Captain Fresh turns profitable in FY25; GMV jumps 2.5X

Captain Fresh, a global packaged seafood company, has posted a profit within five years of operations and has become one of the fastest-growing startups in its space. The Bengaluru-based firm has also posted over 2X scale in FY25, backed by strong growth in international markets, particularly the United States.

The company’s gross revenue (GMV) surged 2.5X to Rs 3,421 crore in FY25 from Rs 1,395 crore in FY24, according to its consolidated financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). 

Founded in 2020, Captain Fresh operates as a tech-driven, vertically integrated platform that controls the entire seafood value chain from procurement to distribution without owning capital-intensive assets.

Captain Fresh generates a major share of its revenue from export markets. The USA contributed over 71% to the gross revenue, growing more than 5.6X to Rs 2,416 crore in FY25 from Rs 362 crore in FY24. India’s contribution, however, declined by 49% to Rs 340 crore, while new markets like Poland (Rs 239 crore) and France (Rs 181 crore) also made significant contributions. Other key geographies included Italy (Rs 50 crore), the UAE (Rs 48 crore), and Spain (Rs 31 crore).

The surge in gross revenue stems largely from its acquisition spree. Captain Fresh picked up CenSea in February 2024 and added Ocean Garden to its portfolio this February. Overall, the company has a total of 10 subsidiaries and a joint venture across the United States, Norway, France, Spain, Indonesia, Poland and the Netherlands.

The company’s largest expense, cost of materials, accounted for over 82% of total expenditure, which increased 2X to Rs 2,846 crore in FY25 from Rs 1,311 crore in FY24. Employee benefit expenses more than doubled to Rs 195 crore, while freight and forwarding charges shot up 2.7X to Rs 102 crore. Finance costs grew sharply to Rs 94 crore in FY25. Legal and professional fees remained largely flat at Rs 44 crore, and other expenses stood at Rs 173 crore.

Overall, in the line of scale, Captain Fresh’s total costs doubled to Rs 3,454 crore in FY25 from Rs 1,648 crore a year earlier. For a more detailed expense breakup, please refer to TheKredible.

With over 2X revenue surge, the company turned profitable and posted a net profit of Rs 42 crore against a loss of Rs 229 crore in FY24 (It's worth noting that Rs 68 crore were credited in terms of deferred tax, which helped the company to be in green). The company’s ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at 4.05% and 2.12% respectively.

On a unit level, Captain Fresh spent Re 1.01 to earn a rupee of revenue, improving from Rs 1.18 in FY24. The firm’s current assets were valued at Rs 1,858 crore, while capital employed rose to Rs 1,358 crore. The company maintained cash and bank balances of Rs 88 crore at the end of FY25.

According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Captain Fresh has raised over $200 million to date, including a $30 million pre-IPO round in January this year from Prosus, Accel, Tiger Global, and others. Matrix Partners, Accel, Tiger Global, Ankur Capital, and Prosus are some notable investors for Captain Fresh.

Captain Fresh is set to raise Rs 1,700 crore (about $200 million) through a fresh issue of shares as part of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The Tiger Global-backed company is reportedly eyeing a total issue size of $350-400 million, including an offer for sale (OFS).