Indonesian aquaculture-tech startup DELOS raised an $8 million extension seed round co-led by MDI-KB’s Centauri and Alpha JWC Ventures, with initial seed investors topping up and new strategic angel investors following on.
The startup said it will use the new funds to build and scale its three main product lines: AquaHero, AquaLink, and AquaBank, which tackle specific problems and opportunities within both the Indonesian aquaculture industry and global seafood market.
MDI-KB’s Centauri and Alpha JWC Ventures are joined by existing investors, Number Capital, Arise, iSeed SEA, Irvan Kolonas, as well as Alto Partners Multi-Family Office, Mahanusa Capital, Kopi Kenangan founder James Prananto, and a number of strategic follow-on investors.
Founded in 2021 by Guntur Mallarangeng, Bobby Indra Gunawan, Alexander Farthing, and Aristya Noerhadi, DELOS seeks to drive the growth and modernization of the Indonesian aquaculture industry and its integration into the global seafood industry, a vision the company calls the “Blue Revolution”.
DELOS’ founder mix brings a multidisciplinary team that includes aquaculture, marine and microbiology, technology, and business backgrounds working in concert to accelerate the growth of the Indonesian aquaculture industry.
The company said it has grown their Annual GMV and hectares of pond area under management by more than 600% since November 2021, growing clients’ output in tons/hectare by an average of 114%.
DELOS is establishing the DELOS Maritime Institute (DMI) in Yogyakarta in order to educate and train workforce-ready aquaculture talent as well as support scientific and technological R&D efforts.
“DELOS’ reception in the aquaculture industry has been positive, with client acquisition outpacing the team’s capability to onboard farms. Since November 2021, the company is on track to on-boarding 100 hectares of intensive and super-intensive shrimp farms, with an existing demand backlog of more than 600 hectares in our pipeline,” says Guntur. “We want to push Indonesia to realize and harness the true potential of its vast seas, making them into major, and sustainable, national economic drivers in the near future.” – BusinessNewsAsia.com