eFishery

eFishery was an Indonesian aquaculture technology startup founded in 2013 that developed automated fish feeders and later expanded into feed distribution, financing, and fish trading.²¹⁰ In December 2024, the board removed co-founders Gibran Huzaifah and Chrisna Aditya and launched an investigation after whistleblower allegations of financial fraud.²⁴

Timeline

Money raised

eFishery raised a $1 million seed round in November 2014 led by Aqua Spark and Ideosource VC.¹¹ In May 2018, Aqua-Spark offered $1.5 million in three equal tranches for the Series A round.⁸ eFishery raised a $4 million Series A round in November 2018 from investors including Wavemaker Partners, 500 Global, Aqua-Spark, and Social Capital.⁸¹¹ In August 2020, eFishery raised a $15 million Series B round led by Argor Capital and Northstar Group.⁸¹¹ In January 2022, eFishery raised a $90 million Series C round co-led by Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and Sequoia Capital India (now Peak XV Partners), valuing the company at $400 million.⁸¹¹ In October 2022, eFishery obtained a IDR 500 billion (approximately $32.7 million) debt financing from PT Bank DBS Indonesia.⁹¹¹ In May 2023, eFishery raised a $108 million Series D tranche led by G42 Expansion Fund (42XFund), with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund II and Northstar Group, at a post-money valuation of $1.26 billion.¹¹ In July 2023, eFishery announced a $200 million Series D round led by 42XFund, achieving a valuation of $1.4 billion.²¹⁰¹¹ In May 2024, eFishery raised a $30 million debt financing round from PT Bank HSBC Indonesia.⁹ According to Clay, eFishery raised a total of $372.9 million across 13 funding rounds.⁹

Investors named in the sources: SoftBank Group^2468101113, Temasek Holdings^2468101113, 42XFund^68101113, Northstar Group⁴⁸¹⁰¹¹, Aqua-Spark⁸¹⁰¹¹, Wavemaker Partners⁸¹¹, 500 Global⁸¹⁰¹¹, Sequoia India (now Peak XV Partners)⁶⁸¹¹¹³, Social Capital⁶⁸¹¹, G42 Expansion Fund⁹¹¹, KWAP (Kumpulan Wang Persaraan)¹⁰¹¹¹⁶, responsAbility Investments AG¹⁰¹¹, Argor Capital⁸¹¹, Go-Ventures⁸¹¹, International Finance Corporation¹¹, Endeavor Catalyst¹¹, Bossa Invest¹¹, Maloekoe Ventures¹¹, Unreasonable Capital¹¹, Triputra Group¹¹, Ideosource VC¹¹, PT Bank HSBC Indonesia⁹, PT Bank DBS Indonesia⁹, InnoVen Capital⁹, GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator⁹.

What happened

eFishery was founded in 2013 by Gibran Huzaifah as an IoT smart feeder device company for aquaculture.²¹⁰ The company's primary innovation was an automated fish feeder system that could be programmed to feed fish at regular intervals.² The feeders were connected to a network to record and analyze data on weather, feeding patterns, and fish size.² As eFishery attracted more investment, it branched out into developing a distribution network to help fish farmers bring their product to market.² More recently, eFishery started offering credit facilities to farmers.²

eFishery's vision was to use technology and data to help farmers improve output and access credit.² In 2018, eFishery faced a serious financial crisis with only three months of operational funds and around 100 employees.⁶⁸ Founder Gibran Huzaifah began manipulating financial reports in late 2018 by creating two sets of books, one internal and one inflated for investors.⁶⁸ The manipulation succeeded in persuading investors to invest more funds, helping eFishery avoid bankruptcy.⁶ eFishery's Singapore-filed financial statements showed a 50-fold increase in sales from $185,405 in 2018 to $10 million in 2019.⁸¹¹

In 2020, eFishery raised $20 million in Series B funding from Northstar Group and Go-Ventures.⁸ In 2021, eFishery reported 1.6 trillion rupiah ($95.3 million) in revenue and 142 billion rupiah before-tax profit.⁸ In 2022, eFishery raised a $90 million Series C round at a $410 million valuation from SoftBank, Temasek, and Sequoia India.⁸ By 2023, eFishery claimed to have over 300,000 feeding units in the field and over 44,000 fish and shrimp farmers buying from its platform.⁸ In 2023, eFishery raised $200 million in Series D funding, achieving a valuation of $1.4 billion and unicorn status.²¹⁰

