eFishery, an Indonesian smart fish feeder manufacturer, has received funding from the Aqua¬spark aquaculture investment fund, and Indonesian venture capital firm Ideosource to develop its distribution network.

eFishery has designed an affordable automatic smart feeder that uses sensors to measure fish appetite and appropriate feed amounts, which ensures that fish are neither over or underfed. This is particularly important when fish feed accounts for between 50 and 80 percent of a fish farm’s overheads.

Designed for both small and large¬ scale farmers, the system can sense appetites, automatically distribute feed, and give real¬ time reports of consumption on the farmer’s smartphone, for which a subscription is charged.
eFishery is also planning a rental model, which farmers can rent monthly, or even make payment after harvest.

“Fish feeding is done inefficiently by labourers, and farmers don’t have any technology to control the feeding yet. I saw the problem when I was a fish farmer myself. We built this product to make fish and shrimp farming businesses more efficient, convenient, and accountable,” said eFishery Co-Founder and CEO Gibran Chuzaefah Amsi El Farizy.

The company claims that on average, its smart feeding system reduces the amount of feed used by 21 per cent.

Currently only available in Indonesia, there are more than 17,000 fish and shrimp farms in eFishery’s sights, and orders from Thailand, Singapore, India, China, Brazil, and countries in Africa.

“We are very excited to solve the global challenge of fish feeding with eFishery. Indonesia has about 3.3 million fishponds and 2.7 million fish farms. When brought to scale, it could have a massive impact across a global industry plagued by this challenge. It has the potential to set a new standard for aquaculture and make the industry more transparent, data¬ driven, and accountable – all factors that will make businesses in this sector more investment ¬friendly,” said Aqua¬spark partner Amy Novogratz.

Combined with Ideosource’s expertise in Indonesia’s technology landscape, the two firms will support eFishery’s long¬ term vision.

“eFishery is a perfect example of a company that is solving real problems in a lucrative market,” says Andrias Ekoyuono, VP of business development at Ideosource.