D2C Meat Startup FreshToHome Raises $104 Mn Funding To Build Omnichannel Presence

D2C meat and fish brand FreshToHome has raised $104 Mn in a Series D funding round led by Amazon Sambhav Venture Fund. The round also saw participation from E20 Investment, Mount Judi Ventures, as well as existing investors such as Investcorp, among others.

FreshToHome will use the fresh funding to expand its presence in the domestic market, especially in the 100 cities that it entered over the last 18 months, as well as in Saudi Arabia, its cofounder and CEO Shan Kadavil told Inc42.

The startup will also use the fresh capital to set up offline stores in metro cities, followed by Tier II cities, to build an omnichannel presence. While the startup’s focus was on Bengaluru, a few other Indian metros and Dubai for offline stores till now, it will use the insights gained from these cities to expand the offline stores now, Kadavail said.

Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur Kadavil and Mathew Joseph, the D2C fish and meat brand is currently operational in 160 cities in India and 27 cities in the UAE.

It must be noted that Inc42 exclusively reported last year that FreshToHome was looking to raise $100 Mn-$150 Mn in Series D round at a post-money valuation of over $1 Bn.

While the startup didn’t disclose the valuation at which it raised the fresh funding, it said that it is now a ‘proficorn’ with operating margin profitability. “We would like to be known as a proficorn,” Kadavil said when asked about the valuation.

FreshToHome’s net loss widened to INR 105.9 Cr in FY21 from INR 92.53 Cr in FY20, while its operating revenue almost doubled to INR 16.9 Cr from INR 8.4 Cr in the previous fiscal, as per data sourced from Tofler.

FreshToHome has raised a total funding of around $250 Mn till date, including the latest round.

Growth Story Of FreshToHome

“Our revenue has grown 40-50% YoY in the last one year because of a larger customer base,” Kadavli said. He added that the startup recently turned operationally profitable.

Emphasising on the fact that the bottom line is equally important for any startup, along with the top line, the CEO said, “At the end of the day, for growth and late-stage startups what matters for investors is the exit event. The exit event has to be closely linked with the IPO.”

Interestingly, FreshToHome is planning to go public in the next three years.

Among all its product offerings, FreshToHome sees highest sales in the fish category, followed by poultry, mutton and other ready-to-eat products.

Market For Meat Startups

In India, the online meat ordering and delivery space has grown in the last few years, thanks to the pandemic-led boost.

According to Kadavil, FreshToHome, Licious and supermarkets like More account for a revenue of $700-750 Mn, while the overall meat market is valued at around $50 Bn. As the organised players account for less than 1% of the market, they have a large opportunity ahead of them.

FreshToHome’s Bengaluru-based rival Licious raised $150 Mn last year. Licious also became the first D2C meat brand to enter the coveted unicorn club when it raised $52 Mn in October 2021.

Tiger Global-backed Capital Fresh touched the $500 Mn valuation mark in March last year when it raised $50 Mn in a Series B funding round.

India’s meat industry is expected to achieve sales of $80-$85 Bn by 2024, according to a report by consulting firm Redseer. The gross merchandise value of online meat selling platforms has grown 2x since the onset of the pandemic.

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