The archive · Commerce & Marketplaces · Financial decision · 2013–2025
Fabricated revenue topples eFishery, Indonesia's $1.4B aquaculture unicorn
eFishery was Southeast Asia's first aquaculture unicorn, then a whistleblower showed most of its revenue was fake and it collapsed
eFishery
What the business is
Aquaculture platform: automated IoT fish-feeding devices for small farmers, plus e-commerce marketplaces for feed and fish, financing products and farm data.
Starting capital：US$314M+ equity across five rounds, incl. a $90M Series C and a $200M Series D
How it started
Founder Gibran Huzaifah ran a catfish farm in college and saw that aquaculture had barely changed in 30 years: farmers hand-fed, fish grew unevenly, and buyers wanted uniform sizes. He founded eFishery in Bandung in 2013, betting that the same tech wave that disrupted commerce and finance would finally reach the ponds.
What happened
eFishery raised $90M in January 2022 from Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia, then a $200M Series D in July 2023 led by 42XFund at a $1.4B valuation — the first aquaculture startup past $1B. It claimed 70,000 farmers in 280 cities and expanded to India. Behind the scenes, management kept two sets of books: revenue of $752M reported for the first nine months of 2024 versus $157M actually earned.
How it ended up
A whistleblower's tip to a board member triggered a December 2024 investigation; co-founders Gibran and Chrisna Aditya were dismissed, FTI Consulting found most sales were faked, 90% of staff were laid off by February 2025, and India operations closed. In August 2025 Indonesian police detained Gibran on fraud and embezzlement charges.
Background
eFishery's bet was that Indonesia's aquaculture — the world's second-largest, still run by hand-fed smallholders — could be digitized. Because feed is 70–90% of a fish farmer's cost, founder Gibran Huzaifah started with an IoT feeder that senses appetite and dispenses feed automatically, then layered on marketplaces for feed and fish, financing, and farm data. The wedge was tangible: farmers feel the device in their costs.
The funding machine then took over. A $90M Series C in January 2022 from Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia was followed by a $200M Series D in July 2023 led by 42XFund at a $1.4B valuation — the first unicorn in global aquaculture. eFishery claimed 70,000 farmers in 280 Indonesian cities and launched in India, with goals of a million ponds by 2025.
The numbers were largely fiction. After a whistleblower raised concerns, a December 2024 board investigation found management had inflated revenue by almost $600 million in the first nine months of 2024: $752M reported against $157M actually earned. FTI Consulting, brought in to run the company, documented two sets of books and fake transactions; co-founders Gibran Huzaifah and Chrisna Aditya were dismissed.
The collapse was fast: 90% of staff laid off by February 2025, India operations shut, investors facing near-total loss on $314M of equity. In August 2025 Indonesian police detained Gibran and two former executives, alleging fraud and embezzlement of at least Rp15 billion. The feeder unit — the one division with a real product — was pitched to private-equity buyers as the salvageable remnant.
What has to be true
- Feed is 70–90% of fish-farming cost, so an appetite-sensing feeder attacks the farmer's real P&L — a genuine wedge that made early adoption possible.
- Marquee investors (SoftBank, Temasek, Sequoia, 42XFund) plus a first-in-category unicorn label let eFishery raise $314M without the economics being stress-tested.
- Two sets of books — real ERP for insiders, polished Excel for investors and auditors — kept the fiction alive from Series A onward, and scale claims were never verified on the ground.
- A whistleblower, not diligence, broke the fraud; by then 90% of staff and most investor capital were already gone.
What can be applied
Growth metrics are only as real as the controls behind them: investors who never verify the farmers, ponds and revenue end up financing the fiction.
Aftermath
As of August 2025 eFishery no longer operates as the company investors funded. FTI Consulting runs the business under CEO Martin Wong, 90% of employees are gone, India has been shut down, and shareholders are deciding between restructuring and a sale of the feeder unit — reported bidders include Aqua Bridge Holding. Gibran Huzaifah was detained on July 31, 2025 and is being investigated for fraud and embezzlement alongside two former executives.
Sources
- Indonesian aquaculture startup eFishery nets $200M at unicorn valuation
- Indonesia's $1.4B startup allegedly falsifies most sales: report
- After layoffs and India shutdown, eFishery eyes PE funding
- Police detain three eFishery executives over embezzlement
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