The archive · Commerce & Marketplaces · Strategic decision · 2016–2025
Aruna's $35M bet on digital fisheries hits a $60M round collapse and 40% layoffs
Indonesia's Aruna bet aggregating small fishermen could fix a fragmented seafood chain; after a $60M round fell through, it cut 40% of staff in early 2025.
Aruna
What the business is
Aruna runs an integrated fisheries platform connecting small Indonesian fishermen to restaurants, retailers and exporters, with collection points for quality checks and logistics.
Starting capital：Raised US$35M in a Series A in July 2021 (Prosus Ventures, East Ventures Growth Fund, SIG, AC Ventures, MDI, Vertex), Indonesia's largest agritech Series A at the time, on top of earlier seed rounds.
How it started
Three Telkom University graduates founded Aruna in 2016 to help their fishing-industry families. They saw two problems: fishermen got unfair prices through long middleman chains, and they had no access to working capital. The platform aggregated orders, standardized quality and used transaction data for credit scoring.
What happened
The 2021 Series A funded national expansion and by 2023 Aruna claimed over 55,000 fishermen and 150 supply points. But a planned US$60M round fell through at the last moment in 2023, and investor appetite for aquatech collapsed after the eFishery fraud allegations — one Indonesian VC said investors would avoid the sector entirely for a while.
How it ended up
From December 2024 to January 2025 Aruna laid off roughly 40% of its workforce, calling it strategic restructuring. CEO Farid Naufal Aslam said tightening access to capital across agribusiness forced the cut; the company said it would keep operating.
Background
Aruna was founded in 2016 by three Telkom University graduates whose families worked in fishing. Their bet: digitize Indonesia's fragmented seafood supply chain — where six or seven middlemen sit between a boat and a buyer — so small-scale fishermen could get fair prices, predictable demand and access to working capital.
The model attracted Indonesia's largest agritech Series A at the time: US$35M led by Prosus Ventures and East Ventures in July 2021. By 2023 Aruna claimed more than 55,000 fishermen and 150 supply points, but a planned US$60M round collapsed at the last moment, and the sector's reputation took another hit when aquaculture unicorn eFishery was accused of fabricating revenue.
With capital tapped out, Aruna cut roughly 40% of its staff between December 2024 and January 2025. The CEO called it strategic restructuring and pointed to investor caution across agribusiness; the company kept its platform running and signed new partnerships, but the expansion phase was over.
What has to be true
- The 2021–2022 funding window let Aruna grow fast, but its logistics-heavy model depended on continued venture capital to stay ahead of fixed costs.
- The collapse of a US$60M round in 2023 left it without the growth capital its cost structure assumed.
- The eFishery fraud scandal chilled the whole aquatech category, making a fresh round nearly impossible even for a clean operator.
- Aruna's early edge — an end-to-end chain with collection points — was also its burden once capital dried up.
- The company survived by cutting staff rather than shutting down, an outcome shaped by how quickly sector sentiment can turn.
What can be applied
A marketplace that must build physical logistics to deliver its promise is capital-intensive wearing a marketplace's clothes; when funding dries up, the fixed-cost network becomes the liability.
Aftermath
As of September 2026 Aruna still operates its fisheries platform, with CEO Farid Naufal Aslam leading a leaner company focused on operational efficiency after the 40% staff reduction. No major new funding round has been announced since the US$60M round collapsed in 2023, and the company's status is live-but-shrunken rather than growing.
Sources
- Indonesia 'sea-to-table' platform Aruna hooks $35M led by Prosus and East Ventures Growth Fund
- Aruna PHK Pegawai saat Pendanaan Seret
- Aruna Kurangi Jumlah Karyawannya hingga 40 Persen, Ada Apa?
- Startup Perikanan Aruna PHK Karyawan, Terdampak Kasus eFishery?
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card