Three Potential Local Agritech Startups to Become Unicorns

Three domestic agricultural sector startups (agritech) are claimed to have great potential to become unicorns. The Coordinator of the Innovation Center and Business Incubator of the State University of Jakarta (UNJ) Dinta Sebayang said that when viewed from the economic potential, it is very wide open.

“In my opinion, if we look at our economic potential in the agricultural business field, both in terms of production and consumption needs, agricultural startups have the potential to become unicorns,” he said, Wednesday (8/9/2021).

He predicts startups that have the potential to reach a valuation value of above US$1 billion, equivalent to Rp.14 trillion, are Tanihub, Igrow and Karsa. However, he continued, to prepare for this, there are several things that startups must anticipate.

First, the challenges of the pandemic period with related government policies, such as the Implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM).

Second, the risk of global warming which can lead to crop failure. Third, anticipation to strengthen insurance and capital is also very important.

He said that if the supply chain network has stabilized and the number of consumers has started, the next challenge will be imported products.

According to the report Driving the Growth of Agritech Ecosystem in Indonesia from DSinnovate with Crowde, the agricultural industry in Indonesia has potential and challenges for that.

In the report, Indonesia had 33.4 million farmers in 2018. Of the total 4.5 million of them have access to the internet, the rest have not been touched by the internet.

TaniHub is a Strong Candidate for Agritech Startup with Unicorn Status

Startups in agriculture or agritech startups, especially TaniHub, are increasingly showing that they will soon enter the ranks of unicorn startups with a valuation of over US$1 billion.

Chairman of the Indonesian Technology Startup Association (Atsindo) Handito Joewono said that in the second semester of 2021, there are already good signs for agricultural and food startups.

“Agriculture and food startups experienced good growth acceleration in the second half of this year. With the right innovations this year could be a turning point in the development of Indonesian agriculture and food startups,” he said, Wednesday (8/9/2021).

Handito said that TaniHub is an example of a startup with a great opportunity. Previously, this agritech startup received series B funding of US $ 65.5 million or around Rp. 932 billion.

There is a possibility that the company will raise new investment next year. With these achievements, TaniHub may have great potential to become a unicorn.

Handito believes that innovation will create greater growth opportunities for the company, so there needs to be a restructuring of the business model.

“In parallel, it is necessary to increase the company’s valuation and reorganize the business model, which is very important so that agricultural startups are more ready for unicorns,” he said.

TaniFund Aims to be a Fintech in the Agri Sector with Wide Social Impact

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending financial technology provider PT Tani Fund Madani Indonesia or TaniFund, part of the agritech startup TaniHub Group, is eyeing a position as a leading fintech provider of agri-sector capital.

TaniHub Group CEO Pamitra Wineka has a vision that TaniFund will continue to move to create social impact through providing access to capital and coaching to farmers, especially strengthening the upstream or upstream side as a mission to contribute positively to the Indonesian agricultural sector.

Since its establishment in 2017 until now, TaniFund has distributed funding from the public of IDR 344 billion to more than 4,000 borrowers, from more than 10,000 lenders, both individuals and institutions.

Natalia Rialucky Marsudi, Chief Strategy Officer of TaniHub Group, revealed that her party is eyeing a new funding distribution of IDR 700 billion soon.

Some of the strategies are inviting more new lenders and encouraging existing lenders to increase funding, expanding expansion outside Java, conducting product innovations, and strengthening monitoring through advanced internal credit scoring.