Armed with a fresh $104 million funding deal, leading e-commerce platform for fresh marine and meat products FreshToHome is gearing up for a major expansion in its UAE operation with setting up a fish and poultry farm and spreading its delivery network to more cities.
The venture, which entered the UAE market two years ago, will also soon finalise its much-delayed entry plan into Saudi Arabia, left hanging apparently due to uncertainties over venture capital funding for startups.
FreshToHome latest fundraising round
FreshToHome revealed on Tuesday striking a deal with a clutch of investors led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund for raising $104 million in a Series D round.
The other investors in the latest round include E20 Investment Ltd, Mount Judi Ventures and DallahAlbaraka.
Besides, existing investors in FreshToHome such as Iron Pillar, Investcorp, Investment Corporation of Dubai and Ascent Capital have also participated in this round.
JP Morgan acted as the placement agent to FreshToHome for the latest fundraising round.
“We will use the fresh capital mainly for three things – one, for a broader expansion in the UAE and India, second, for expansion in GCC with immediate entry plan into the Saudi market, and third, for launching an omnichannel marketing – online and offline – in the UAE,” Shan Kadavil, co-founder and chief executive officer of FreshToHome, told Arabian Business.
“We already have covered more than 160 cities for our delivery operations and we will be adding more cities in the coming months,” Kadavil said.
The latest fundraising deal for FreshToHome comes amid investors tightening their funding activities –widely described as ‘funding winter’ – due to concerns over profit making abilities of startups.
“We are now a ‘proficorn’, with operational profitability across the company,” Kadavil said.
“As we strive to offer more value to our farmers and fishers, customers, employees and investors, our focus will be on profitability and sustainable value creation,” he said.
The current funding deal comes almost two years after the company raised $121 million from investors led by Investment Corporation of Dubai, Investcorp, IronPillar, Ascent Capital and DFC, the US government’s development finance institution, in a Series C round.
Kadavil said the company’s operations in the UAE have grown significantly within two years of its entry, contributing about 15 percent of its $130 million revenue.
“The UAE will remain the epicenter of our operations in GCC, but we have plans to further expand to other countries in the region, besides Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The company already has a large sorting and processing centre in the UAE, employing close to 500.
As for the omnichannel play in the UAE, Kadavil said the company has already opened an offline store in the waterfront market in Deira and has plans to open several more from where customers can order online as well.
Launched in 2015, FreshToHome operates in over 160 cities across India and the UAE, offering a wide range of fresh marine, poultry and meat products, which the company claims are chemical and antibiotic-free products.
The company said its technology-enabled platform – Commodities Exchange – empowers over 4,000 fishers and farmers to electronically auction their produce for sale on its site.
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