Utari Octavianty is no stranger to imposter syndrome.
The 28-year-old is the co-founder of Aruna, an Indonesian farm-to-table e-commerce start-up that gives fishermen direct access to global consumers, at fair prices for their produce. their catch.
“When we talked to [start-up] founders, they’re from Harvard, Stanford, and all of a sudden there’s us — from a local university in Indonesia,” she said. CNBC Make It.
“But somehow it became a driving force, not an educational issue. That’s how we make an impact,” she said.
If this business gets bigger and bigger, will my experience be enough to handle all of this?
Utari Octavianty
Co-founder, Aruna
Indeed, the impact she and her co-founders, Farid Naufal Aslam and Indraka Fadhlillah, have had is far-reaching – more than 26,000 fishermen across 150 fishing communities in Indonesia currently use Aruna.
They were even praised by the President of Indonesia Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the ASEAN Summit 2019 for their innovation and role in increasing fisher income.
How did this multi-million dollar seafood startup start? CNBC Make It found out.
Disagreement from parents
When Octavianty decided to start a seafood-related business, her mother was so angry she didn’t call for a month, she recalls.
“My parents don’t let me join the seafood business because the economic value… is not good,” she said.
“That’s why my parents told me to study technology [in university]they expected me to find a good job in the tech industry. “
Utari Octavianty with his mother.
Utari Octavianty
However, her mother’s worries were not unfounded. Octavianty grew up in a fishing village and her mother sold fishing gear for a living. Money is always tight, she said.
“In college, I realized that other kids [who were not poor] can talk about dreams. But for me and my friends, we just talk about how to survive, how to have more money, how to pay the electricity for our house. ”
Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest seafood in the world producer. In 2019, fishery industry in Indonesia contributes $27 billion to the gross domestic product.
However, the World Bank reported Poverty levels rise in the small-scale fisheries sector – the poverty rate in 2018 in coastal villages was 1.3 times higher than in non-coastal villages.
What happens mostly is the fisherman doesn’t get paid… the middleman will say they’ll pay you tomorrow, but he doesn’t. That’s why fishermen are getting poorer and poorer.
Utari Octavianty
Co-founder, Aruna
So when Octavianty figured out how to combine technology and her personal experiences, she knew she couldn’t give it up easily despite her parents’ objections.
“[My co-founders and I] created a timeline together. We said, commit for at least a year and a half. If this doesn’t work out, then let’s find a job,” she said.
“At the time, we thought, if it weren’t for us, maybe someone else would have done it in a different way… so let’s get started.”
Eliminate middlemen
Aruna was founded in 2015, when the three co-founders were in their final year of college. They have a simple goal: to provide consumers with a steady supply of seafood.
But after spending time with the fishermen, they realized there were more problems they could help solve.
For example, a long supply chain is a major factor preventing fishermen from selling their catch at a fair price.
“The fisherman needs to sell to the local middleman and the local middleman will sell to the city middleman, the city middleman will sell to the provincial middleman, etc.”
In 2019, the fishery industry in Indonesia contributed $27 billion to the country’s gross domestic product, but the World Bank reports high levels of poverty in the small-scale fisheries sector.
Aruna
“What happens mostly is the fisherman doesn’t get paid… the middleman will say they’ll pay you tomorrow, but he doesn’t. That’s why fishermen are getting poorer and poorer day by day It’s happened to my family before,” said Octavianty, whose uncle is also a fisherman.
Besides shortening the supply chain, the digital fish auction company also uses data mapping to ensure fair trade.
“We have real-time data on the seasonality of seafood across Indonesia… [for example]when it’s the season for lobster, crab and fish,” Octavianty said.
“Most seafood retail needs a steady supply of seafood … so if one island is out of season, we can supply it from another island.”
One of the challenges Aruna faces is the lack of infrastructure in the fishing villages. Since many people do not have access to electricity and an internet connection, Aruna worked with the local government to get satellite internet and solar panels.
Aruna
Today, Aruna is “one of the largest synthetic seafood trade in Indonesia,” says Octavanty. According to her, the seafood industry exported 44 million kilograms of seafood to seven countries last year, most of it to the United States and China.
Allowing fishermen direct access to the market has also been effective.
“We have helped fishermen increase their income two to three times more than before they joined Aruna,” says Octavianty.
Personal mission
“I’m more scared. I have too many questions for myself. Am I qualified to do this? If this business grows bigger and bigger, will my experience be enough to take on all of these things? this?”
What keeps her going is the personal mission she wrote about in her diary 16 years ago – to lift families from fishing villages out of poverty.
“[But now] it is no longer to prove [myself] to my friends. It’s like how we can keep [the business] sustainability, while improving people’s living standards. “
If you can relate your personal mission to your business mission, you will have all the determination you need. ”
Utari Octavianty
Co-founder, Aruna
