© Banyu
Founded in December 2023, Banyu is set to address inefficiencies in the world’s largest tropical seaweed market by empowering smallholder farmers and driving sustainability through innovation.
Indonesia’s seaweed industry, vital to the global supply chain, involves over a million smallholder farmers. However, challenges such as low-quality inputs, labour-intensive practices, and market fragmentation hinder its potential. Banyu aims to resolve these issues by providing high-quality spore seedlings, advanced farming techniques, and transparent market access, enabling farmers to increase yields and secure stable incomes.
The company’s proprietary seedling production has shown to boost yields by up to 20 percent, outperforming traditional cultivation methods. By introducing sustainable practices and integrating technology, Banyu helps farmers produce food- and pharma-grade seaweed, meeting the environmental and social standards of international buyers. Additionally, Banyu collaborates with downstream processors to support emerging uses of seaweed, including biofertilizers, bioplastics, and animal feed.
"With Banyu’s ground-breaking seedling cultivation and innovative farming methodologies, we are reimagining Indonesia’s seaweed industry to be more competitive, transparent, and sustainable," said Dodon Yamin, co-founder and CEO of Banyu, in a press release.
With its new funding, Banyu will establish a seedling cultivation laboratory and expand its operations, initially targeting Sulawesi, Indonesia’s seaweed production hub, before scaling to other key regions such as Nusa Tenggara, Lampung, Maluku, and Papua.
"As the first startup to focus on seedling cultivation with the aim of becoming the largest producer in the region, we are combining cutting-edge technology with deep local knowledge and expertise. This empowers smallholder farmers to achieve higher yields, access global markets, and adopt regenerative practices that benefit both the environment and their communities. This funding enables us to accelerate our vision of transforming seaweed into a high-value, sustainable resource for industries worldwide,” Yamin concluded.
