Indonesian agritech startup TaniGroup raises US$10m in Series A round

INDONESIAN agritech startup TaniGroup has raised US$10 million in a Series A round led by Openspace Ventures, with participation from Intudo Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, and The DFS Lab, a fintech accelerator funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The startup had raised pre-Series A investment from Alpha JWC Ventures and several angel investors in early-2018.

TaniGroup operates agriculture e-commerce marketplace TaniHub and peer-to-peer lending provider TaniFund. The fresh capital will go towards product development and expansion of TaniGroup's services across Indonesia.

TaniHub connects farmers with more than 400 small and medium enterprises and over 10,000 individual customers. Fresh produce can be sourced directly from farmers by customers, with the bulk of business driven by the business-to-business segment. It has also expanded to the business-to-consumer segment through a farm-to-table mobile application.

Established in mid-2016, TaniHub has partnered more than 25,000 local farmers across the country and operates five regional offices and distribution hubs in Jakarta, Bogor (West Java), Bandung (West Java), Yogyakarta and Surabaya (East Java).

TaniFund provides lending for cultivation projects by farmers who may otherwise lack access to formal financial institutions. By linking with TaniHub, more clarity is provided to both borrower and lender on credit standing and terms, said TaniGroup. TaniFund is registered with the Financial Services Authority and is a member of Indonesian Fintech Lenders Association.

Ivan Arie Sustiawan, chief executive and co-founder of TaniGroup, said: "In the near future, we want to invite other agriculture startups to collaborate because Indonesia's agriculture space is still large and very traditional. There are big problems to address, a lot of farmers are still in need of help, and the chance is there to build a stronger supply chain to deliver great produce to Indonesians at best cost."