Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Tuesday, October 27 2020 - 22:30
AsiaNet
FreshToHome raises $121M – the largest ever Series C funding in India Consumer Tech
BANGALORE, India and SINGAPORE, October 27, 2020 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

- 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 Series B lead investor Iron Pillar

- Capital to support fast-paced expansion of the brand in India and the Middle 
East - targeting $200M Sales in 2021 while maintaining current EBITDA 
profitability in mature cities through deeper supply chain integration on the 
platform
    
    FreshToHome [https://www.freshtohome.com/], the world's largest fully 
integrated online brand in fresh fish and meat e-commerce raised $121M in 
Series C funding led by Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) - the principal 
investment arm of the Government of Dubai, Investcorp - a leading global 
manager of alternative investments, Ascent Capital - a leading India-focused 
growth capital provider, U.S. Government's development finance institution - 
DFC, the Allana Group and other investors. 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.

    "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' 
[https://www.freshtohome.com/story-of-a-fish]. 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. 

    FreshToHome is the world's largest fully integrated online brand in fresh 
fish and meat e-commerce, with approximately 1.5 Million (15 Lakh) B2C orders 
per month and $85M (~INR 600 Crore) annualized sales on the platform. 

    "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.  

    Shan Kadavil and other co-founders of FreshToHome have a Silicon Valley 
entrepreneurship background, having been part of leadership teams of companies 
such as Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA).  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. 

    "DFC's first equity deal with FreshToHome demonstrates the power of our new 
equity tool to drive development and advance U.S. foreign policy," said  US 
Government's DFC CEO Adam Boehler. "This project will support economic growth 
and strengthen agricultural supply chains in a key U.S. partner."

    Support from its existing large Middle East-based investors such as 
CE-Ventures - the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises 
significantly helped in aiding its expansion in the UAE, where it is already 
one of the top 5 e-grocers. 

    Gaurav Sharma, Head of Private Equity at Investcorp India added, "At 
Investcorp, we look at companies who redefine the category with proven top-line 
and bottom-line impact. We believe that FreshToHome fits this bill perfectly 
and is poised to achieve significant scale. We look forward to this partnership 
and supporting the company in realising its full potential."

    "FreshToHome's unique collaborative approach with fishermen, farmers, and 
use of tech-based solutions on procurement give them an edge in emerging as the 
best reliable brand in the segment and a potential contender for the Unicorn 
Club," said Raja Kumar, Founder & CEO, Ascent Capital.

For details, Contact: sonali.chakravorty@kaizzencomm.com 

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1320773/FreshToHome_Logo.jpg
Caption: Freshtohome

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1320774/FreshToHome_Series_C_Funding.jpg
Caption: FreshToHome raises $121M – the largest ever Series C funding in India 
Consumer Tech

Source: FreshToHome



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