Tiger Global-backed business-to-business (B2B) seafood supplier Captain Fresh Thursday said it has acquired CenSea Inc., a US-based importer and distributor of frozen fish and seafood.
This acquisition solidifies Captain Fresh's position in the sector and makes it one of the largest cross-border B2B marketplaces in India, the company said in a release, without disclosing the financial details.
The acquisition follows Captain Fresh’s $25-million fundraise early this month in its ongoing Series C funding round from Nekkanti Seafoods Group, UK’s development finance institution British International Investment (BII) and a few family offices.
It had previously raised $20 million in its extended Series C round in September 2023. The round was co-led by SBI Investment and Evolvence Capital and involved participation by a few existing investors, including Accel, Matrix Partners India, Prosus Ventures and Tiger Global.
As part of the acquisition deal, CenSea’s leadership has also made an undisclosed financial investment in Captain Fresh.
CenSea serves major clients in the food service and retail channels. It has more than a 60-year track record of serving seafood products to restaurants in the US.
With this acquisition, Captain Fresh marks its first significant foray into the lucrative US food services segment.
“As India aggressively pushes towards its ambition of crossing the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark in seafood exports by 2025, Captain Fresh with its acquisition of the CenSea brand finds itself in a unique position to play a pivotal role in what could be the next big export story from India,” said Utham Gowda, group chief executive officer of Captain Fresh. “We have a real shot at creating a future-proof business in a primary industry like proteins which is truly global and large.”
Prior to this, Captain Fresh acquired a Paris-based shrimp cooker and distributor Senecrus to foray into distribution in the European market.
Captain Fresh, which was founded in 2019 by Gowda, technologically enables key stakeholders in the seafood supply chain, from fishermen and farmers to processors and distributors, across all major species of the seafood basket.
