E-commerce site selling fresh fish and meat plans Middle East expansion after $121m funding round
Fresh To Home, an India-based e-commerce start-up with businesses in the UAE, raised $121 million in a string C funding round led by Dubai's sovereign fund, the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
The company, which sells fresh fish and meat online, sources directly from fishermen and farmers. It'll use its latest funding round to expand into Saudi Arabia - the Arab world’s biggest economy - and the wider Middle East.
“We are just starting to scratch the surface of an extremely large market and the existing capital raise will help us realise our full potential through rapid expansion in India and the center East,” said Shan Kadavil, co-founder and leader of the company.
Founded in 2015, the company claims to be the world’s most significant fully integrated online brand in fresh fish and meat e-commerce. Other backers in the Series C round include Bahrain-based Investcorp, the united states Government’s Development Finance Corporation and India-based Ascent Capital, Iron Pillar and Allana Group.
The coronavirus pandemic, which includes upended many industries globally, has propelled demand for his or her products, Mr Kadavil said, with many customers still keen to eat fresh fish and meat but less keen to go to markets to get them.
“Due to safety concerns, consumers made the habit-forming shift to e-commerce and we saw online demand for our products going up manyfold this year because of [the] safety guarantee of 100 % fresh and no chemicals,” he said.
Fresh To Home, which offers across the UAE, sources fish, meat and vegetables directly from fishermen and farmers using AI-powered supply chain technology and cold chain logistics. The business handles practically 1.5 million orders of fresh fish and meat per month across most of its markets and its own annualised sales run rate stands at about $85m, the business said. It claims to already be among the top five e-grocers in the UAE.
“We are pleased to partner with Fresh To Home and support the vision of [the] management and the growth of the business,” said Khalifa Al Daboos, deputy leader of ICD.
“We seek to partner with companies that can break new ground for the greater good … while also enjoying a sizable shareholder value creation opportunity. This successful fundraising is a solid recognition of the company’s achievements and significant potential,” he added.
“We look at companies who redefine the category with verified top-line and bottom-line impact. We believe Fresh To Home fits this bill correctly and is poised to attain significant scale,” said Gaurav Sharma, head of private equity at Investcorp India.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
