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eFishery founder, ex-CEO Gibran Huzaifah addresses fraud scandal for the first time

He believes that the current narrative about eFishery is one-sided, prompting him to speak up

    • eFishery set out to revolutionise aquaculture by helping farmers boost production and scale efficiently.
    • eFishery set out to revolutionise aquaculture by helping farmers boost production and scale efficiently. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
    Published Wed, Feb 26, 2025 · 09:46 AM

    ONCE hailed as a visionary in Indonesia’s agritech scene, eFishery co-founder and ex-CEO Gibran Huzaifah now finds himself at the centre of a scandal that promises to go down as one of the most explosive in South-east Asia’s startup scene.

    He was ousted from eFishery in December 2024, following an investigative audit that uncovered how the aquatech firm allegedly inflated revenue by US$600 million. Since then, it has laid off more than 90 per cent of its workforce, leaving its future hanging by a thread.

    Huzaifah, whose rags-to-riches journey captivated many in the region when eFishery became South-east Asia’s only startup to achieve unicorn status in 2023, now finds himself back in Bandung – where it all began.

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