August 2, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Alpha JWC Ventures (Alpha JWC) has led a $6.85 million Series A for Indonesia-based Beleaf, a comprehensive agtech startup with a core business centered on Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS). 

This investment saw participation from Openspace, alongside several strategic angels, and reflects Alpha JWC’s strong support of the company as it is a return investor following their participation in Beleaf’s $2.2 million capital raise in late 2022. 

“Since Alpha JWC’s first investment less than one year ago, Beleaf has consistently shown extraordinary progress as one of the leading AgriTech companies in Indonesia,” said Eko Kurniadi, partner of investment, Alpha JWC Ventures. “Their end-to-end offering empowers farmers to achieve higher productivity and produce quality, resulting in better economics and farming experience.”

Founded in 2019 by Amrit Lakhiani, Beleaf began as a high-quality, high-margin hydroponic brand focused on leafy greens. The company eventually expanded its offerings and product lines to include open-field farming. 

Currently, the company’s produce is sold domestically and for export, and is available in four countries with the aim of being available in six countries by the end of 2024. The brand is also sold through more than 180 retail outlets in Greater Jakarta, eight online channels, and through a range of restaurants. 

The company explained that it was the management of its own farms that led it to launch its Farming-as-a-Service platform in 2022, initially engaging with farmers in Puncak and Bandung by providing their technology-enabled farm management. 

With a foundation set on big data and IoT driving localized precision farming, Beleaf aims to offer its Faas platform as a complete product across inputs, farm technology, agronomy support, and offtaking in the form of connecting farms, agronomists, and retailers in one integrated ecosystem. 

This proprietary system monitors weather, seeding, planting, nutrition dosing, farm planning, and harvesting activities. The data collected from these processes then powers its machine learning for the continuous improvements of their farms, as well as the basis of research and development for future agri-solutions.

Despite being a highly agricultural-dependent country, Indonesia struggles to meet its full potential, continuing to greatly rely on agricultural imports. However, FaaS is already showing promise in solving several critical challenges in the sector. 

Beleaf explained that the archipelago has fertile soils, plentiful natural resources, and varying growing environments for the production of a range of fruits and vegetables, but has traditionally been constrained by the high level of fragmentation in the farming industry. 

The community comprises 70 percent smallholder farmers who lack the required financing, insurance, technology, logistics, and access to markets critical for growth and success. And it is here that Beleaf’s FaaS platform is in a unique position to address these challenges to help Indonesia realize its nascent agricultural potential. 

“We quickly realized that instead of building more of our own farms, we were sitting on something more broadly applicable and powerful,” said Lakhiani. 

“We could use our expertise and the technology we had created to bring the same advantage to existing farmers, and increase the collective quality and productivity of an Indonesian agricultural industry facing several developmental hurdles, all whilst showcasing the best local products to foreign markets via export.”

Today the company is focused on controlling and improving the yields of its partner farms, with current yield improvements standing at 15 percent across its network of 145 farmers, which it aims to grow to at least 2,000 farmers by the end of 2024. 

The FaaS platform has already been integral in the successful distribution of 700 tons of produce in May 2023 alone, prompting the company to set its eye on solidifying its presence across the major growing regions of the country, while developing a strong commercial brand presence in Indonesia and the surrounding regions. 

Beleaf is building on its success by using its post-harvest facilities to consolidate volumes and create a consistent, high-quality product suitable for export to its network of international clients. From this foundation, the company stated it is on track to become a category leader in the exportation of leafy greens and root vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, ginger, and carrots. 

The capital from this Series A will be used to further these ambitions and expand its farming network into new areas including Bali, Medan, and Lembang. It also will establish R&D farms in those locations as the base from which to launch its FaaS network across the country. Furthermore, the company noted that it plans to double down on its supply chain and commercial divisions to improve operational efficiency, to expand its sales footprint to new countries, and to continue advancing the development of its IoT devices and Beleaf OS. 

“At Openspace, we’ve assessed a vast number of agritech startups, and Beleaf’s early progress really stands out from the pack,” said Ian Sikora, executive director, Openspace. 

“The full-stack approach on select crops allows them to achieve rapid growth, especially given they achieve the best-in-category margins. Amrit and the team have already shown an unwavering commitment to sustainable growth, while aiding farmers and delivering produce that’s delighting consumers across the region. We’re confident in their execution, and excited to partner with them more as they push forward.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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