FreshToHome raises $121 million, the largest ever Series C funding in India consumer tech startups

The consumer market size of the fish and meat segment in India in 2019 was $94 billion, according to an estimate from Euromonitor International. FreshToHome is a Bangalore, India-based consumer tech startup and provider of an eCommerce platform for fresh and chemical-free seafood.

FreshToHome is the world’s largest fully integrated online brand in fresh fish and meat e-commerce, with approximately $1.5 million B2C orders per month and an $85 million annualized sales run rate on the platform. FreshToHome enables its marketplace sellers to source and sells high-quality meat and fish directly from livestock farmers and fishermen in most major Indian cities (Mumbai, Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu) and in the UAE.

Today, FreshToHome announced it has raised $121 million in Series C funding led by Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Investcorp, Ascent Capital, The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Allana with significant follow-on investment from Iron Pillar, the lead investor from Series B participated in this round with a significant investment of $19M. Barclays was an advisor for the transaction. FreshToHome will use the funding proceeds to support the fast-paced expansion of the brand in India and the Middle East.

Founded in 2015 by Shan Kadavil, FreshToHome is the world’s largest fully integrated online brand in fresh fish and meat eCommerce. Its platform’s range of products include fish, poultry, mutton, steaks, and fillet. Fish consists of shell, freshwater, and marine.

“COVID-19 transformed the fish and meat purchasing behavior 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 the 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” said Shan Kadavil, Co-Founder and CEO of FreshToHome.

Before founding FreshToHome, Shan Kadavil and other co-founders worked at a handful of Silicon Valley tech companies. Some of the co-founders were part of leadership teams of companies such as Zynga.  Some of the early backers of FreshToHome include Mark Pincus – Zynga founder, David Krane – CEO of Google Ventures, Pete Briger – Chairman of Fortress, Abdul Aziz Al-Ghurair – Chairman of Mashreq Bank, Rajan Anandan of Sequoia, and other renowned investors.

“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.” said Khalifa Al Daboos, Deputy CEO of Investment Corporation of Dubai.