Startup Eden Farm is Ready to Expand with Pre-Series A Funding

Agritech startup Eden Farm announced that it has secured pre-series A funding in a round led by Investible with the involvement of AC Ventures and Corin Capital. Apart from the three investors, this funding series also received participation from several strategic individual investors.

Since its establishment in 2017, Eden Farm has a mission to maximize farmers’ income by streamlining the food supply chain and distributing quality and affordable agricultural products to culinary entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

“This series of funding will be used to expand Eden Farm’s operations throughout Java and Sumatra, increase SKU options, expand strategic land cultivated through farmer funding programs, and continue developing technology to automate most business processes,” said David Setyadi Gunawan, CEO at Eden Farm.

David said that even in the midst of a pandemic, the company is in a strong position to carry out the entire 2021 development plan. On the ground, according to David, the agricultural sector is very fragmented, thus creating an inefficient food supply chain.

As a result, the income of farmers is reduced and unstable. Even though, the agricultural sector in Indonesia contributes 14 percent of GDP. That is the equivalent of approximately USD 140 billion with an annual growth rate of 8 percent.

Eden Farm Has the Opportunity to Create Food Self-Sufficiency

Daniel Veytsblit, Investment Director at Investible said Eden Farm’s business model has a tremendous opportunity to reduce prices and food inefficiencies across Indonesia. “We are interested in the deep entrepreneurial experiences of the business founders, as well as their vision of creating food self-sufficiency in Indonesia,” said Daniel.

Meanwhile, Adrian Li, Managing Partner at AC Ventures said that Eden Farm has succeeded in creating a business that is difficult to imitate because it has a strong farmer network, a consumer network with stable demand, and an efficient food supply chain.

“This funding will enable Eden Farm to further increase their market share in each segment and prepare them for fundraising in the upcoming Series A. We are very pleased to partner with Eden Farm as they work to grow together and lead industry players in the process. digitization,” said Adrian.

Currently, Eden Farm has served more than 25,000 traders consisting of culinary MSMEs, hotels, restaurants, cafes, traditional markets, resellers, and startups in 12 cities and 3 regencies on the island of Java. From the supply side, Eden Farm is supported by more than 1,500 individual and group farmers from Java and Sumatra.

This number is expected to continue to grow exponentially in 2021. Eden Farm’s service coverage includes Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, South Tangerang, Bekasi, Cikarang, Karawang, Cikampek, Purwakarta, Bandung, West Bandung, Cimahi, Semarang and Surabaya.

Supporting MSMEs to Continue to Thrive in the Middle of a Pandemic

Eden Farm, a pilot company that has been present since 2017, has launched a program that can help MSMEs and farmers avoid adversity during this pandemic. One of the ways is to bring MSMEs and farmers closer to technology.

This is in line with the direction of the Minister of Research and Technology / National Research Agency (Menristek / BRIN) Bambang Brodjonegoro that several business opportunities can be exploited in the current era of adapting to new habits by utilizing technology.

As a provider of vegetables, fruit, eggs and basic necessities for culinary businesses, traditional markets, other startups and hotels that are also closely related to the implementation of technology, Eden Farm also wants to transmit them to MSME players and Indonesian farmers.

In 2020, Eden Farm released the Eden Farm Application (Android) as well as an order service via WhatsApp Automatic (0821-8088-5970) which allows citizens who are customers to view product catalogs and prices and place orders independently. Eden Farm also opens re-seller business opportunities and is active in the marketplace (Tokopedia, Shopee, Blibli).