Exclusive: Tiger Global-backed Captain Fresh converts into public entity

B2B seafood marketplace Captain Fresh is gearing up for a listing on the Indian stock exchanges after transitioning into a public limited entity.

The board of Captain Fresh has approved a resolution to change its status to a public company and rename it from "Infifresh Foods Private Limited" to "Infifresh Foods Limited”,  according to its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

This development comes just a few months after the company appointed Durgesh Kumar Singh, Anil Berara, and Harita Gupta as independent directors, a separate filing shows.

Captain Fresh is reportedly planning to raise $350–400 million at a valuation of over $1 billion through its initial public offering (IPO), comprising both a fresh issue of equity shares and an offer for sale (OFS). The company has also roped in Axis Capital and Bank of America (BofA) as its bankers.

Founded in 2019 by Utham Gowda, Captain Fresh is a B2B seafood marketplace offering a farm-to-retail platform for animal protein, including fish, crabs, lobsters and other seafood. The startup sources directly from agents and farmers, supplying across B2B, B2R, and B2B2C channels.

According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Captain Fresh has raised over $200 million to date, including its $30 million pre-IPO round raised in January this year from Prosus, Accel, Tiger Global, and others.

Captain Fresh’s gross revenue (GMV) grew 71% to Rs 1,395 crore in FY24, up from Rs 817 crore in FY23. The company also trimmed its net loss by 22%, bringing it down to Rs 229 crore during the last fiscal.