FreshToHome In Talks For $130 Mn Funding From DFC, Others

Bengaluru-based online marketplace for perishable goods FreshToHome is finalising a $130 Mn funding round from investors including Investcorp, Middle East Oils and Grains, and US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Existing investors Iron Pillar and Ascent Capital, and new backer David Wehner, the chief financial officer of Facebook, also participated in the round. Ascent Capital has already invested about $16.2 Mn, while DFC has committed to $20 Mn.

FreshToHome had earlier raised about $31 million from investors including Iron Pillar, Das Capital, CE Ventures, and a host of angels. In 2019, FreshToHome had also raised $11 Mn in Series A led by CE Ventures with participation from Das Capital, Kortschak Investments, TTCER Partners, Al-Nasser Holdings, M&S Partners, Al-Nasser Holdings & Abdul Azeez Al-Ghurair from UAE, PLB other Asia and Valley-based Investors.

FreshToHome was founded in 2015 by Shan Kadavil and Mathew Joseph. The company aims to leverage artificial intelligence and the internet of things (IoT) into the cold chain, food safety and sourcing processes. The filings revealed that the company manages to sell nearly 10K tons of produce per year,  and has close to 95% qualified cohort retention and doubling every year. The corporate affairs filing also added that FreshToHome has 12 Lakh registered users.

The current funding round values the direct-to-consumer fresh foods firm at $380-$400 Mn post-money, according to ET.

India is currently the world’s largest producer of milk, the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables and has a substantial production of marine agriculture, meat and poultry products. Overall, the cold chain market for perishable products logistics is projected to reach INR 2,618 Bn by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 14.8% during 2019-2024 in the country.

FreshToHome competes with the likes of ZappFresh, Licious, BigBasket, etc which also cater to the perishable meat industry. There is a $50 Bn opportunity in the fragmented Indian fish market and the $30 Bn market size in poultry.

In 2019, the company also expanded its footprint to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is likely to move beyond the UAE to other Gulf countries.

According to media reports, FreshToHome’s daily orders in the UAE have jumped 83% since March, with the average value per order increasing by 75% to 93 dirhams (about INR 1,850).

Correction: October 13 | 6:15 PM
The previous headline had erroneously mentioned Raed Ventures as one of the investors. The same has been rectified.