The revelations have shaken Indonesia’s start-up ecosystem, which is already under pressure from declining valuations and investor skepticism.
ndonesian aquaculture start-up eFishery is embroiled in a new financial scandal, as a whistleblower’s allegations prompted an internal investigation suggesting that the company inflated its revenue by nearly US$600 million in the first nine months of 2024, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The draft report on the investigation examined by advisory firm FTI Consulting and Bloomberg states that the company had actual revenue of $157 million last year, vastly lower than the reported $752 million.
The investigation, which is ongoing, also identified alleged financial misstatements, finding a loss of $35 million instead of the declared $16 million in profit for the first three quarters of last year and accumulated total losses amounting to $152 million since the company’s launch, as of November 2024.
The company also allegedly overstated its fish feeder operations, claiming 400,000 units when only 24,000 were verified.
Founded in 2013, the company offering modernized and smart-feeding technology has attracted many investors, including Singapore-based Temasek and Japan’s SoftBank.
It raised hundreds of millions of dollars and achieved unicorn status in 2023 as its value exceeded $1 billion.
In December, CEO Gibran Huzaifah and chief product officer Chrisna Aditya were dismissed for alleged embezzlement of funds.
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