Eshishery “was supposed to reflect what the local ecosystem could do, what Indonesian founders could do. This should have been one of Southeast Asia’s better companies. This was supposed to be a winner,” Justin Hall, a Golden Gate Ventures partner, said for CNBC.
Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Startup Ecosystem of Southeast Asia forbade years of drought, and the recent scandal has caused another blow to a sense of investors in the region.
Indonesian Agritech Unicorn Eshisry – supported by investors like S
The company did not immediately respond to the CNBC comment request.
The Eshishery Board of Directors announced on Tuesday that he had appointed a business consultation company FTI Consulting for the management of the company’s office, according to the official statement of the company received by CNBC.
FTI Consulting also published a statement stating that “it aims to support lasting efforts in conducting a thorough and objective review of the business review of the true financial and operational position of the company.”
This comes in the middle of an ongoing investigation, and was initiated by the Corporate accounting of the Company’s accounting, which estimates that the administration has increased the revenue of nearly $ 600 million in nine months by September 2024, Bloomberg reported.
The company also made a profit of $ 16 million in the same period during the same period during the same period in the same period, but the investigation states that the startup actually made a loss of $ 35.4 million, the report said.
“[EFishery] He needed to reflect what the local ecosystem could do, which Indonesian founders could do. This was supposed to be one of the better companies from Southeast Asia. This was supposed to be the winner, “said Justin Hall, a partner to Golden Gate Ventures, for CNBC.
AND societywhich deployed a smart fisheries feeding system, reached the status of a unicorn 2023 after the D. Financing Circle from $ 200 million. However, today they allegedly supported the company Considering liquidation or buying, among other options, according to Bloomberg.
Ecosystem underwater
The startup ecosystem of Southeast Asia was already facing years of painful and expensive calibration of the Coid-19 pandemia, when financing in the region has grown.
2024. The total volume of the contract in the region fell 10.3% compared to the previous year on 633 contracts, while the value of the job sank by $ 41.7% to $ 4.56 billion, according to a report from January 2025. An agreement of Asia streets.
“In order to put it in a perspective, the number 2024 represents only 54.6% of the capital collected during the first year of Pandemia Covid-19 2020, and only 19.5% of the top 2021,” the report said.
So where did things go wrong?
In the context, some will consider the startup scene in the region relatively young, and began to develop faster in the last decade and a half.
“We are only at the beginning of this whole class of assets, if you will,” said JX Lye, founder and CEO of Acme Technology and former Coo Endowus. “I would say that in the early 2010 year they were the golden age of Silicon Valley … Everything was happening – Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox happened there.”
“But what happened in the mid -2010s was that suddenly, Southeast Asia became interesting as a growth story,” Lye said.
That was also when the first wave of startups in the region began to appear. Companies such as Gojek, Carousell and Grab were among the first to provide strong opportunities to go out or a way to sell their stake for profit.
You could say that Southeast Asia saw what effectively it was to grow unattainable until the collision in the post-Kosid.
Justin Hall
Partner, Golden Gate Ventures
In addition to the first wave of successful startups, other factors appeared in this time frame, which accelerated the growth of the ecosystem of technology and launching the region, which consequently brought an appeal to investors’ interest.
“There was a giant middle-class explosion … In the early 2000s to the middle teenagers,” CNBC Kevin Aluwi, co-founder of Gojek and Venture partner at Lightspeed, told CNBC. “There were many projections that the consumer market in Southeast Asia would look like a mini cinema, but that didn’t drop.”
Investors expected a very “colorful consumer market with a high consumption consumer” and to record their predictions about prices that companies had, the frequency of transactions that would occur, and overall, the average income that would be startups is capable of bring, Aluwi said.
“There were business models that many thought would be sustainable, but they were not sustainable,” he added.
Ultimately, investors began to realize that some companies in the region may have been overrated and it became clear that the output capabilities were small and far between.
