Singapore-listed agri-food firm Japfa is establishing a $1.4 million joint venture with Hendrix Genetics Aquaculture to develop a shrimp broodstock multiplication centre in Indonesia. In Thailand, MyCloudFulfillment raised a $2 million Series A funding from SCB 10X, ECG Research, Gobi Partners, and NVest Venture.
Japfa inks shrimp broodstock JV with Hendrix
Agri-food player Japfa has entered into a joint venture with Europe’s Hendrix Genetics Aquaculture (HGA) to set up a shrimp broodstock multiplication centre in Indonesia, the Singapore-listed Japfa said in a filing to SGX on Friday.
The deal is via PT Suri Tani Pemuka, or PT STP, a subsidiary of PT Japfa Comfeed Indonesia, which will hold 49 per cent in the new venture, the filing said. HGA will hold the remaining stake.
The initial capital for the deal will be 20 billion rupiah ($1.4 million), the statement said.
PT STP produces fish and shrimp feed, hatches fish and shrimp, and processes the final products, while HGA supplies genetically improved shrimp broodstock to Indonesia’s shrimp industry, the filing said. PT STP will fund the deal via internal resources and/or bank borrowings, Japfa said.
Hendrix Genetics, founded in 1991, raised a private equity round in 2015, led by NPM Capital, according to Crunchbase data.
Despite the pandemic, Indonesia’s fish exports have grown in volume and value. In the first half of 2020, as much as 596,000 tonnes of fish were exported for $2.4 billion, compared to the same period in 2019 when 528,000 tonnes of fish were exported worth $2.25 billion.
Indonesia’s main export markets are the US, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the European Union.
Thailand’s MyCloudFulfillment bags $2M fundraising
Thai fulfillment solutions provider MyCloudFulfillment has raised a Series A funding round from pan-Asia VC firm Gobi Partners and local investors SCB 10X, ECG Research, and NVest Venture.
The startup will deploy the fresh capital to upgrade its data system to enable e-commerce operators to better manage inventory and sales while allowing the company to use data for better predictive analytics, it said in a statement. In addition, the investment will help MyCloudFulfillment prepare for regional expansion.
SCB 10X, the investment arm of Thailand’s largest lender Siam Commercial Bank, said it will jointly develop solutions with MyCloudFulfillment to respond to the rise of social commerce in the country.
SCB 10X’s CEO and Siam Commercial Bank’s president Arak Sutivong said: “During COVID-19, we have witnessed accelerated adoption of digital lifestyle by consumers. Gross merchandise value of online shopping via e-commerce and social media platforms has been growing exponentially, prompting increasing demand for end-to-end cloud inventory management systems.”
Despite a relatively high average revenue per user compared to other Southeast Asian countries (next only to Indonesia), “Thailand still has a lower rate of internet access than Indonesia, reflecting plenty of growth potential for Thailand’s e-commerce market,” according to MyCloudFulfillment’s co-founder Nithi Satchatippavarn.
ECG Research is a Thai investment firm established in 2017, having invested in companies such as agri-tech startup Freshket and property developers Library Estate, Habitat Group, and Siamese Asset. NVest Ventures, founded in 2014, is a Thailand-based VC investor in more than 10 companies.
