FreshToHome Raises $121 Mn In Series C Round From ICD and Others The company will use fresh capital to expand its operation in India and West Asia
By Debarghya Sil •
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FreshToHome, an online platform for selling meat and fish, on Tuesday announced that it has raised $121 million in Series C funding led by Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Ascent Capital, DFC and other investors. Iron Pillar, the lead investor in the startup's Series B round of investment contributed $19 million in the latest round.
The fresh capital will be utilized to expand in India and West Asia.
Talking about the startup and its impact during the pandemic, Shan Kadavil, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of FreshToHome, said, "COVID-19 transformed the fish and meat purchasing behaviour of consumers dramatically. Due to safety concerns, consumers made the habit-forming shift to e-commerce and we saw online demand for our products going up many folds this year thanks to safety guarantee of "100% Fresh and 0% Chemicals'."
"FreshToHome stands by the brand's assurance and creates enormous social and economic impact by enabling sellers to directly source from the fishermen and farmers with its patent-pending AI-powered supply chain technology and aided by a state-of-the-art cold chain. 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," he further added.
Launched in 2015 by Shan Kadavil and Joseph and Mathew Joseph, FreshToHome now enables its marketplace sellers to source and sell meat and fish directly from livestock farmers and fishermen in most major Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and in the UAE. The startup now claims to get around 1.5 million B2C orders per month and $85 million annualized sales run rate on the platform.
Commenting on the investment, Khalifa Al Daboos, deputy CEO of ICD, said, "We are pleased to partner with FreshToHome and to support the vision of management and the growth of the company. FreshToHome is a leader in leveraging AI-based technology and business innovation to bring a superior value proposition to customers and suppliers in a large and important market. At ICD, we seek to partner with companies like FreshToHome that are able to break new ground for the greater good while also enjoying a large shareholder value creation opportunity. This successful fundraising is a strong recognition of the company's achievements and significant potential."
The startup is directly competing against Licious—a Bengaluru-based startup which managed to raise $30 million in Series E round in 2019—and Big Basket.
