Online Fish and Meat Marketplace FreshToHome Raises US$20 Mn to Diversify & Expand across Geographies The startup joins the bandwagon of several ecommerce startups exploding into the US$250 billion market
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Bengaluru-based online marketplace for fish and meat, FreshtoHome, raised US$20 million in Series B round of funding led by Iron Pillar with participation from Japanese investor, Joe Hirao. Existing investors including CE Ventures, Massar International, Al Nasser Holdings, TTCER Partners and Sin Growth Partners also participated in the round.
The funds will be used to expand across geographies in other cities of India and UAE. The company will also use the funds to diversify their product offerings in various other fresh and chemical-free food categories, such as fruits and vegetables, cold pressed oils, organic cow & buffalo milk, dairy products, organic staples and other healthy food products. These products will eventually be distributed across e-commerce platforms, retail outlets and other channels across multiple geographies.
FreshToHome was founded in 2015 by Shan Kadavil and Mathew Joseph. Currently, it has 650,000 customers across 10 cities, connecting 1500 local fishermen, around 125 coasts in India.
Exploding the US$250 Bn Market
Commenting on the recent round of fundraising, Shan Kadavil CEO of FreshToHome said in a statement, "I'm thrilled about the support we are receiving from the investor community. I think this is a reflection of the market strength in India and the disruption that technology can bring about in modernizing India's food supply chain. We are just getting started and with a USD 250 Billion market size in front of us in the perishables category alone in India - this is just the tip of the iceberg. We recently crossed 14,000 orders a day - this reinforces our belief that if you give consumers safe to eat food at an honest price, you can create a brand loved by thousands thanks to our loyal customers, fishermen and farmers who trade or farm directly on our platform!"
The online marketplace startup also said in a statement that the company will continue to reinvent the supply chain process in other categories of food. The ecommerce firm is not a delivery startup. It directly sources the food items from livestock farmers and sells on its platform after undergoing various levels of scrutiny to ensure hygiene and food safety.
Past Investments
FreshToHome has had several investors on board including Rajan Anandan, Google's former south-east Asia and India vice-president, Das Kapital, M&S Partners, Kortschak Investments etc.
This round of funding has come shortly after it raised US$11 million is Series A round of funding led by led by CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises, a UAE headquartered conglomerate.
The race of online marketplaces has reached an interesting juncture. Several other startups such as Zappfresh, Bigbasket, Licious, Easymeat are also racing on the same ground. While Bigbasket entered the unicorn club a few months ago, the others are too raising funds.
