DATA VANTAGE | Aruna, NPX Point Avenue, and Cargobase in focus
Edition #450, 6 March 2025
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Dear Reader,
At a time when Indonesia’s aquatech industry faces one of its worst crises following the eFishery scandal, recent mass layoffs at another startup in the sector, Aruna, have put investors in deeper trouble.
According to DealStreetAsia’s DATA VANTAGE, Aruna’s largest shareholders currently are East Ventures with a 28% stake, followed by Sinar Mas’s corporate venture arm SMDV (12.5%) and Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India (7.28%).
Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India has invested nearly $17 million in the company, while East Ventures and Prosus Ventures have injected $16.3 million and $14.2 million, respectively.
Other key investors in the company include AC Ventures, SIG, MDI Ventures, K3 Ventures, and Ridge Global Holdings Limited.
Going by the significant decline in Aruna’s share price, its investors are likely to have suffered considerable losses. In November 2024, Aruna issued new shares as part of its $3.2-million Series B round. Filings with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority show that the share price in the latest fundraising — assuming it was not in the form of convertibles — had dropped 84% from February 2022 when Aruna raised $31 million in a round led by Vertex Ventures SEA and India.
According to DealStreetAsia’s DATA VANTAGE, Aruna’s current valuation is $63.2 million, with total funding raised amounting to $70.4 million.
Founded in 2016, Aruna aims to transform Indonesia’s fisheries industry by digitising the seafood supply chain and empowering small-scale fishermen. Acting as a B2B marketplace, Aruna eliminates middlemen, allowing fishers to sell directly to global buyers, including restaurants, retailers, and international markets.
Source: DealStreetAsia’s DATA VANTAGE
Chinese IPOs rebound in H2 2024
IPO activity among Greater China-based companies hit a historical low in 2024, with the number of listings dropping 42.3% to 184, down from 319 IPOs recorded in 2023. According to DealStreetAsia’s latest report Greater China Deal Review: Q4 2024, the total capital raised also plunged 70.8% year-over-year (YoY) to $15.3 billion.
Despite the overall decline, the data indicate that Chinese IPOs in Hong Kong and the US gained momentum in the second half (H2) of 2024, driven by the US Fed’s first major interest rate cut in four years and China’s economic stimulus.
Source: DealStreetAsia’s DATA VANTAGE
In the fourth quarter (Q4) alone, the region saw 62 IPO listings raising $6 billion, marking the highest quarterly haul in 2024.
With IPO activity picking up in H2 2024, the report highlighted that the positive momentum will likely continue in 2025, fuelled by the potential rate cuts and additional Chinese stimulus policies.
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Other updates from DATA VANTAGE
[Redacted] recently invested an undisclosed amount of funding in NPX Point Avenue, a K-12 education firm from Vietnam, and became a majority shareholder in the company. The Hong Kong-based equity firm previously led a $12-million Series A funding for NPX in 2021.
Vietnam’s buy now pay later (BNPL) provider Fundiin posted $650k in revenue but suffered a significant loss of [redacted] during the 12-month period ended December 2023. This was the first financial filing by the company.
Singapore-headquartered logistics software company Cargobase recorded a strong 17% year-on-year revenue increase to $2.8 million during the 12-month period ended March 2024. However, the company’s net loss deepened to [redacted] during the period.
Ento Industries, a yellow biotechnology startup based in Singapore, revealed a 70% year-on-year revenue growth to [redacted] in its financial year ended May 2024. However, the company suffered a net loss of [redacted], reversing from a net profit of $82,000 in the same period of 2023.
Insurtech platform Surer recorded a 179% year-on-year revenue growth to [redacted] for the 12-month period ended June 2024. The company also significantly reduced its net loss during the period to [redacted].
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