“The biggest problem is … There are very few outputs in this market, so investors have no way to get their money,” Krish Sridhar, founder and executive director Know, told CNBC.
“It’s really hard to do business in Southeast Asia because there is no such thing. In Southeast Asia we have seven different languages, seven different governments, seven different different different [systems of] Regulation, “Sridhar said.
“It’s not like business in India or China, where a local market is 1.4 billion people or 1.2 billion people,” Sridhar added.
From 2011 to 2022, the region saw the great jump of attention and distribution of resources, Hall said. “You could say that Southeast Asia saw what an effective inconsistent growth was to the collision in the post-Kosid,” Hall told CNBC.
“You had funds that raised too much money too quickly. You had the founders who raised too much money too quickly and unfortunately, the formation of capital exceeded the development of local markets,” Hall said.
Impact of scandal
Today, there have been accusations of fraud and misconduct throughout the region.
“Behind our own group, we would also like to acknowledge the broader implications on the Indonesian startup ecosystem and the community that serves,” the Eshishery Committee said in a statement.
“The recent discoveries of the alleged violation of the law (including fraud) within the group have deeply distract us and can threaten our confidence in the Indonesian investment climate where the main branches of our group are located,” the statement added.
The aquaculture company has been announced as one of the most prominent examples of what a good startup looks like in the region.
“There was a lot of hope nailed [eFishery] be the next generation … have it [bubble] Burst because it turned out to be a child’s poster child [allegedly] False, I think it’s really disappointing about ecosystems, “Aluwi said.
I think it could have a coolant for, conservative, 12 months, but probably longer.
Justin Hall
Partner, Golden Gate Ventures
“I think Southeast Asia has definitely hit its perception … But those who will suffer the most would be growth companies in Indonesia,” Hall said. “I think it will submit to any good company in Indonesia even greater supervision, to a point where I can see investors as they say, it is not worth the hassle of investing in Indonesia.”
“I think this could have a cold effect for, conservative, 12 months, but probably longer. It’s very negative right now,” Hall said.
Experts in the industry also echo that if proven the accusations are true, this scandal not only would have a negative impact on investing in the region-in the Indonesia-a large extent to the stages of funds collection. This would affect not only investors but also founders.
“I don’t think this will affect a lot on the early phase, because, first, your size checks are small,” said Lye Acme Technology. “But I think in the middle to later stages, investors will be much stricter … because there are bigger circles.”
“And this is a problem, because then every circle of financing becomes much more complex … Now they want proof, they want audit, but many times you just can’t provide it. This will increase the cost of raising funds. It will increase the effort,” Lye said.
“It’s unsaid and unprecedented, right? Because then the circulation circuit could literally kill your company,” Lye said.
Silver lining
Ultimately, although this scandal sent shock waves through the startup scene of Southeast Asia, experts in the industry agree that there is a silver lining: learned lessons.
“If I am very pessimistic, I would say that it will reduce the dollars invested. If I am more optimistic, it is not that it will reduce dollars – it will only take longer for your dollars to get to that dollars to be unlocked,” Hall said.
“I think this is a good thing in the long run. Companies need to carefully observe the management. Investors must be extremely diligent with that,” Hall added.
With better deep attention and management, investors agree that a more successful exit will happen crucial to improve the drought in financing.
“There should be local outputs. There should be global outputs. There is a need to be companies that can actually bring money to investors and then indirectly with their limited partners,” Hall said.
Today, founders and investors understand that their predictions are overly optimistic and now the market is adjusting and repeating what is realistically possible.
“This showdown began long ago. Efishery did not do it … [people] They were simply unrealistic in their expectations. I think if these expectations are rational, then, yes, this is a great place to build a job, “Hall said.
Ultimately, Southeast Asia is “still the third most influential region in the world. Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world,” Lye said. “All these shortcomings and challenges will only make the next wave of the owner of companies, entrepreneurs and investors a lot smarter … We will all refuse to be stronger.”
