Seafood provider Captain Fresh, which has been on an acquisition spree to expand internationally in the last couple of years, has bought Spanish tuna processor and distributor Frime SAU, in what is its fifth overseas takeover.
While Captain Fresh did not disclose the size of the deal, it said the transaction involves 60% cash and 40% stock. It didn’t say how it is financing the cash portion.
The deal helps the Bengaluru-based startup to expand its multi-species portfolio in the European markets and acquire 20% share of Europe’s yellowfin tuna market. Captain Fresh previously made multiple inorganic bets in the US and Europe. These include its acquisition of Poland-based salmon company Koral in July 2024, which followed its takeover of French shrimp cooker and distributor Senecrus and Illinois-based CenSea.
“We have built a strong market presence in crustaceans through CenSea, Ocean Garden, Senecrus, and Ocean Edge, and in salmon through Koral. Tuna ranks as the next most significant commercial category after crustaceans and salmon, with broad demand across retail and foodservice channels,” said Utham Gowda, Group CEO, Captain Fresh. “With Frime, we enter tuna in a leadership position consistent with our approach in other categories.”
Frime, headquartered in La Roca near Barcelona, is a specialist in premium yellowfin tuna. It was started in 1977 and serves retail and foodservice markets across 33 countries. It has a retail division that is supported by partnerships with European supermarket chains and its consumer brand Køldfin. It boasts of revenue exceeding €180 million.
Captain Fresh had confidentially filed its preliminary papers for an initial public offering last August. But it withdrew the papers in December amid unanticipated delays in getting regulatory clearances for the acquisition.
Frime leadership, including chairman Salvador Ramon Mateo and CEO Pablo Múgica, will continue in their roles within the Captain Fresh group to ensure its customer relationships and market expertise are preserved.
“What makes this more powerful is the strategic flywheel it creates. Bringing the three largest categories on one platform transforms our go-to-market strategy,” said Gowda. “We can scale Frime’s tuna through our US network while simultaneously introducing our crustacean (shrimp, lobsters) and salmon portfolio deeper into Southern Europe. This multiplies customer share without incremental infrastructure, speeds up product innovation, and unlocks synergies across the Captain Fresh group ecosystem.”
Captain Fresh was founded as a seafood marketplace in 2019 by Gowda. It sources multi-species seafood from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean regions to meet demand in the US, Europe, and the UAE. The startup is counting on cross-selling different products to fuel its growth going forward, as it consolidates its acquisitions.
The company counts Evolvence Capital, Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India) and Ankur Capital among its investors. It raised Rs 250 crore ($28.7 million) in a round last year led by its existing investors Prosus Ventures, Accel and Tiger Global, while some new investors joined its cap table. It was valued at about $500 million then.
Previously, in December 2024, it secured Rs 100 crore from Motilal Oswal Wealth Ltd. It had raised $25 million (Rs 209 crore) in a continuing Series C funding round in February 2024.
The company also raised $20 million in its extended Series C round in September 2023. The round was co-led by SBI Investment and Evolvence and involved participation by a few existing investors, including Accel, Matrix, Prosus and Tiger Global. In 2022, it raised $50 million in its initial Series C round led by Prosus and Tiger Global, along with the participation of Accel, Matrix, Ankur Capital and Incubate Fund.
