TaniGroup secures US$10 mil in Series A funding

• Round led by Openspace Ventures, Intudo Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, The DFS Lab
• Operates agriculture e-commerce platform TaniHub and P2P lending provider TaniFund

AGRITECH startup TaniGroup, which operates agriculture e-commerce TaniHub and peer-to-peer lending provider TaniFund, on May 30 announced it raised a US$10 million (RM41.95 million) Series A round of financing led by Openspace Ventures with participation from Intudo Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, and The DFS Lab.

The Series A investment will accelerate TaniGroup's expansion of their services across Indonesia and new product development. The new round complements previous Pre-Series A investment from Alpha JWC Ventures and several angel investors in early 2018.

TaniHub has partnered with more than 25,000 local farmers and operates five regional offices and distribution hubs in Indonesia. TaniHub is a business-to-business platform that provides fresh produce sourced directly from farmers to customers.

For the business-to-consumer clients, TaniHub provides a farm-to-table mobile application which allows consumers to have wider access to the farmers. TaniHub connects farmers with more than 400 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and over 10,000 individual customers.

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

TaniGroup president and co-founder Pamitra Wineka, says: "The agriculture sector is the second largest contributor to Indonesia's gross domestic product. By accessing multiple channels of demand, farmers can sell fresh produce to TaniHub, while TaniFund can help by funding the needs for cultivation. We will be rolling out more platforms which will further improve agricultural decision making."

Indonesia's agriculture problems can be solved through technological innovation which is aligned with the Government's goal to increase the standard of living of the farmers. TaniGroup will collaborate with the government and other stakeholders to build a deeper platform -- which is key in solving issues in the Indonesia's agriculture sector.

TaniGroup chief executive officer and co-founder Ivan Arie Sustiawan, says: "We want to invite agriculture startups to collaborate because this landscape is still large and traditional. There are problems to address and we believe we can build a strong supply chain to deliver great value to Indonesian consumers."

Shane Chesson, partner at Openspace Ventures says: "TaniHub is building innovation into a massive sector, barely touched by digitization, a true Openspace. We look forward to working with the TaniHub team in creating a deeper technology platform and broader reach."