Indonesian aquatech startup DELOS lands USD 7.25 million in Series A fundraising round

Jakarta, Indonesia-based aquatech startup DELOS has raised USD 5.75 million (EUR 5.4 million) in its Series A funding round.

DELOS, which describes itself as a “science-driven aquatech company seeking to disrupt the traditional and fragmented aquaculture industry in Indonesia, with eyes on South Asia as a whole,” is developing a management system for shrimp farmers to help them digitalize their farming activities, which the company claims can result in production increases of between 50 percent and 150 percent.

DELOS raised USD 8 million (EUR 7.5 million) in a previous seed extension round in March 2022, with investors including MDI Ventures; Amsterdam, the Netherlands-headquartered Finch Capita; PayFazz CEO and Co-Founder Hendra Kwik; Japfa CEO Irvan Kolonas; Number Capital; and iSeed Asia.

Its Series A funding round, completed in early September, was led by venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures, according to its filing with s filings the Singapore Accounting and Regulatory Authority. Additionally, it secured an additional USD 1.5 million (EUR 1.4 million) from a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in a seed extension round, with Alto Partners, Indogen Capital, TAP Applied Agri Services, and Quasar Ventures signing a joiner deed to participate in the seed round via the SPV, according to Deal Street Asia.

“DELOS advances the use of data science and technology in the shrimp farming industry in Indonesia. DELOS vastly improves the productivity of farms with reduced input costs, while enabling traceability and sustainability in the farming practices,” Monk’s Hill Ventures Co-Founder and Managing Partner Kuo-Yi Lim said in a press release. “We are pleased to partner with the DELOS team in transforming the strategically important aquaculture industry - not just in Indonesia, but across Southeast Asia. This is a potentially highly impactful investment for us.”

DELOS was founded in 2021 Guntur Mallarangeng, who currently serves as CEO, as well as CFO Aris Noerhadi, CSO Alexander Farthing, and COO Bobby (Indra) Gunawan. The company’s AquaHero product is a full-stack farm productivity system that combines scientific expertise, technology, and operational excellence to boost farm yields and maintain profitability. Its highly effective data collection methods and biological model predicts and mitigates harvest risk, according to the company. Additionally, it recently launched AquaLink, a harvesting and logistics platform that allows it to capture and provide sustainable and traceable seafood supply downstream in the value chain.

“The Indonesian aquaculture sector has been in sore need of an upgrade for the past few decades. An outsized portion of farming decisions are still being made by gut feel and appeals to tradition, instead of being driven by data and empirical farming practices,” Mallarangeng said. “Indonesia’s natural advantage as the world’s biggest tropical maritime country gives it all the puzzle pieces it needs to be the world’s biggest seafood producer. Improving our aquaculture industry’s adoption of best-in-class technologies and practices would help us realize its true potential. This can be a highly strategic industry for Indonesia.”

Mallarangeng said the new funding will allow DELOS to “double down its focus on production” and make further investments in research and development focused on reducing production costs through improved disease monitoring, water quality management, feed conversion ratios, and yield optimization.

“The company will use its funding to continue its development of AquaHero through research and development of features to decrease production costs, which entails better disease monitoring, water quality management, feed conversion ratios, and yields,” he said.

Mallarangeng said DELOS hopes to tap into the USD 2.5 billion (EUR 2.3 million) aquaculture industry in Indonesia announcing its intention to “revolutionize and modernize” the industry “for seamless integration into the global seafood supply chain.”

DELOS expects to export 2,500 metric tons of shrimp in 2023 and plans to reach 5,000 MT of shrimp exports in 2024.

Photo courtesy of DELOS