Potato Impact Partners invests in AquaBloom to support Indonesia’s farmers and seaweed value chain
Potato Impact Partners (PIP) is pleased to announce an investment in AquaBloom, an agri-biotech company unlocking the potential of tropical seaweeds to build a new generation of yields-enhancing agricultural inputs in Indonesia.
PIP participated in the seed round led by Spiral Ventures, with participation from Archipelago Ventures.
Indonesia is home to 29 million farming households, of which 93% are smallholders. These farmers produce the majority of Indonesia’s food, sustaining the world’s fourth most populous country—making them a critical link in the global food supply chain. However, since the 1980s, Indonesian farming yields have stagnated due to worsening soil health from excessive fertilizer use and monoculture; climate stress; and economic pressures from rising costs on farmers, putting the local agricultural sector at risk.
AquaBloom’s biostimulant formulations specifically target local crops and farming conditions, hence their effectiveness in increasing harvest yields at cost-competitive prices to other solutions on the market.
“Smallholder farmers everywhere deserve tools designed for the realities they face. Indonesia produces a great deal of seaweed, yet much of it is still sold as a low-value commodity. As an Indonesian founder, I believe more value can and should be created here,” said Michelle Arsjad, CEO and Founder of AquaBloom.
“AquaBloom makes biostimulants from seaweed grown by smallholder farmers along the coasts. It’s beautiful that smallholder farmers at sea can help smallholder farmers on land grow stronger crops. Our task is to make that connection work for both: creating a higher-value market for Indonesian seaweed while helping farmers improve productivity and resilience.”
AquaBloom also produces feed additives that improve animal health and productivity. As inputs boosting local smallholder land systems, these solutions offer a higher-value use case for seaweed as well. Indonesia is the world’s second largest producer of seaweed, after China. But the bulk of that biomass is exported as dried and a low-priced commodity, losing value that Indonesia could otherwise have captured through processing and turning into higher-end applications, such as biostimulants.
“AquaBloom sits at the intersection of what PIP cares about most: food security, climate action, and coastal livelihoods,” said Tessa Charupatanaponse, Investment Lead at Potato Impact Partners. “Michelle has built a company that links Indonesian seaweed farmers to Indonesian land-based farmers through their seaweed biostimulant product. Further, in a market that is highly fragmented, AquaBloom has established key distribution networks to get their product to the smallholder farmers. The next step would be to increase production volumes.”
AquaBloom’s biostimulants provide farmers with a sustainable solution to reduce synthetic fertilizer use. Indonesia has been experiencing a "two-track" shock from high global fertilizer prices due to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East: subsidized fertilizer prices are available, but distribution is tight and quotas are insufficient, while non-subsidized fertilizer prices have skyrocketed by as much as 100%, forcing farmers to cut usage or pay high prices.
The recent investment will fund the expansion of AquaBloom’s manufacturing capacity, ongoing R&D and field trials, and distribution growth across Indonesia. PIP is thrilled to support the team as they scale and amplify their impact.
Potato Impact Partners (PIP) is an impact investor driving solutions to food security, climate action, and the resilience of coastal communities through investments in sustainable seaweed innovation.
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