FreshToHome gets $121 mn funding, to grow in India, UAE

Bengaluru-based fresh meat and fish e-tailer FreshToHome has raised $121 million in a Series C funding led by Investment Corp. of Dubai (ICD), the principal investment arm of the government of Dubai.

Investcorp, Ascent Capital, US International Development Finance Corp. (DFC) and Allana also participated in the round, besides a significant follow-on investment of $19 million from Series B lead investor Iron Pillar. “We are just beginning to scratch the surface of a very large market and the current capital raise will help us realize our full potential through rapid expansion in India and the Middle East,” said Shan Kadavil, co-founder and chief executive, FreshToHome.

The company said this was the largest Series C funding for any consumer tech startup in India.

The company directly sources fish and meat from fishermen and farmers, and uses its patent-pending AI-powered supply chain technology, and a cold chain network to cut down on middlemen, and reduce the transportation time to 24-36 hours. Farmers and fishermen bid for their yields electronically on the company’s app, which helps the company have better control over the quality and prices.

The startup posted growth amid the covid-19 crisis as consumers shifted to e-commerce, backed by the brand promise of “100% fresh and 0% chemicals”.

Other fresh food startups, including Licious, also saw a spike in demand as consumers opted for high quality meat and fish. “Covid-19 has been a defining moment for the sector as consumers look for safer ways of buying fish or meat, and freshness in perishables,” said Kadavil. The FreshToHome platform also supported thousands of fishermen and farmers to sell their produce during the pandemic. It has 1,500 registered fishermen on its platform and sells across Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, besides the UAE.

FreshToHome processes 1.5 million orders every month on its website and app, and has an annualised run rate of ₹600 crore.