Agritech Startup Eratani Gets Initial Funding of 23 Billion Rupiah

Agritech startup Eratani received pre-seed funding of IDR 23 billion led by Trihill Capital, followed by participation from Kenangan Kapital and Kopital Network. Through this funding, they will build an agricultural ecosystem from upstream to downstream to develop a super app for farmers.

A number of startup founders also invested in Eratani, including Koinworks Co-founder & CEO Benedicto Haryono, Sociolla Co-founder & CEO John Marco Rasjid, Gaji Gesa Founder & CEO Vidit Agrawal, and several other angel investors.

According to Eratani’s Founder & CEO Andrew Soeherman, investors are attracted to the business model because it focuses on the entire agricultural process from upstream to downstream. This gives Eratani a competitive value for new breakthroughs in the agricultural industry going forward.

“We continue to build and advance the agricultural ecosystem with digitalization and transparency in every process. In the future Eratani wants to collaborate more with food business entities to improve national food security and assist the government in encouraging equitable growth of the agricultural sector in Indonesia,” he said.

Eratani was founded by Andrew Soeherman, Kevin Juan Tanggo Laksono (COO), and Angles Gani (CPO) in June 2021. They aim for the number one position in Indonesia as an agritech platform that has a strong agricultural ecosystem.

With services ranging from financing, procurement of goods, processing, to distribution of crops. Currently Eratani has fostered more than 5,000 farmers in West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Yogyakarta.

Expansion to Super App

Furthermore, Eratani will focus on building ecosystems and supply chains; expansion to all islands of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan; as well as developing a super app platform for Indonesian farmers.

Meanwhile, this super app is designed to accommodate the needs of farmers through digitizing agricultural processes, starting from access to business capital, education on land management, agricultural production facilities, and harvest management.

“Since Eratani’s presence in Indonesia, we have tried to help farmers overcome the challenges they face. That is why the development of the super app is the key to accelerating the availability of a trusted digital ecosystem for farmers. We are optimistic that more farmers can be empowered,” he said.

In a previous interview with DailySocial.id, Andrew revealed several issues that are often experienced by the agricultural sector. First, 98% of agricultural processes from upstream to downstream have not been digitized. Second, 93% of farmers still carry out their own business activities and are not organized.

Third, farmers do not have the capital to cultivate the land until it is harvested. Most of the production facilities are purchased with the harvest. He also highlighted the difficulty of regenerating new farmers because today’s children are less interested in farming.

Referring to BPS data in 2020, 46.30% of the people who fall into the poor category in Indonesia, mostly come from the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector is still the main pillar of the Indonesian economy.

Promoting Agricultural Ecosystems in Indonesia

Meanwhile, the McKinsey report noted that as much as 50-70% of crop yields in Indonesia never reach the market. Research estimates that the productivity of farmers in Indonesia must increase by 60% if they are to meet the food needs of 280 million people.

This can also be realized if farmers are able to increase crop yields, reduce post-harvest losses, and can distribute them to big cities.

With the trust of investors, Andrew emphasized that his party will carry out a large-scale expansion in Java, starting from recruiting potential talent, to developing its technology to make it a modern, adaptable, and friendly application for farmers.

The step to continue to build and advance the agricultural ecosystem with digitalization and transparency in every process is one of Eratani’s real steps in realizing their main goal, which is to become the best partner of farmers in Indonesia.