FreshToHome, an online platform for fresh meat, fish and seafood, has raised $104 million in its Series D round led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund. Dubai-based E20 Investment Ltd, Bengaluru-based Mount Judi Ventures, and Jeddah-based Dallah Albaraka also participated in the round.
The fresh fund has come after a gap of 28 months for FreshToHome. In October 2020, the Bengaluru-based firm had scooped up $121 million in a Series C round. The company has raised around $258 million to date and emerged as the newest contender to enter the unicorn club, however, it did not disclose the current valuation. The company’s competitor Licious breached the $1 billion valuation mark in October 2021, becoming the first unicorn in this space.
FreshToHome plans to utilise the new funds to expand its presence in the Middle East, North Africa, and Saudi Arabia. According to the company, it has opened up nearly 100 cities in the last 18 months and UAE contributes nearly 10-15% of its overall revenues while India is the largest exporter of fish and meat in the geography.
The startup has established its own supply chain network and transports items by trains and planes for faster delivery. Currently, it serves over 4,000 fishers and farmers and millions of customers in over 160 cities in India and the UAE.
For the fiscal year 2021-22, FreshToHome claims that its revenue figures stood at Rs 1,200 crore and it expects to reach Rs 1,500-2,000 crore topline mark in FY23. This appears to be gross revenue. In comparison, Licious registered 64.3% growth in its operating revenue to Rs 682.6 crore during FY22 as compared to Rs 415.5 crore in FY21.
Besides Licious, FreshToHome competes with Zappfresh, BBDaily, and Easymeat among a few others.
In April 2021, Amazon announced $250 million worth Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund for Indian startups and made its first investment in Gurugram-based MSME-focused fintech startup M1xchange. The fund has also backed The Good Glamm Group, Cashify, Fitterfly, and Smallcase.
