eFishery’s $600 Million Fraud Scandal: The Rise and Fall of Southeast Asia’s Aquaculture Unicorn

eFishery was an aquaculture technology company providing IoT-enabled smart fish feeders, aquaculture supplies, and digital financial services to fish and shrimp farmers across Indonesia.

Startup Name: eFishery (Indonesia)
Founded: 2013

Business Model

eFishery was an aquaculture technology company providing IoT-enabled smart fish feeders, aquaculture supplies, and digital financial services to fish and shrimp farmers across Indonesia. The company claimed to have built a “sustainable aquaculture ecosystem,” serving hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers and positioning itself as a model for Southeast Asian agritech.

Funding and Growth: eFishery reached unicorn status in 2023 with a $1.4 billion valuation and raised over $200 million from major investors including SoftBank, Temasek, Sequoia, and G42.

Scandal and Collapse (2024–2025)

Revenue Inflation: A whistleblower-triggered investigation in late 2024 revealed that eFishery’s management had inflated revenues by nearly $600 million in the first nine months of 2024. The company reported $752 million in revenue and $16 million profit, but the actual figures were only $157 million in revenue and a $35.4 million loss.
Operational Fraud: eFishery claimed to have 400,000 operational fish feeders, but the real number was closer to 24,000. The company maintained dual financial reports—one for internal use and another, highly inflated, for investors and auditors. Fake contracts and round-tripping of funds were used to deceive auditors and stakeholders.
Leadership Fallout: Co-founder and CEO Gibran Huzaifah and CPO Chrisna Aditya were dismissed in December 2024 after the fraud was uncovered. Interim management (FTI Consulting) was brought in to oversee the company.
Mass Layoffs and Financial Ruin: By early 2025, eFishery had fired hundreds of employees, and FTI Consulting declared the company no longer commercially viable in its current form. Venture capitalists are expected to recover as little as nine cents on the dollar invested.
Sector Impact: The scandal has severely damaged investor confidence in Southeast Asia’s food and climate tech sectors, with experts warning of a prolonged funding freeze and a “wake-up call” for the region’s startup ecosystem.

Key Learnings for Startups

Rigorous financial transparency and governance are non-negotiable.
Inflating metrics to attract funding can lead to catastrophic collapse and sector-wide fallout.
Mission-driven narratives cannot substitute for honest reporting and sustainable operations.
Investor and auditor due diligence must be robust, especially in high-growth, high-impact sectors.

Summary Table

Aspect	Details
Startup Name	eFishery
Founded	2013
Unicorn Status	2023 ($1.4 billion valuation)
Funding Raised	$200+ million (SoftBank, Temasek, Sequoia, G42)
Reason for Collapse	$600 million revenue inflation, dual books, fake contracts, mass layoffs, investor losses
Leadership Fallout	CEO and CPO dismissed; FTI Consulting as interim management
Sector Impact	Investor confidence shaken, funding freeze for SEA food/climate tech
Key Learnings	Financial transparency, governance, honest reporting, due diligence

eFishery’s downfall is one of the most significant startup scandals in Southeast Asia, underscoring the critical importance of transparency and ethics in high-growth tech sectors.