Indonesia-based aquaculture tech firm eFishery has suspended both its co-founders amid an investigation into alleged financial irregularities.
Company Co-Founder and CEO Gibran Huzaifah and Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Christna Aditya were both suspended, Deal Street Asia reported. Since their suspensions, the company has appointed Adhy Wibisono as interim CEO and Albertus Sasmitra as interim CFO.
“This decision, reached in unison with our shareholders, showcases our commitment to improving the company’s governance,” the company said in a statement according to Tech In Asia.
The company said the investigation centers around financial performance and revenue discrepancies that were linked to the two co-founders – who held about 9 percent of the company’s shares between them.
The tech startup, which offers fish and shrimp farmers an end-to-end platform to access feed, financing, and markets, has raised large sums of money from multiple investors. In June 2023, it raised another USD 108 million (EUR 103 million) which consisted of investments from the United Arab Emirates-based 42XFund, Northstar Group, and SoftBank Vision Fund II. That investment managed to push the company’s valuation to over USD 1.3 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) – a first for an aquaculture startup – and added on to investments from Aqua-Spark and VC Wavemaker Partners.
In February the company said it was planning to expand its reach beyond Southeast Asia, starting with a pilot project in India.
Since those investments and plans, the company has gone through multiple C-suite level personnel changes. In April 2024, eFishery CFO Dhianendra Laksmana resigned from the position – and was replaced by Huzaifah on an interim basis. Now, Huzaifah has been suspended from both roles.
"We are fully aware of the significance of this matter and are giving it our full attention. eFishery remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance and ethical business practices," a statement from the company said.
