Business-to-business (B2B) seafood marketplace platform Captain Fresh, owned and operated by Infifresh Foods Pvt Ltd, has raised $50 million (around Rs 382 crore) as a part of its Series C funding round led by existing investors Prosus Ventures (formerly known as Naseprs Ventures) and Tiger Global Management, the company said in a statement.
Existing investors including Accel India, Matrix Partners India, Ankur Capital, and Incubate Fund participated in the funding round, which valued the company at $500 million.
Captain Fresh said it plans to build an animal protein platform having a multi-channel, multi-geography, multi-specie and multi-format retail, either fresh, frozen or live, with the fundraise. “We are further deepening our role on the supply side by leveraging our understanding of supply communities in India and transforming it into a digital platform with a focus on content, community and commerce for fishermen, agents and farmers,” said Utham Gowda, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Captain Fresh.
Launched in 2019, the platform started out as a seafood marketplace focusing on aggregating the fragmented retail demand across the country and linking it to the small fishermen and farmers throughout the Indian coast. The startup leverages its bid engine, proprietary quality inspection and satellite technologies to ensure match-making of demand and supply.
Captain Fresh claims to have doubled its revenue since December last year, when it had raised $40 million as a part of its Series B funding round led by Tiger Global and Prosus Ventures. The company was valued at $200 million post the Series B round. Captain Fresh has raised over $100 million over the last 12 months, and its valuation has shot up 50X, the company said.
“We have made significant strides in the last 12 months and believe we have the foundation in place to keep up with our hypergrowth trajectory. This would be our market-entry beachhead as we look to foray into Africa, Middle East and other parts of Asia, led by our proprietary distribution and fulfilment engines,” Gowda said.
“On the supply side, from a seafood marketplace, they are now entering into the larger animal protein industry. On the demand side as well, they have expanded their focus by adding new export markets. All this is enabled by the same underlying tech infrastructure highlighting the platform potential,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Head of Investments, India, Prosus Ventures.
Elluminate Capital and DSK Legal acted as the exclusive financial and legal advisors to Captain Fresh on the transaction.