In a country where only 11% of the land is suitable for agriculture, Indonesia faces an uphill battle in achieving food security. Traditional farming practices contribute to deforestation, water scarcity, and soil degradation, forcing the nation to rely heavily on food imports. Enter Akar, a social enterprise aiming to revolutionize agriculture through modular indoor farming technology, maximizing vertical space and minimizing environmental impact.
Akar’s founder, Farras Muhammad, is an inventive entrepreneur driven by his love for food. He spent 8 years in Seoul, studying Architecture and Civil Engineering at Korea University, working in business development, and drafting his start-up ideas.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 2019, he created his first start-up, DamoGO, an app that lets consumers buy unsold food in restaurants/retail stores to address issues of food waste.
“I just love food. This is the thing that I have been doing since my bachelor’s degree. Everything was related to food,” Muhammad said. “I always had this thing, a calling [to] something related to food or harvest. That was the beginning of the [first] venture.”
Muhammad was not just passionate about food, but also the need to address the profound challenges faced by his community. He built a bamboo green house in Indonesia, and began scaling these greenhouses for three years, ironically hitting their peak during the Covid-19 pandemic, a time full of lows for so many.
“The pandemic era was actually the paradigm shift—I’ve noticed people shifting from the way they eat something before…[they] didn’t care about the types of nutrients or where it grows,” Muhammad said. “People [started] to care where things were grown. My total order 5 times multiplied because people started to notice that I’m actually growing something very organic and very healthy for them.”
Unfortunately, in 2022, they were hit with a pest attack. That was when Muhammad decided to develop indoor farms through Akar. Antler, a venture capitalist firm active in global early-stage investing, took immediate notice of Akar’s potential. They were shortly incubated and have scaled their business over the past two years.
“I love to scale the company, because when it comes to business, I just love the game. I love the game when I have money or when I don’t have money. I think the most important part is [that] grit and patience beats everything,” Muhammad said.
He expresses full dedication to this cause, and proudly stated his willingness to run the business until he’s 60 or 70 years old. With a family background in business, Muhammad is eager to walk along a similar path of infrastructure and development to carry his families legacy.
“My internal motivations come from my family. My family owns a mid-to-high level construction business in Indonesia, but I wasn’t sure that I was ready to have my legacy be the construction [family] company,” Muhammad said. “[I wanted] to make sure that I walked on the same path as my family…I love the part where I’m able to sync [Akar] with the family business, because it’s related to construction.”
With 100 units in operation, Akar has since reclaimed over 10,000 square meters of land equivalent for cultivation, reducing the need for imports and preserving valuable natural resources. Compared to traditional methods, they use up to 90% less water and produce 50% higher yields, significantly lowering carbon emissions and pesticide use.
Muhammad offers his advice to aspiring agricultural entrepreneurs: “You need to love the creatures that you are structurally [controlling]. In agriculture, you are controlling two types of creatures. One is human, the other is plants. You need to love plants. If you only love things based on one aspect, it may not be synchronous with the agriculture itself.”
Agriculture is known to have existed for over 12,000 years, and Muhammad believes it will continue to thrive for the future. This personal and powerful endeavor is rooted in a “deep-seated desire to create positive change, empower local communities, and build a more sustainable future for Indonesia,” he explained.
As Akar continues to grow, Muhammad continues to work, revolutionizing agriculture to leave a lasting, positive legacy for generations to come.
