TLDR:
- Indonesian agritech startup Semaai has raised $4.7 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by CyberAgent Capital.
- The funding brings Semaai’s total funding to $7.6 million and will be used to expand the startup’s agronomy advisory service and forge collaborations with fintech institutions.
Indonesian agritech startup Semaai has secured $4.7 million in a pre-Series A funding round, combining equity and debt financing. Tokyo-based venture capital firm CyberAgent Capital led the round, with participation from new investors Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia, Ruvento, MyAsiaVC, and Heracles Ventures. Existing investors Peak XV’s Surge, Accion Venture Lab, and Beenext also joined the funding round. With this new funding, Semaai plans to expand its agronomy advisory service to agri-retailers and farmers and forge collaborations with fintech institutions.
Semaai aims to amplify its agronomy advisory service to both agri-retailers and farmers and secure its footprint in Central Java. The startup plans to cover 75% of the region’s villages by the close of 2024. Semaai has experienced a fifteen-fold surge in net revenue in the last 12 months and doubled its Toko Tani marketplace user base. The advisory feature, a cornerstone of Semaai’s services, has seen adoption rise eightfold in the last six months. The startup positions itself as a ‘farmer-first’ enterprise dedicated to delivering comprehensive agritech solutions that empower farmers and small rural businesses in Indonesia.
Semaai’s mission is to maximize earnings for farmers and rural micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by providing tailored consultancy, productivity tools, and farming inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. The startup adopts a full-stack approach to agri-tech and aims to address disruptions in the supply chain and fill knowledge gaps for Indonesia’s agri-retailers and smallholder farmers. CyberAgent Capital, an early-stage Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) firm based in Japan, believes in Semaai’s capacity to bring innovation to the agricultural landscape and support its offline-to-online approach within the agricultural input material supply chain. Agriculture is the third largest contributor to Indonesia’s overall GDP.
With this funding, Semaai plans to collaborate with financial institutions and fintech providers to expand its embedded fintech solutions. The startup aims to provide an integrated digital ecosystem that addresses disruptions in the supply chain and fills knowledge gaps for Indonesia’s agri-retailers and smallholder farmers. The funding will also help Semaai double its total transaction volume and further drive positive change in the agricultural sector in Indonesia.