In December 2024, the board removed co-founders Gibran Huzaifah and Chrisna Aditya and launched an investigation into improper activities.² An interim CEO was appointed but stepped down within a few weeks.² According to reports, eFishery claimed a $16 million profit in the first nine months of 2024, but actually lost $35.4 million.² eFishery claimed revenue of $750 million in the first nine months of 2024, but actual revenue was closer to $150 million.² The company created about $600 million in fictitious transactions through the first nine months of 2024.²

FTI Consulting was appointed to review the company and recommended shutting down the bulk of its business and monetizing its intellectual property.⁴ FTI Consulting found that eFishery's technology remained nascent, with only 6,300 eFeeders deployed, far below the reported 400,000.⁴ eFishery's total revenue dropped to $24.5 million in Q4 2024 from $37.9 million in the previous quarter.⁴ The company's monthly cash burn was about $5 million before intervention, but was reduced to about $650,000.⁴ eFishery terminated 90% of its employees in three phases, retaining only 116 staff members for critical functions.⁴

Of the total accounts receivable of $68.2 million as of Dec 31, 2024, nearly 76% was deemed bad debt and unrecoverable.⁴ Investors could recoup up to $42.7 million from liquidating Indonesian assets under the most optimistic scenario, just under 10 cents for every dollar invested.⁴ A police report was filed in Indonesia against co-founders Gibran Huzaifah and Chrisna Aditya.⁴ In April 2025, Gibran Huzaifah admitted to manipulating financial reports in an interview with Bloomberg News.⁶ Gibran Huzaifah rejected allegations of theft of funds and emphasized that most employees were unaware of the manipulation.⁶

On April 29, 2026, Gibran Huzaifah was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Bandung District Court for embezzlement and money laundering.¹²¹³ The court also ordered Gibran Huzaifah to pay a fine of 1 billion rupiah.¹³

Legal outcomes

• filedA police report was filed in Indonesia against co-founders Gibran Huzaifah and Chrisna Aditya.⁴
• chargedGibran Huzaifah was charged with embezzlement and money laundering.¹³
• convictedGibran Huzaifah was convicted of embezzlement and money laundering and sentenced to nine years in prison.¹²¹³
• convictedGibran Huzaifah was ordered to pay a fine of 1 billion rupiah.¹³

Where the founders are now

Gibran Huzaifah was sentenced to nine years in prison on April 29, 2026, for embezzlement and money laundering.¹²¹³ Gibran Huzaifah was also ordered to pay a fine of 1 billion rupiah.¹³ Chrisna Aditya was removed from the board in December 2024 and a police report was filed against him.²⁴

Sources

2. The Financial Scandal at Indonesian Tech Unicorn eFishery, Explained, thediplomat.com, Feb 14, 20
4. eFishery investors could recover up to 10 cents on the dollar: FTI report, DealStreetAsia, Feb 24, 20
6. eFishery founder admits to manipulating financial reports, https://indonesiabusinesspost.com/, Apr 15, 20
8. The rise & fall of eFishery, International Finance, 2025-07-15
9. How Much Did eFishery Raise? Funding & Key Investors | Clay, clay.com
10. eFishery officially reaches $1.4 billion valuation, The Fish Site, Jul 7, 202
11. eFishery Revenue, Valuation, Funding & Investors | Multiples, multiples.vc, 6 days ago
12. eFishery founder gets nine-year jail term in US$300 mil case, sg.finance.yahoo.com, Apr 28, 20
13. eFishery founder gets 9-year jail term in $383 million Indonesia fraud case, The Straits Times, 2026-04-29
16. Malaysia probes state pension’s loss linked to eFishery collapse, The Business Times, 2026-07-19

How this case file was put together

Every statement on this page carries a numbered note, and every note points to a court record, a regulatory filing or a named publication in the list of sources. Each statement was checked against the text of the sources it cites before it was published: a figure, a date or a name the cited source does not contain was cut rather than kept. Allegations are shown as allegations, with their status at the time of the source (filed, charged, convicted, pleaded, settled, dismissed or pending). Quoted lessons are the words of the person or publication named with them, copied from the cited source; nothing here is our own opinion of why the company failed.

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