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TaniHub Group raises $17m to expand services to 100,000 farmers by 2021
TaniHub's new investment, which is an extension round of its Series A funding, brings the total equity funding raised by the company to $29 million since 2016.
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A farmer transports fertilizer using a cable car in Suntenjaya village in Lembang, West Bandung, West Java. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)
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omegrown agriculture technology (agritech) start-up TaniHub Group has raised a new investment of about US$17 million to expand its services to up to 100,000 farmers by 2021, the start-up announced on Wednesday.
The new investment, which is an extension round of its Series A funding, brings the total equity funding raised by the company to $29 million since 2016.
Singapore-based Openspace Ventures led the round with participation from Intudo Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, UOB Venture Management, Vertex Ventures, BRI Ventures and Tenaya Capital.
"In a time of volatility and relative capital scarcity, this round gives the company the firepower to keep building its technology to deliver on better logistics and larger capacity,” Shane Chesson, a partner at Openspace Ventures, said in a press release.
The press release further states that the fresh capital will be used to strengthen the company's market position and accelerate its expansion of service and geographical coverage for farmers and customers. In addition, the funds will also be used for operational improvements, including implementing automation solutions in the company’s new processing and packing center.
Established in mid-2016, TaniHub Group operates three business arms: online food marketplace TaniHub, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform TaniFund and supply chain services unit TaniSupply. The e-marketplace allows consumers to buy fresh produce directly from farmers, while the P2P platform provides farmers with an alternative and legally registered source of loans.
TaniHub has now partnered with over 30,000 smallholder farmers across the country and operates five distribution hubs across Indonesia as it plans to roll out three more hubs, according to the release. The company serves over 5,000 business customers and 115,000 retail customers through its platform.
The group said that its business had seen year-on-year growth triple since its initial Series A financing.
"We expect better growth for this year and we hope we can reach all cities throughout the country by 2022," TaniHub Group CEO and cofounder Ivan Arie Sustiawan said in the press statement.
Last week, TaniHub reported a significant increase in demand for its agricultural products, including herbal plants, at all of its branches as more people are staying at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The release, however, noted that the group's "broad" supplier network and "seamless" distribution process had enabled the company to continue its consistent delivery of fresh produce and groceries to meet the increasing demand.
Meanwhile, TaniHub Group last announced its investment in May last year when it raised US$10 million for the company to expand business operations. It also secured funding from Jakarta-based Alpha JWC Ventures in April 2018.
