Moosa Genetics, an animal genomics and biotechnology startup, announced a new funding led by East Ventures

Moosa Genetics, an animal genomics and biotechnology startup based in Indonesia, announced that the company raised funding led by East Ventures, a pioneering and leading sector-agnostic venture capital firm focusing on Southeast Asia, with the participation from angel investors. This funding will be allocated to build laboratory, team, marketing, and wagyu partnership to fulfill the demand for its customers. 

“We are thrilled to receive the trust and support from East Ventures. This investment validates our vision to advance the cattle industry’s landscape in Indonesia. We believe that Moosa Genetics is at the forefront of unlocking the full potential of local cattle breeding. Through our modern animal reproductive and molecular technologies, we enable lower cost and better meat yield and quality, eventually bringing substantial benefits to the industry and consumers. We look forward to bringing more excitement in this space in the future,” said Dr. Ivan R Sini, PhD, Chairman and Co-Founder of Moosa Genetics, and Chairman of the Indonesian Genomics Association. 

Founded in 2016 by Dr. Ivan R Sini, PhD, supported by Dr. Deddy F. Kurniawan, DVM (co-CEO), Jeremia Michael Sutandy (Co- CEO and Managing Director), Prof. Arief Boediono, PhD (Chief Scientific Officer), and Ir. Sigit Prastowo, PhD (Chief Geneticist Officer), Moosa Genetics is present to redefine and set new standards of excellence in Indonesia’s cattle industry. 

Indonesia’s cattle industry is highly fragmented and roughly 80% is dominated by smallholder farmers, concentrated mostly on the island of Java – East Java province alone accounts for 30% of Indonesia’s cattle population. Smallholder farmers often raise cattle for their savings rather than for the commercial market, which significantly impedes the potential of the domestic meat supply. 

Most cattle breeders are also low-skilled farmers with low-input, low-output production systems and face fundamental challenges in expanding their cattle businesses. This includes limited access to finance and capital, the lack of collateral, and a local financial sector that is cautious in providing loans due to the inherent risks. As a result, domestic production can only satisfy about 40% of Indonesian demand for beef, which leads to Indonesia’s dependency on importing beef, especially from Australia. 

Moosa Genetics presents biotech-enabled innovation in revolutionizing cattle and beef breeding in Indonesia. Moosa Genetics leverages embryo transfer technology and innovative gene selection techniques like CRISPR, a technology to selectively modify the DNA to revolutionize cattle breeding and beef production. By doing so, Moosa Genetics improves meat yield and quality and, at the same time, also reduces the costs. 

Moosa Genetics is driven by a visionary mission to elevate the local breed of cattle, known as “Sapi Merah Putih”, to superior standards, ultimately enhancing economic opportunities and meat quality. “Sapi Merah Putih” is a symbol of excellence in the Indonesian cattle and beef sector.

However, Moosa Genetics recognizes the complexity of breeding and acknowledges that a single matrix of genetic improvement can not determine the ideal version of local cattle for Indonesia. The widespread expectation of traits such as disease resilience and superior meat marbling must be empirically proven for their economic value.

“To tackle that challenge, Moosa Genetics emphasizes the importance of collaboration between industry stakeholders, the platform provider, and dedicated researchers to comprehensively assess and measure the magnitude of improvement over the current cattle breeding standards,” said Dr. Ivan.

“We are glad to be part of Moosa Genetics’ journey and are excited to announce our continued support through this investment round. Moosa Genetics’ innovative approach to cattle breeding through biotechnology has the potential to revolutionize the livestock industry, addressing critical challenges and demands in agriculture while ensuring sustainable food production and improving domestic food security. With big opportunity presents in Indonesia, we believe Moosa Genetics is driving the positive change and growth in this space,” said Avina Sugiarto, Partner at East Ventures.

Moosa Genetics has operated in two locations within West Sumatera and will partner with breeders in every region.