Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, Indonesian agritech startup TaniHub managed to raise USD 17 million funding in a Series A extension round co-led by Openspace Ventures and Intudo Ventures.
UOB Venture Management, Vertex Ventures, BRI Ventures, Tenaya Capital, and Golden Gate Ventures also participated in the round, bringing the company’s total equity funding from 2016 to USD 29 million.
The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its service and geographical coverage for farmers and customers. It will also invest in operational improvements such as implementing automation solutions in the firm’s new processing and packaging center.
Operational improvements and national expansion
Furthermore, it aims to roll out three new hubs to deepen its nationwide coverage and provide a smoother end-to-end supply chain process, one of them to be established in Malang, East Java. TaniHub currently operates five regional offices and distribution hubs in Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Denpasar (Bali).
“We are committed to strengthening our B2B partnerships, including small and medium businesses. We expect more robust growth for this year, and hope we can reach all cities throughout the country by 2022,” said CEO and co-founder of TaniHub Ivan Arie Sustiawan in a statement.
Founded in mid-2016, TaniHub Group is a tech startup engaged in two main enterprises. First, there’s TaniHub, an e-commerce platform that connects farmers with individual customers, as well as supermarkets, hypermarkets, hotels, and restaurants. The other one is TaniFund, which gives farmers the chance to manage crowdfunding campaigns.
Over the past year, TaniHub Group’s business has experienced a three-fold increase, while more than 30,000 smallholder farmers joining its ecosystem.
To date, TaniFund has also disbursed over USD 6 million in loans to farmers.
“In a time of volatility and relative capital scarcity, this round gives the company the firepower to keep building its technology to deliver on better logistics and larger capacity,” said Openspace Ventures partner Shane Chesson. “Food security, safe supply, and empowering farmers and customers alike is crucial at this time, and these goals are consistent with TaniHub Group’s long term vision.”