Growing in the rest of the world

• Gibran Huzaifah, CEO & Co-founder of 500-backed aquatech company eFishery never wanted to build a technology startup.  
• How did they become Indonesia’s newest unicorn (company valued at over US$1 billion)? 
• It all started with a personal goal: Gibran was a fish farmer, and he wanted to grow the number of fish ponds he has to expand his fish business.
• It was then that he discovered a widespread problem faced by fish farmers around fish feeding. One thing led to another, and he and his partner developed the eFeeder, an Internet of Things (IoT) device to automate and increase feeding efficiency.
• But it wasn’t all smooth sailing at first. In 2013, eFishery wanted to offer a mobile solution, yet smartphones were still a luxury item and most of the farmers didn’t have one. Farmers thought eFishery wanted to replace humans. So, Gibran and his team got to work — educating them about the benefits of using technology and its value.
• What’s next? “We have targeted 1 million fish farmers over the next five years,” Gibran shared. “We want to offer a shorter time span and cycle from farming to processing the product — compared to the industry now, where there’s so many middlemen.”
• Check out the full interview on Rest of World.