in West Java, Aceh, South Celebes and East Borneo. In addition to funding, Aruna also collaborates for microfinancing, logistics and supporting infrastructure.

Growpal

is a service that connects between investors or fund owners with fish farmers who need capital. There are two investment options namely Crowd Investing and Premium Investment. The difference is only on the nominal amount of the investment. Growpal was founded because of the capital problems faced by many fish farmers. In general they only have a pond that is considered as unsecure loan that can not be treated as collateral. Through GROWPAL a good synergy can be established between the capital owners who have more funds but do not know the potential of fishery farms business and fish farmers who have potential land and good breeding capability but do not have the capital to increase the production; and during harvest time both parties can also be brought together by end users without having to go through long trading chains. Currently Growpal is still focusing on marine fishery products such as shrimp, grouper, or pearl.

Fishby

Fishby is an online fundraising site for sharia investment in the fisheries sector. Capital assistance is focused on the fish farming business.

IWAK

Is startup that offers business models based on community empowerment through freshwater fish farming, especially catfish. It is a P2P lending platform that connects potential investors with catfish farmers in the villages surrounding Nganjuk regency in east java, where the founder of this company comes from. He aimed to utilise the potential of unused lands, rivers, and rice paddies into freshwater fishery in Nganjuk to support society’s welfare in the area. Launched in November 2015, the platform aims to help catfish farmers solve one of the key challenges faced by the industry, which is funding. IWAK provides real-time data for investors to monitor the progress of their investment, who their farmers are, the performance of each pool, etc. At the moment, IWAK claims to have successfully gathered 279 investors to help 15 families with 68 catfish pools in total.

The Director General of Aquaculture of the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) Mr. Slamet Soebjakto expressed his supports to the innovation and initiatives of the young generation in order to strengthen the connectivity in the aquaculture business chain. "The start-ups are very valuable to guarantee the efficiency of the market chain in terms of market access; while for on farm activities it help to be more efficient in terms of time, effort, and process."

Reference:

Presidential Regulation On The Road Map for The National Electronic Commerce System For 2017 – 2019

and roadmap.

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