Indian ecommerce platform FreshToHome nets $121m in series C round

FreshToHome, an India-based ecommerce platform selling fish and meat, announced that it has raised US$121 million in a series C fundraise.

The round was led by sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai, along with Investcorp, Ascent Capital, the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and the Allana Group.

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Existing investor Iron Pillar Fund also participated in this round, which the ecommerce startup claims to be the largest series C funding in the Indian consumer tech sector.

Founded in 2015, FreshToHome enables sellers to directly source from fishermen and farmers via its AI-powered supply chain technology and cold chain.

“Covid-19 transformed the fish and meat purchasing behavior of consumers dramatically,” said FreshToHome co-founder and CEO Shan Kadavil. He added that consumers are shifting to ecommerce due to safety concerns, and his company saw online demand for its products going up “many folds” this year.

The company said that the platform processes around 1.5 million business-to-consumer orders per month and US$85 million in annualized sales.

FreshToHome plans to use the new funds to support its expansion in India and the Middle East. It’s also targeting US$200 million in sales by next year, according to a statement.

In 2019, the company raised US$11 million in a series A round led by CE Ventures in May and US$20 million in a series B money led by Iron Pillar. Some of its early backers include Zynga founder Mark Pincus, Google Ventures CEO David Krane, Fortress chairman Pete Briger, Rajan Anandan, managing director at Sequoia Capital, among others.

FreshtoHome competes with startups such as Licious, which bagged US$30 million in a series E funding round led by Vertex Growth Fund.