Hidroagro
In these Startup Profiles, we talked to the YSI SEA Fellows of the Innovation Programme 2020 and asked them about their startups, challenges and ideas for a more sustainable future.
Hidroagro is an agricultural startup providing hydroponic and aquaponic solutions along with training and education to farmers to provide healthier, tech-driven ways of growing and consuming food produce. 🍃
Hidroagro is one of the startups in our Innovation Programme 2020. We talked to the YSI SEA Fellows behind Hidroagro: Ari Sulistiyo Prabowo, Fajar Sidik Abdullah Kelana and Ong Wei Ching.
.Watch the video below to see them talk about their startup (at 1:15) in greater detail! Scroll down for the rest of the interview.
Ari has a background in nuclear engineering and data science. He founded Hidroagro in 2018 and is the CEO. He successfully acquired more than 500 customers and today has more than 200 active customers.
Can you tell us about your startup?
We believe that Indonesia is an agrarian country, with most of society depending on farming as their daily activities in order to generate income. Unfortunately, climate change exists in Indonesia. The farmers cannot grow their vegetables and fruits in the dry season.
Therefore, my idea is to replace and fix this problem using modern farming solutions, particularly using aquaponic and hydroponics systems.
What made you interested in social impact?
I really want to help society, and especially the agricultural sector. With the current situation in Indonesia, it is a problem because farmers cannot generate income to fulfill their daily activities. This is why I want to introduce Hidroagro as my horse, to drive myself to help society.
Can you share your biggest challenge?
Hidroagro was established in 2018. The biggest challenge I have faced so far is to find more people who have the same vision to introduce modern farming to Indonesia. I would also like to encourage the institutions especially to focus especially on the agricultural sector.
Fajar is a mechanical engineer passionate about technological innovation for rural development.
He has worked in the Center for Energy Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada, where he runs a research project on onmicrobubble technology with his team.
Fajar met Ari in March 2020 through the YSI SEA Innovation Programme 2020 and joined the core team of Hindraogro.
Wei Ching is a politics, law, and economics major with a focus on data science, and is aiming to work with an agritech startup to leverage AI solutions.
Wei Ching also met Ari in March 2020 through the YSI SEA Innovation Programme 2020 and joined the Hidroagro team.
What made you interested in social impact?
I was quite privileged to be born in Singapore, where we generally don’t really have to worry about food, shelter, and even going to school. Being blessed with education, I thought that we should give back to the people around us, to the community, and to people in less developed countries. Singapore, being a more prosperous country, I thought that it would be a good idea to bring innovation to our neighbouring countries.
What lesson would you share with aspiring entrepreneurs?
It’s about being brave; to start doing something. Oftentimes, we are quite scared of not getting the right idea or not having the best business model. I think that if we don’t even get started, we won’t know what is the ground, and what to work on. So really, just get started.
What is success to you?
Success is living one’s own dreams, be it making lots of money or creating the social impact that we want to achieve. For me, I aspire to help the communities around us, in less developing countries, especially in Southeast Asia. I also want to focus on improving their livelihoods, especially in the agricultural space.
Catch Ari, Fajar, Wei Ching, and the rest of the 23 regional impact entrepreneurs at the YSI SEA Demo Day 2020!
