Fishy business

• Indonesian and 500-backed aquaculture startup eFishery — which provides fish and shrimp farmers with access to feed, financing, and markets — announced yesterday it has successfully closed its Series B round for an undisclosed amount.
• The funding was co-led by Go-Ventures and the Northstar Group, together with existing investors including sustainable aquaculture investment fund Aqua-Spark and early-stage enterprise and deep tech VC Wavemaker Partner.

• Launched in 2013 and based in Bandung, eFishery serves thousands of farmers in 24 provinces across Indonesia through four main products.
• eFisheryFeeder — a device that enables automated feeding for fish, which can be monitored and scheduled via a smartphone;· eFisheryFeed — which provides farmers with quality fish feed at affordable prices;· eFisheryFund — to help farmers gain access to funds to grow their business; and· eFisheryFresh — an online platform to connect Indonesian fish farmers with their customers (both end consumers and merchants).

• There’s also the inception of eFisheryPoint, a physical booth showcasing eFishery products located close to farmers. There are currently 30 eFisheryPoint locations across Indonesia, with 100 more slated to launch later this year.
• “The fresh money helps us to grow the company, open up access to launch our products throughout Indonesia, and achieve our vision to become the leading aquaculture intelligence company in Indonesia,” said eFishery co-founder and CEO, Gibran Huzaifah.
• Congrats, Gibran and the eFishery team on the raise!

A new way to microblog

• In March, India-based and 500-backed peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform Vokal launched a microblogging app, called Koo, reminiscent of Twitter.
• However, the app is not available in English, but in 11 local Indian languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and more.
• Koo allows users to “speak their mind” through 400 characters of text or 1-minute short audio or video “Koos.” You can also follow people, send 1–1 direct messages and use hyper-local hashtags on the app.
• Speaking to The New Indian Express, co-founders, Mayank Bidawatka and Aprameya Radhakrishna, were inspired by Vokal, the knowledge-sharing platform in Indian languages.

• “There was no microblog for regional Indian language speakers,” said Bidawatka.
• The app took off with over 100k downloads on Google Playstore. Most recently, it was selected among the winners of the local government’s Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge.
• Koo also has celebrities, politicians, and sports personalities using the platform. They include Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Ashutosh Rana, and Ashish Vidyarth
• To know more about Koo, visit the official website here.

Go, Dana!

• Co-founder and CCO of 500-backed SaaS e-commerce logistics management company Parcel Perform, Dana von der Heide, has been nominated for the Digital Female Leader Award.
• Announcing on LinkedIn, the post reads, “Dana started Parcel Perform without a tech or financial background. She is driven by a strong belief that the e-commerce logistics industry can advance from innovation and technology through refined data, enabling merchants to make data-driven decisions.”

• The award is an initiative by the GDW Global Digital Women network. It provides a forum for founders and innovators in business, politics and society who are driving forward and sustainably shaping digitalization in the communities they’re serving.
• This announcement comes after Parcel Perform winning the Best E-Commerce Technology Company at LogiSYM Awards 2020, an annual initiative recognizing the individuals and companies who have been actively demonstrating or contributing significantly to the supply chain and logistics industry.
• Congrats on the nomination, Dana! We’ll be rooting for you!

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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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