Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia’s startup unicorn eFishery has announced a leadership transition, appointing Adhy Wibisono as the interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Gibran Huzaifah. This leadership change reflects the company’s swift measure to enhance its corporate governance.
“eFishery is currently operating under the leadership of Adhy Wibisono as Interim CEO and Albertus Sasmitra as Interim CFO. This decision, made in collaboration with the company’s shareholders, reflects a commitment to strengthening good corporate governance, ” the spokesperson said.
Following this determination, eFishery’s CEO Gibran is reportedly investigated for allegedly misappropriating the company’s financial performance and income reports.
Before executing this measure, eFishery’s Board of Directors had resolved to temporarily relieve Gibran Huzaifah of his duties as CEO temporarily. The suspension also extends to Chrisna Aditya, the company’s Chief Product Officer. As is known, Gibran and Chrisna hold immense individual shares in eFishery, with each owning approximately 9% of the company’s shares.
Besides, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Dhianendra Laksmana resigned in April. eFishery Management intends to update its employees about the leadership changes on Monday, December 16.
“We acknowledge the gravity of the issues currently circulating and are addressing them with the utmost diligence. Accordingly, the company remains committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate governance and ethical conduct in its operations.” eFishery’s spokesperson conveyed this in the official release.
Before the startup’s leader changes, Indonesia’s unicorn startup, eFishery, declared it would lay off an undisclosed number of employees. eFishery’s job-cutting measure was based on changes in its business strategy, making organizational restructuring steps that had to be taken.
Established in 2013, eFishery achieved unicorn status after securing a US$200 million Series D funding round in 2023. Several strategic investors, including Northstar, Wavemaker Partners, Temasek Holdings, Argor Capital, SoftBank, and HSBC Indonesia, also previously inject fresh capital into the startup. In May 2024, eFishery received a USD 30 million green and social loan from HSBC Indonesia.
On the other hand, this aquatech startup has contributed almost 3% of Indonesia’s fisheries sector’s total GDP. By providing an inclusive digital economy for Indonesia’s fish cultivators, this noted fish and shrimp sales transactions of up to US$509 million and recorded fish and shrimp feed sales transactions worth US$254 million over a decade.