It’s high tide for Indonesia’s aquatech firms

This week’s On the Rise dives into Indonesia’s aquaculture tech industry, a profitable data startup’s growth, and AI’s influence over elections. [Read from your browser]( On the Rise 🚀 Welcome to On the Rise! Delivered every Tuesday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and trends in emerging tech. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we look at: - [Indonesia’s aquaculture tech industry]( - Bootstrapped firm Meiro’s journey reaching $2m in revenue - Generative AI deepfakes ahead of election year Hello {NAME} The perennial question goes - is it better to be an influential figure in a small group or be ordinary in a larger, more powerful group? Last week, football’s best-ever player Lionel Messi chose the former, [announcing]( that he would join Inter Miami, a Major League Soccer team at the bottom of the table. Moving to the US was a bold choice, especially considering that he had been reportedly offered [US$1.3 billion]( by Saudi Arabia-based Al-Hilal, or to [return to Barcelona]( in an iconic de-Nou-ement to his career. But instead, he chose to be the Lebron James of soccer and move to a league where even in the throes of retirement, he can be sure to dominate - effectively becoming a big fish in a small pond. Speaking of this, eFishery - which had previously raised the largest funding round globally [for an aquaculture startup]( - recently turned unicorn following its [US$108 million series D]( catch. Much like the money magnet Messi, who [ranks third among the highest-paid football players in the world]( our data shows that this big fish in the small Indonesian aquatech pond has raised more than the rest of its peers combined. However, just because you have to compete with the champs doesn't mean you have to stop trying. Indonesia's smaller aquatech fish remain headstrong - in this week’s Big Story, I look at the country’s emerging aquaculture tech sector and the newer players looking to rival eFishery. Local startups, including new ones such as Crustea, are looking to support the industry by introducing marketplaces and innovative tech as well as providing farmers with access to knowledge and financing. And investors seem to be interested. In our second Big Story, my colleague Shreya profiles Singapore-based customer data platform Meiro. The bootstrapped startup managed to turn profitable within two years and posted a 60% revenue growth in 2022. It is now focused on scaling by looking for investors who can help it grow faster. Meanwhile, I look at the acceleration of AI-generated content, deepfakes, and reality-bending ahead of the 2024 elections in the US, Indonesia, and India in AI Odyssey. -- Shadine  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORIES 1️⃣ [Indonesia's aquaculture industry rises to the helm amid farmer decline]( The archipelago’s aquaculture startups seek to surpass China’s aquaculture output using different business models. 2️⃣ [Profitable SG data startup banked on founders’ previous firm for funds]( Singapore-based Meiro is now raising US$3.5 million in its first external round of funding in a bid to scale its business.  --------------------------------------------------------------- AI ODYSSEY Promising AI projects we’re noticing Generative AI may cast its vote in the 2024 elections A few weeks ago, I came across this [bizarro video]( uploaded to Instagram, showing a Twitter Spaces chat between Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, Elon Musk, the Devil, and Adolf Hitler, among others. Then, I realized it was uploaded as a campaign video by Donald Trump’s official account. Though it’s most likely fan-made, I found it odd that his team was tapping into this [niche, Gen-Z trend]( and brazenly platforming this type of absurdist content. Not to mention, this is a [deepfake]( posted by an authoritative figure. With elections commencing next year in the US, Indonesia, and India, there’s a fear that as tensions rise, supporters will be looking to use AI to spread disinformation. Artificial intelligence democratizes and accelerates the creation of visual and auditory content, making it easy for one to spin their own narratives. So far, virality has been mostly limited to harmless images like [the Pope in a puffer jacket]( or Indonesian President [Jokowi singing songs](. However, inklings of more sinister uses have come to light. In May, a deepfaked photo of [an explosion]( at the Pentagon circulated, causing a [US stock market dip](. In the same month, generative AI was used in India to [manipulate a photo of wrestlers]( who had been arrested for protesting against the government. Cases of [voice cloning for fake ransom calls]( are also reportedly on the rise. In politics, the tech could be used to launch smear campaigns or indulge fear-mongering. We have already seen the influence of tech in swaying elections, like in the case of the [Facebook-Cambridge Analytica]( scandal in 2016. Generative AI could be used to create [microtargeted ads]( for voters, using personal data to churn out information that may subtly sway them. But political or not, it’s clear this freedom of creativity will create content overload, warping perceptions. Europol predicts that [up to 90%]( of online content could be created or edited by AI by 2026, while a 2022 survey of 16,000 respondents showed that [43% of people]( could not detect a deepfake video. Companies have introduced early attempts at regulating this. Similar to Twitter’s [fact-check]( feature, Google Images will label AI-generated content with a [text disclosure](. Meanwhile, TikTok has [banned undisclosed synthetic media]( depicting realistic scenes. [Metadata]( is an integral component in checking if something is genuine. Adobe has developed “content credentials,” which track the authenticity of images and what changes were made to them - including those edited with AI. The cryptography-protected [C2PA standard]( also tracks the provenance of photos. That said, these contributions are still premature as tracking the authenticity of video and audio content will be harder. Through the internet, we live in digitally imagined communities and are more connected to current events than ever. But as more of us migrate online, it’s also become increasingly polarizing - dialogue is mostly skewed on sites such as Twitter and Reddit, and [identity politics]( is a given. With generative AI in the mix, it has become very easy to manipulate content and create high-volume, real-time disinformation echo chambers. Just as social media has [harmed mental health]( because of how it's created a "false sense of reality," it would be fair to hypothesize that generative AI could further blur the lines between fact and fiction. Another concern is that because generative AI tech is now open source, those with bad intentions will still be able to access the tools, regardless of companies limiting access. A [leaked internal document]( from Google even theorized that open-source AI will outcompete the company as well as OpenAI. Regardless, it’s become more critical than ever to push for better detection tools for deepfakes, harsher punishments for perpetrators, and clearer regulations from AI companies and social media sites to minimize damage. -- Shadine  --------------------------------------------------------------- FYI 1️⃣ [PropertyGuru looks past slowing revenue growth in Q1, talks up AI and M&A]( Though its revenues have dipped due to Vietnam’s slowing property market, the firm is still looking to acquire companies adjacent to its business. 2️⃣ [Most common reasons for startup failure revealed]( While only 16% of failed startup founders blamed financial woes for putting a stop to their dreams, 34% pointed to the lack of product-market fit.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Also check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the emerging tech scene [here](. 1️⃣ [The dawn of the driverless]( TuSimple has started testing its driverless trucks on a key freight corridor in Japan, for which plans have been made to build dedicated lanes for autonomous vehicles. 2️⃣ [SG won’t be AIrresponsible]( Singapore has launched the AI Verify Foundation, an organization for responsible AI use. The body’s seven premier members are IMDA, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Red Hat, Salesforce, and Temasek’s Aicadium. 3️⃣ [Sowing the seeds of leadership]( Dhruv Sawney has been named CEO of Rize, an agritech joint venture between Wavemaker Impact, Temasek, GenZero, and Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Rize identifies strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from rice farming. 4️⃣ [More money needed to go green]( Green investments in Southeast Asia were down 7% year on year in 2022, reaching US$5.2 billion. A cumulative investment of US$1.5 trillion by 2030 will be needed to meet the climate goals multiple ASEAN countries have committed to. 5️⃣ [Antler to elevate growing startups]( The global accelerator closed its US$285 million emerging growth fund Elevate that will be used to finance companies in their series A funding stage and above.  --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Do also check out previous issues of the newsletter [here](. Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to your “edit profile” page and choosing that option in our preference center. See you next week! [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. You can also break our hearts and remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over [here](  Copyright © 2023 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894