Exclusive: FreshToHome in talks to raise $100 Mn amid growing demand

E-commerce platform for fresh produce and meat, FreshToHome is in talks with investors to raise around $80-100 million, say two people familiar with the development. Apart from existing investor Ascent Capital, the Bangalore-based company is in talks with investors from the Middle East, added the people cited above.

This comes as purchasing of grocery and fresh produce has been swiftly moving online increasing demand for these services. “They have grown more than 2x during the lockdown,” said the first person cited above, requesting anonymity. Existing investors including Das Capital, Al-Nasser Holdings and Iron Pillar would also participate in the fresh financing.

The newly-raised funds will help the company compete with the likes of meat-selling platform Licious and online grocery portals such as Big Basket which is also in talks with Temasek to raise $100 million, as reported by Entrackr recently. 

CEO of FreshToHome Shan Kadavil declined to comment for the story. Ascent Capital did not respond to queries sent by Entrackr as the time of publishing this story. We will update when they respond.  

Founded over five years ago, FreshToHome sells fresh vegetables and meat including chicken and fish in cities including Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune. It also has a presence in the UAE. According to sources, Freshtohome will be expanding to six-eight new cities after mopping up the fresh round.

The company last raised funds in 2019 when it closed a $20 million round led by Iron Pillar in a bid to expand its presence across the nation. 

America’s Development Finance Corporation also committed $20 million funding to Freshtohome in June this year on the basis of the company’s plan to support over 1,500 farmers and fishermen in India.

Apart from selling fresh vegetables and meat, FreshToHome forayed into milk delivery last year and also acquired milk delivery startup Doodhwala to further boost the vertical. 

Over a year ago, FreshToHome was clocking around 14,000 daily orders. But this year, after the pandemic forced users to move online, the company’s order numbers shot up. “They are clocking Rs 40-50 crore in monthly sales,” said the second person cited above, on condition of anonymity.

An Inc42 report in August said that FreshToHome was raising over $16 million from Ascent Capital. Entrackr couldn’t ascertain if the $16 million was part of this $100 million round.

Apart from Licious and FreshToHome, other companies in the meat delivery space include ZappFresh and BBDaily, EasyMeat among a few others.